Greening Government Initiative

The Greening Government Initiative (GGI) is an international community of practice that was launched by the Governments of the United States and Canada, in April 2021. GGI is a new initiative that enables countries to exchange information, promote innovation, and share best practices in order to green government operations and help meet Paris Agreement commitments.

The scope of GGI is limited to national government operations. Greening government includes activities such as increasing government's use of renewable energy, transitioning national government buildings and fleets to net-zero emissions, enhancing the resilience of government buildings, and establishing governmental sustainable procurement policies, and identifying nature-based solutions. We welcome input from participating countries on topics that will help them green their government operations.

The efforts of GGI are related to, but separate from efforts such as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which focus on sectors beyond government operations. While greening government strategies may contribute to achievement of NDCs and other goals, such as SDGs, they are not a focus of GGI's activities.

Through this effort, we seek to:

• Build community of practice
• Accelerate greening government efforts
• Leverage international partnerships and utilize economies of scale
• Strengthen foundation for industry collaboration
• Amplify experimentation and innovation
• Create momentum and inspire continuous improvement

This initiative builds a community of practice for leaders and teams directly responsible for national government sustainability operations. The title will vary depending on government's organization.

There will be up to four sessions organized each year for countries to share ongoing efforts, present initiatives, discuss new ways to work together, and help each other recognize and address challenges involved in the process of greening national government operations. Ahead of these sessions, there will be opportunities to suggest ideas, initiatives, challenges or other topics of interest to the community. As a community of practice, we also expect that governments will elect to collaborate on a bilateral basis as the United States and Canada has done over the past six years. We hope all nations will participate in bringing ideas to the group. Email GGI@ceq.eop.gov if you are interested in speaking at or attending future meetings.

All countries can participate in GGI. Governments are working to address common challenges to green their own government operations, GGI simply brings them together. Country representatives are being asked to endorse the Concept Note to be considered participants.

There is no commitment required other than sharing and learning from others through GGI activities. There is no expectation for financial commitments or setting new goals. The GGI is intended to be a forum where government sustainability leaders navigating similar issues can engage in conversation to support best practices and further national objectives.

Participation is expected to be broad as all national governments face challenges in greening their operations. Governments who elected participation between the Climate Week September 22, 2021, formal launch and November 2021 COP26 ministerial are considered inaugural participants. Other government participants will be welcomed on a rolling basis.

GGI is a forum to share best practices, learn from colleagues and discover relevant tools and strategies to advance government sustainability agendas. There is, however, no funding available through this Initiative.