AUGUST 2010 / ISSUE 03 ACCCRN NEWSLETTER. ACCCRN... · At the closing of the 1st World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change (the Congress), Konrad Otto-Zimmermann,

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AUGUST 2010ACCCRN NEWSLETTER

ACCCRN NEWSLETTER2 ADAPTATION FUNDING REFORM

4 BUILDING RESILIENCE FOR A GREENER, GREATER NEW YORK

5 SPOTLIGHT ON INDIA

6 Q&A

8 UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

AUGUST 2010 / ISSUE 03

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ISSUE 03 ACCCRN NEWSLETTER

ADAPTATION FUNDING REFORM

INTERVIEW WITH KONRAD OTTO-ZIMMERMANN, ICLEI:

FEATURE ARTICLE

Otto-Zimmermann explains that typically

only national governments, or applications

approved by and channeled through national

governments, may apply for funding from

global Institutions. This results in the creation

of nationally minded adaptation plans, which

can put cities at a disadvantage. Whether

funds trickle down to the local level and

represent local needs largely depends on

the national government in question. In the

context of climate change adaptation, this

approach could create missed opportunities

to drive more locally owned and contextually

relevant interventions.

Regarding reform, Mr. Otto-Zimmermann

argues that the solution is fairly simple: Let

cities develop policies and projects locally

and determine their own funding needs.

This would effectively be an inversion of

the current funding structure and would put

city-level actors in the driverís seat, instead

of making them solely dependent on the

priorities as viewed by national governments

and donors. According to Otto-Zimmermann,

a practical solution would be to establish a

mechanism for cities to present their funding

needs to the international market and let

donors and lenders come to them. Apart from

generating more locally-developed solutions,

this approach would allow funders to

experiment with more customized and flexible

lending terms for vulnerable communities

based on city-specific contexts. In turn, this

would improve the efficiency and potential

for localization of projects. Otto-Zimmermann

reports that this idea received unanimous

support at the Congress, which mandated the

establishment of a task force to examine the

proposal in detail.

"Let cities, and the vulnerable communities that reside in them, apply for funding for adaptation from global institutions themselves."

PHOTO: KONRAD OTTO-ZIMMERMANN

At the closing of the 1st World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to

Climate Change (the Congress), Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Secretary

General of ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability, issued a plea:

Let cities, and the vulnerable communities that reside in them, apply

for adaptation funding from global institutions themselves. APCO

Worldwide, an ACCCRN partner, interviewed Mr. Otto-Zimmermann

and asked him to further clarify this idea.

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ACCCRN takes a funding approach that

focuses on local solutions, and it is currently

making funding available for project

implementation in its partner cities. This

funding is based on the citiesí own evidence-

based resilience plans ó plans that articulate

and justify priority their activities. ACCCRN

is also building city-level capacity to apply for

funding from other donors and government

sources.

"Let cities develop policies and projects locally and determine their own funding needs."

FEATURE ARTICLE

FAST-START FUNDING BALANCE

The first ACCCRN newsletter reported on last December’s United

Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) in Copenhagen,

Denmark, where developed countries put adaptation needs on

an equal basis with mitigation. Has this come to pass? The graph

below displays the breakdown between adaptation and mitigation

of the financial promises of the EU, Australia, Norway, the United

States (US), and the United Kingdom (UK).

The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) hosted and

facilitated the "Building Resilience to Climate

Change in Asian Cities" session at the 1st World

Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate

Change, held in Bonn, Germany, from May

28-30. The World Congress, an initiative of

ACCCRN at Bonn

ICLEIñLocal Governments for Sustainability,

brought together local governments, experts,

and practitioners to discuss various issues

related to resilience.

