Gino Van Begin
Gino Van Begin is the Secretary General of ICLEI, the leading global network of more than 1,750 cities, towns and regions committed to building a sustainable future. Gino has been working for ICLEI for more than 15 years. In his roles as Regional Director for Europe (since 2002), Deputy Secretary General (since 2007) and Secretary General (since 2013), he has consistently worked towards ensuring ICLEI’s quality as a not-for-profit, responsible and forward-looking local government organization serving its members worldwide.
Over his 15 years at ICLEI, Gino has witnessed cities becoming home to over half of the world population while simultaneously facing more and more challenges. At the same time, he had a privileged view over the capacity of cities to respond to these challenges despite their limited means. Without waiting for national states to take action, they have started looking for local solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change, to increase their resilience, to become less dependent on fossil fuels and, overall, to increase their sustainability.
