Wal-Mart and Clinton join forces to cut costs for green cities

The cost to the world's cities of deploying green technologies could soon fall after the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and retail giant Wal-Mart announced they were joining forces to bring down the price of products such as energy efficient building materials and lighting systems.

The partnership was unveiled at a summit of US mayors late last week where it was also confirmed that 1,100 US cities will join the purchasing consortium operated by the CCI and including the C40 group of the world's 40 largest cities.

Under the new alliance, Wal-Mart and the CCI have committed to collaborate on identifying green technologies, developing new specifications and co-operating when sourcing new products, including "going to market at co-ordinated times in order to maximise purchasing power and drive down costs".

The partnership is expected to initially target energy efficient LED lighting for both interior and street lamps, variable-speed heating ventilation and air conditioning technology (HVAC) and solar power purchases.

Lee Scott, president and chief executive of Wal-Mart, said that the alliance was a prime example of how companies, non-profit organisations and the public sector could work together to drive environmental improvements.

"By combining our resources, we can help drive innovation, create new technology markets and ultimately reduce this country's dependence on foreign oil," he said.

The CCI's purchasing consortium has already delivered major cost savings on energy efficient lighting, construction, transportation and waste projects for the world's largest cities, having negotiated discounted pricing agreements with 25 manufacturers. As a result, city authorities can exploit volume discounts to procure many commodity products at up to 15 per cent below current prices and non-commodity items at between 15 and 70 per cent less.

Conference president, Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, welcomed the extension of the consortium to include US cities, arguing it would "provide heightened opportunities" for urban America to limit its environmental impact.