What is the 20% Club?
Bylaws
● Background ●
Various environmental problems, such as global warming, ozone-layer depletion, and air and ocean pollution, are known to be having a negative impact on the global environment. It is citizens, who promote "environment-friendly lifestyles," and local authorities with their close connection to the community, that can play a significant role in this improvement.
With these factors in mind, the formation of the 20% Club for Sustainable Cities (abbreviated name: the 20% Club) was proposed at the World Conference on Local Initiatives for Sustainable Cities in November 1995 (Sponsored by the Environment Agency, Kanagawa Prefectural Government, and local authorities of Kanagawa Prefecture).
Based on this proposal, the 20% Club was inaugurated in January 1997 at the International Workshop on Local Initiatives for Sustainable Cities.
● Outline ●
The 20% Club is the international network of local authorities which tackles the issues of environmental conservation by setting numerical targets. It aims to contribute to environmental improvements on a global level by providing the mutual exchanges of information, skills, and experience among the member local authorities.
Setting numerical targets, such as "20% reduction of waste volume" or "20% increase in green areas" within approximately five years, is believed to be an effective method for reducing environmental burdens and increasing environmental improvements. The name of the club represents such an expectation.
● Services to Members ●
Newsletters will be circulated to members once or twice a year to provide interesting topics on the environmental activities and the progress of the initiatives of the member municipalities. For promoting the information sharing among the members, we also organize an annual workshop.
The reports and discussion of this workshop will be released as the case studies that can be downloaded from the 20% Club website. Furthermore, the website will help address the unique and effective activities of the member municipalities globally, as well as provide updated links to the home pages of the member municipalities.
● Applying for Membership ●
Membership can be obtained by filing out the necessary details on the application form and submitting it to the club secretariat. No membership fees are required for the time being. For further information, please refer to the page of "Join the 20% Club."
● Possible Target Measures ●
The following are some examples of targets which have been attempted by the 20% Club members:
To increase 20% of a recycling rate by 2007 compared to the 2002 level
Setting numerical targets like "20%" or period targets five years("by 2007") is only symbolic, Members shall determine their own numerical and period targets upon consideration of their respective situations. No penalties will be imposed if the targets have not been fully achieved. Rather, it is the intention of the 20% Club to let the members cooperate to enhance their expertise, and overcome their difficulties.
For the detailed targets that our members address, please see the page of "numerical targets."