ICLEI South Asia - October 2018

ICLEI South Asia E-News

October 2018

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

Warm greetings to all our readers!

Last month was extremely rewarding for us. We are proud to announce that Siliguri is the first city in India to have adopted the Climate Resilient City Action Plan. The plan was prepared by our team under the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation funded CapaCITIES project. We are also happy that Rajkot city won WWF’s Global One Planet City Challenge, for the second time in a row. The announcement was made at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, United States. Our member cities - Rajkot and Nagpur, participated in the summit in different capacities.

In other news, the GIZ Urban Nexus Project organized and financed a technical tour to Germany, which focused on Innovative Solid Waste Processing. The tour was facilitated by ICLEI South Asia. Attended by the officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, NITI Aayog and Karnataka State Government, the study tour was highly successful. Details can be found in the e-news.

Besides this, we have initiated a new project where our team will provide technical support to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi to improve the mobility sector. The project, in partnership with Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, focuses on low carbon transport.

Read on to know more.

Siliguri Becomes the First City to Adopt Climate Resilient City Action Plan

The Climate Resilient City Action Plan (CRCAP), developed for the city of Siliguri through Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) supported CapaCITIES project, was deliberated upon in a stakeholder consultation. Following the same, the plan was tabled in the Member Mayor in Councils Meeting, where it was accepted. The plan was then presented in the Board Meeting of Siliguri Municipal Corporation and was unanimously adopted. With this, Siliguri becomes the first city in India to adopt the CRCAP. Through the interventions proposed in the CRCAP, the city of Siliguri has committed to reduce annual GHG emissions by 14.6% by 2022-23, compared to the baseline GHG emissions in 2015-16.

ICLEI South Asia Member Cities Shine at Global Climate Action Summit 2018

Rajkot city has been declared as the National Winner for WWF’s Global One Planet City Challenge. WWF works in collaboration with ICLEI South Asia, which assists cities in reporting their data on the carbonn® Climate Registry platform. Rajkot has also prepared the CRCAP 2020 draft, as part of the CapaCITIES project, which includes detailed GHG emissions and energy inventory, vulnerability and risk assessment for various sectors, and interventions focused on low carbon, climate resilient development. The city was felicitated at the Global Climate Action Summit at San Francisco, United States. Ms. Nanda Jhichkar, Hon'ble Mayor of Nagpur, was also part of a panel on climate action in India at the summit.

Technical Training and Exposure Visit to Innovative Solid Waste Treatment Processes in Germany

The GIZ Regional Urban Nexus project, financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ) offered an opportunity for introducing and building the capacities of the officials on innovative solid waste treatment processes at Ringsheim, Germany. Officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, NITI Aayog and the State Government of Karnataka participated in the study tour. The training included various activities like providing basic understanding of mechanical biological waste treatment and introducing Maximum Yield Technology to the participants.

SWM City Cluster Workshop Organised in Pimpri Chinchwad

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has engaged National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) to conduct a series of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) solid waste management exposure workshops in the country. NIUA has further contracted ICLEI South Asia, Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) and India PPP Capacity Building Trust to conduct these training in Pimpri-Chinchwad (Maharashtra), Warrangal and Hyderabad (Telengana). The first training workshop was organised in Pimrpi-Chinchwad from 26^th 28^th September, 2018. Around 50 officials comprising of chief executive officers, health officers and engineers working in solid waste management from 21 cities participated in the training workshop.

Awareness Programme for Corporation School Students in Coimbatore

To create awareness among the school students, Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation organised a program at Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School. The initiative was held under the CapaCITIES Sunya project and was supported by Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College. The aim of this programme was to sensitise the students about the importance of at source segregation, anti-plastics and hygiene measures to prevent dengue.

Sensitisation Workshop on Environmental Conservation and Climate Change for Delhi Schools

With support from Department of Environment, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, a Sensitisation Workshop on Environmental Conservation and Climate Change was organised for students and teachers of over 100 schools in Delhi. The workshop aimed at making the students aware of the significance of biodiversity and natural resources and how climate change is impacting the same. The students and teachers also participated in group activities like quiz competition and detailing out steps to address climate change and conserve biodiversity.

