As world leaders meet in Poland for the 24th United Nations climate summit, efforts are also under way at home in Honolulu to work toward the same global sustainability goals.

The UN and Hawaii Green Growth, a local nonprofit, have officially become partners working toward those goals through the establishment of a collaboration center, called a Local 2030 Hub, in Honolulu.

As a hub, the group, which describes itself as a private-public partnership committed to achieving economic, social and environmental goals in the Hawaii, will work with the UN to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 global goals it adopted in 2015 to improve health and education while tackling climate change.

No funding is involved, but Hawaii Green Growth receives support from the UN and joins a global network striving for the same goals, including organizations in Liverpool, Senegal, Utrecht, Mexico, Columbia, New York and Miami. Kamehameha Schools, a partner, is offering to host the hub’s meetings at its properties.

“Action at the local level is key to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals,” said Hawaii Green Growth executive director Celeste Connors in a news release. “Hawaii’s efforts and collaboration by public and private sector partners is being recognized by the international community as a model. Together with the United Nations, Hawaii can implement and scale solutions and an island worldview that can have a major impact regionally and globally.”

In January, the hub will host the Sustainability Business Forum, which brings top-level executives from the state to launch a “Green Your Business Initiative” and to collaborate on a carbon offset pilot project in Hawaii.

The UN extended the invitation to Hawaii Green Growth in recognition of an initiative it launched called Aloha + Challenge, which is a statewide commitment to six goals aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The nonprofit launched an online “Aloha + Challenge Dashboard” to track the state’s progress towards achieving those goals.

The UN also recognized Hawaii Gov. David Ige’s leadership through his Sustainable Hawaii Initiative and signing of the Paris agreement. Both the state City and County of Honolulu are also partners of Hawaii Green Growth.

“As an isolated land mass, Hawaii has long understood the challenges of finite resources and developed a culture of sustainability,” said Gov. David Ige in a news release. “We gladly accept this United Nations recognition as a UN Local 2030 Hub. Hawaii will rise to the challenge of leadership, pointing the way for other island entities to create local and culturally appropriate responses to sustainability challenges.”

Ige also tweeted: “Honored to launch a partnership with the @UN to establish the Hawaii Green Growth Local2030 Hub for sustainability solutions. @HIGreenGrowth #HiGov.”

Ige first launched his Sustainable Hawaii Initiative at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress, which was hosted for the first time in September of that year by the U.S. at the Hawaii Convention Center. The Congress takes place once every four years.

Action at the local level is imperative to achieving the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and meeting the 1.5 degree-Celsius limit, according to UN Global Compact Cities Programme director Michael Nolan.

“Through our collaboration with the UN-wide Local 2030 initiative, we will jointly share the experience, solutions and innovations from Hawaii and other island nations to our vast network of businesses and cities in order to accelerate local level implementation” of the Sustainable Development Goals, he said.