Bangkok--29 Sep--UNISBKK
As Manila battles the most severe flooding in 40 years and as climate change negotiators meet in Bangkok in hopes of advancing a climate change deal, city leaders and their national counterparts on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiating teams met to discuss the importance of helping cities to adapt to the risks posed by climate change.
The Cities and Resilience Dialogue was organized in parallel to the current negotiations in Bangkok by the Rockefeller Foundation’s Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) jointly with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR), the ProVention Consortium and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI).
City leaders from India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines called for increased support for local government efforts in adaptation.
Asian cities and towns need to become a major focus of climate change adaptation efforts since they are the locus of major economic assets most at risk from climate impacts and they are home to the most vulnerable tiers of the population. Around 80% of the region’s GDP is produced in cities and towns, and 40% of urban residents are slum dwellers.
Given Asia’s rapidly growing urban population - projected to account for more than 60% of the global population growth over the next 30 years - coupled with the unavoidable impact of climate change, the region is expected to face a multitude of unprecedented risks over the next few decades. Climate change impacts ranging from increased severity of coastal storms and flooding to more erratic rainfall patterns and periodic droughts are expected.
“As we watched the devastating flooding in Manila over the weekend, there can be no more compelling reminder of the need to put urban resilience at the heart of our efforts to address climate change in the coming decade.
Asia’s cities are booming economic centers attracting thousands of new residents each day, and we need to invest in ensuring that these cities remain safe, resilient and vibrant,” said Rockefeller Foundation Managing Director Ashvin Dayal.
Cities and towns can be key players in climate change response strategies.
Not only do they provide the link to communities affected, but also to local knowledge, necessary to provide creative solutions. Responses to climate change need to be holistic, cross-sectoral and integrated, and local governments can act as an appropriate platform in this regard. In order to tap into this potential, however, adequate capacity development which is tailored to the needs of local actors is required.
Cities are willing to invest their resources in developing resilience to climate change, but adequate support is required from central governments in order to maximize returns on investment in adaptation. In this connection, cities called for enhanced transparency and clear criteria to access national funds to be made available for adaptation.
At the same time, local action needs to be supported by an enabling national policy framework. Cities called for an effective integration of city resilience into development policy and planning, in particular into national climate change action plans, disaster risk reduction, as well as poverty reduction strategies.
In order to effectively address the impacts of climate change, though, local and national actions alone may not be sufficient. Regional cooperation is required, in particular in the context of transboundary issues, including the management of shared water or forestry resources.
Under the umbrella of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), launched in January 2009, selected cities are developing climate change risk and vulnerability strategies involving diverse local stakeholders and climate and technical experts to be followed by the development of a range of resilience-building interventions - from climate-resilient housing, to more effective water management, as well as the nurturing of new private sector opportunities to create adaptation-related business models - based on local context, city-specific risks and vulnerabilities and alignment with existing city priorities.
While providing the most comprehensive and inclusive intergovernmental forum in the Asia-Pacific region, ESCAP actively engages local governments across the region to bridge regional and local actions on pressing regional socio-economic priorities. This is done by promoting networking and city-to-city cooperation, through networks of cities created under the auspices of ESCAP, such as CITYNET and the Kitakyushu Initiative for a Clean Environment, as well as by identifying and testing innovative solutions, such as low-cost and decentralized environmental management solutions.
The Local Government Roadmap Project of ICLEI aims to demonstrate the critical role local government can play in supporting their national governments’ climate change strategies, while ISDR is working within Asian countries to promote the development of national platforms for disaster risk reduction and linking them to local initiatives.