ICLEI South Asia - May 2019

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Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific 2019 - Special E-News

May 2019

Emani Kumar
Deputy Secretary General, ICLEI and Executive Director, ICLEI South Asia

Warm greetings to all our readers!

It gives me immense pleasure to share that the 4^th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific Congress 2019 concluded successfully in New Delhi with more than 200 participants in attendance.

The event was graced by the Honourable Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, who urged cities to strive towards adopting multi-dimensional and innovative approaches to promote low emission development.

This edition will highlight the different themes covered in the Congress sessions that led to the adoption of the Delhi Call for Action towards resilient development in the Asia-Pacific.

Read on to know more!

UN Agencies Discuss Role of Local Governments in Achieving SDGs, NDCs

"If we keep on making development investments and do not take care of disaster risks, we will never achieve sustainability,” said Animesh Kumar, Deputy Chief, UNISDR in the United Nations session. The plenary brought together various UN representatives to discuss the role of local and sub-national governments to implement and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the Nationally Determined Contributions, the Sendai Framework and the New Urban Agenda of 2016.

Cities Discuss Strategies to Integrate Resilience in Local Development

The Transformative Actions to Enhance Urban Resilience session discussed the integration of urban resilience in infrastructure development. The session recognised the need for long-term finance mechanisms to support such integration locally.

Asia-Pacific Cities Share Learnings in Forwarding Low Emission Development

This session on Low Emission Development Strategies for Asia Region discussed the role of local low-carbon initiatives in achieving NDC targets. It was reinforced, in the session, that across the different sectors among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, small approaches can grow to have big impacts in the long-term.

Insights on Integrated Action Planning for Urban Climate Resilience

This session delved into the outcomes and learnings from the CapaCITIES project supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. This initiative aims to strengthen the capacities of cities to identify, plan, and implement urban resilience. The session highlighted the need for city to city cooperation as well as vertical and horizontal integration in the region.

Highlighting the Role of Public Participation in Forwarding Local Climate Action

Every failure is an opportunity to learn how to do better was a sentiment that underscored the discussions in a session on Good Urban Governance Mechanisms to Improve Climate Resilience. The plenary discussed the critical role of public participation with reference to a range of Indian initiatives under the European Union funded PROMISE project.

Experts Discuss Solutions for Climate Adaptive Water Management

"We need to bring in advanced levels of applied science and involve local communities so that they understand how to manage and regulate water use,” pointed out Crispino Lobo, Watershed Organization Trust. The session on Climate Adaptive Water Management focused on climate induced challenges and collaborative approaches to integrated water resource management.

Peer Exchange on Finance and Investable Climate Action Planning

The session facilitated the exchange of sustainable urban planning practices to develop climate-related bankable projects at sub-national level. The second part of the panel explored relevant developments on accessing finance and shared experiences and lessons learnt.

Experts Discuss Mainstreaming Sustainable Urban Development

The session highlighted lessons and insights from the implementation of the Integrated Resource Management in Asian Cities: The Urban Nexus project, that is being implemented by GIZ, ICLEI and UNESCAP. The session discussed the integrated approach to sustainable urban development through optimised resource utilisation in water, waste, energy and food sectors.

Building Climate Resilience through Nature-Based Solutions

This session focused on how nature-based solutions contribute towards improved service delivery and building urban resilience. Reviving and managing existing ecosystems will help to improve critical ecosystem services was a core message from the session.

International Finance Organisations Discuss Improving Cities’ Access to Financing Mechanisms

“Money is just money until it is in your pocket. When you put that money out, then it becomes capital,” shared Ms. Supee Teravaninthorn, AIIB in the financing urban resilience session. Panelists discussed how cities could be supported in designing and planning for integrated, feasible, and bankable climate related projects.

Enhancing Effective Communication of Climate Knowledge to Meet Sub-National Needs

In this session, hosted by CDKN, discussions revolved around how action on climate depends upon effective communication. Localising climate information to invest in climate solutions and the need to involve relevant stakeholders to improve planning process were the core messages from the session.

Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific Congress Ends with Deliberations on ‘Delhi Call’

The RCAP 2019 concluded with the announcement of the Delhi Call for Action. The Call reinforces local governments' commitments towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement, integrated with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework, and the New Urban Agenda.

Developing Low Emission Development Strategies in India and Bangladesh

During the RCAP 2019, project city representatives convened to identify priority issues to be taken up through the Urban Low Emission Development Strategies project. The cities, Narayanganj and Rajshahi in Bangladesh and Nagpur and Thane in India, showed interest to focus on green spaces, integrated waste management, water resilience and low carbon mobility.

Webinar Series on Smart Urban Mobility and Built Environment

A series of webinars were hosted on Non-Motorised Transport, Intermediate Public Transport, Parking Management under Smart Cities Mission and Energy Conservation Building Code. Improving last mile connectivity, strategies for on-street parking management and junction improvement to combat congestion issues were some of the topics discussed.

Preparing Holistic Strategy and Action Plan for Plastic Waste Management in Hyderabad

A stakeholder workshop was conducted in Hyderabad, to discuss potential strategies for improving plastic waste management. ICLEI South Asia is providing technical assistance to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to prepare a plastic waste management strategy, in partnership with IGES – CCET.

Resilient Cities 2019

Join the 10^th annual Resilient Cities Congress where local governments, researchers, businesses and civil society contribute their knowledge and expertise to the advancement of urban resilience. The Congress will be held from 26^th to 28^th June in Bonn, Germany.

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