Guidance Milestones
To help cities and local governments achieve their goals in climate protection, economic growth, and energy security by adopting a renewable-based energy policy, ICLEI has designed the five milestones. Originally developed for ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign, these milestones have been adapted here to provides a simple, standardized means of assessing energy status and renewable energy potential; of establishing targets; of developing and implementing an action plan; and of monitoring, measuring and reporting performance.
These phases offer a set of guidelines for expanding local action with renewable energy, and are important for consideration from whatever entry point a city begins.
0. Impetus Or in other words, motivation. The local government, local residents and businesses must have a reason for supporting, financing and carrying out a change from their normal behavior.
1. Assessment In order to plan accurately for the future, it is vital to conduct a systematic assessment of the current situation. Knowing present energy demands and forecasting for future growth, local governments can then plan how much of that demand could be covered by renewable energy.
2. Target Setting Set renewable energy targets and develop and adopt local renewable energy policies. Innovative renewable energy policies are ideally developed in cooperation with the local administration, political leaders and stakeholders.
3. Action Planning After targets have been set, now comes the development of an action plan to meet these targets. Local governments will need to develop scenarios for targets... This process will result in an Action Plan.
4. Implementation In order to implement the Action Plan, responsibility must be allocated to the proper committee or agency. This is where theories are put to the test.
5. Monitoring and Reporting In order to be aware of and share the impacts of local policy and efforts; monitoring, documenting and reporting illustrates success and can guide the next steps for a continuously improved approach.
Each section is linked to useful tools that can assist cities in complying with the methodology.