Working Group Meeting in Visakhapatnam, Ludhiana under Cities SHIFT Project

SHIFT Working Group meeting was organised in Visakhapatnam and Ludhiana under the Cities SHIFT: Capacity building and Networking for Sustainable Urban Mobility project, funded by Hewlett Foundation and EcoMobility Alliance. The meeting focused on assisting city officials to conduct SHIFT assessment, a process that allows cities to measure performance and identify specific strengths as well as weaknesses in the field of mobility by assessing a set of indicators. The process will also propose ways to improve eco-mobility.

Waste Management and Waste Segregation Activities Organised in Udaipur

As part of the CapaCITIES project, ICLEI South Asia organised a public meeting in ward 1 of Udaipur city. The initiative was part of the Information Education Communication activities that are being conducted in ward 1 and ward 41 to make people aware of waste management and waste segregation. Some of the key issues discussed during the meeting include improving public participation for at-source waste segregation process; construction of a bio-methanation plant to scientifically dispose the waste and importance of source segregation among others.

Stakeholder Consultation Meeting under PROMISE Project in Warangal

A city level stakeholder consultation meeting, under the European Union funded PROMISE project, was organised with officials of Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation in Warangal city. The objective of the meeting was to update officials on progress of the project. In addition to this, formulation of city core group committee and finalisation of next steps in the project were also discussed. The project team is in touch with the Nodal Officer for the project to finalise detailed assessment of open spaces in the study area.

First Project Steering Committee Meeting in Delhi

Under the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supported INTERACT-Bio project, the first Project Steering Committee meeting was held in Delhi. The project is also supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. In the meeting, the project progress and activities planned were presented by ICLEI South Asia team. The pilot projects planned in Kochi include well restoration and urban farming in Manappattiparambu; well restoration in PalluruthiJanatha Junction; development of butterfly garden and Nature Interpretation Centre in Subhash Chandra Bose Park, and Thevera Canal restoration. A detailed study on the site specific ecosystem services, provided by mangroves, will also be undertaken.

Technical Assistance to Support Low Carbon Mobility Strategies in Delhi

ICLEI South Asia, with support from Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, aims to provide technical support to Delhi and develop strategies for improving its mobility sector. The project team will focus on assisting the city in improving and strengthening the existing public transport. Special emphasis will be laid on low carbon transport including buses, improving last mile connectivity and introduction of electric vehicles.

Local Renewables Conference 2018

The City of Freiburg, the City of Basel and ICLEI Europe are organising the Local Renewables Conference 2018 from the 24^th to 26^th October, 2018 in Freiburg, Germany. Join leading and learning cities, policy-makers from European and national governments, businesses, research and finance institutions for the 9^th edition of the Local Renewables Series. It will build on the success of previous conferences and will showcase practical and innovative examples of how to reduce energy and resource use, and make ideal use of energy sources and other resources in the region.

Conference of the Parties (COP) 14

From the 17^th to 29^th November, 2018, the United Nations will call on decision makers from more than 190 countries to step up efforts to halt the biodiversity loss and protect the ecosystems that support food and water security and health for billions of people. The UN Biodiversity Conference (14^th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity - COP 14) will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

ICLEI South Asia E-News

October 2018

Siliguri Becomes the First City to Adopt Climate Resilient City Action Plan

ICLEI South Asia Member Cities Shine at Global Climate Action Summit 2018

Technical Training and Exposure Visit to Innovative Solid Waste Treatment Processes in Germany

SWM City Cluster Workshop Organised in Pimpri Chinchwad

Awareness Programme for Corporation School Students in Coimbatore

Sensitisation Workshop on Environmental Conservation and Climate Change for Delhi Schools

Working Group Meeting in Visakhapatnam, Ludhiana under Cities SHIFT Project

Waste Management and Waste Segregation Activities Organised in Udaipur

Stakeholder Consultation Meeting under PROMISE Project in Warangal

First Project Steering Committee Meeting in Delhi

Technical Assistance to Support Low Carbon Mobility Strategies in Delhi

Local Renewables Conference 2018

Conference of the Parties (COP) 14

ICLEI South Asia Secretariat

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