Drawn from ACCCRN regional and local

partners, the session drew on the experiences

of panelists who are currently working to

make ACCCRN cities resilient to climate

change and climate variability, such as

ICLEIñLocal Governments for Sustainability,

Thailand Environmental Institute, Mercy

Corps, Institute of Social and Environmental

Transition, Gorakhpur Environmental Action

Group, and the National Institute of Science

and Technology in Hanoi, Vietnam. The

Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP), based

in Washington D.C., also participated. RFís

session, with presentations and audience

discussion, provided a forum to share processes

, methods, and tools that the cities are

employing to build climate change resilience.

ACCCRN also participated in the pre-

conference Cities and Climate Change

Initiative (CCCI) Partners' Meeting convened

by UN-HABITAT. The aim of the meeting

was to bring together CCCI pilot cities and

partners to share the achievements, challenges

and lessons learned in the implementation of

the initiative. An ACCCRN representative

was a panelist in the "Urban Vulnerability

Assessments in Developing Countries: Lessons

from Tool Makers and Field Testers" session.

RF also showed a clip from the RF-funded

Hot Cities documentary series in the opening

plenary of the World Congress. (See http://

www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/

multimedia/hot-cities for more information on

the Hot Cities documentary series)

PHOTO: ACCCRN

SOURCE: WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

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COLUMN

BUILDING RESILIENCE FOR A GREENER, GREATER NEW YORK

LEARNING FROM OTHER CITIES:

By Adam Freed, Acting Director, Mayor’s Office Of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability, City Of New York

Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City is taking aggressive

steps to become more sustainable, even as we grow by a million

people by 2030. In creating a greener, greater New York, we have

the opportunity to reduce the city’s vulnerability to climate risks that

we face today, even without the impacts of climate change.

Every year, New Yorkers experience heat

waves, snowstorms, nor’easters 1, tropical

storms, and torrential downpours. As a coastal

city that spans three islands and a peninsula,

New York has over 570 miles of coastline, the

most of any city in the U.S. While our density

is one of the reasons we have a low per

capita carbon footprint —one of the lowest

among global cities —it also magnifies the

consequences of climate events when they

occur. In addition, the city contains a dense

network of interconnecting infrastructure

some of which is over 100 years old—that is

susceptible to the elements. This includes 5.2

million trees, 90,000 miles of underground

electric cables, 6,600 miles of sewers, 6,000

miles of streets and highways, 2,000 bridges,

800 miles of subway, 22 power plants, four

major tunnels, and two international airports.

Addressing these existing risks is critical

to our future. And, as our climate changes,

increasing our climate resilience will become

even more necessary.

In 2008, Mayor Bloomberg launched a multi-

faceted effort to increase the city’s resilience

as part of PlaNYC, the city’s comprehensive

sustainability plan. PlaNYC outlines a science-

driven, risk-based approach that facilitates the

creation of incremental responses to climate

change. First, we needed to understand

how climate change was likely to affect

us. To do this, Mayor Bloomberg convened

the NYC Panel on Climate Change (NPCC)

to develop New York City-specific climate

change projections. Second, we launched

the NYC Climate Change Adaptation Task

Force to conduct a technical assessment of

the impacts of climate change on the city’s

critical infrastructure and develop strategies

to mitigate these risks. The Task Force was

the first effort of its kind to include members

from city, state, and federal government and

private companies. Third, we will expand the

assessment to include non-infrastructure

impacts, such as public health, buildings,

and government services, and develop a

comprehensive citywide plan.

The NPCC, whose initial work was funded by

the Rockefeller Foundation, found that New

York faces higher temperatures, more rainfall,

and rapidly rising sea levels. As a result, by

the end of the century the city’s climate may

be more similar to North Carolina than present

day New York and our sea levels could rise by

12 to 23 inches. The NPCC also projected that

extreme events —such as heat waves, short

periods of intense rain, droughts, and coastal

flooding —are likely to become more frequent

and more intense.

To successfully build resilience and adapt

to the impacts of climate change, we have

adopted and developed several best practices,

including:

• Leadership by a high-level executive;

• Links to larger sustainability activities

(PlaNYC);

• Strong partnerships with academic,

scientific, and technical experts;

• Involvement of multiple layers of

government and the private sector;

• Use of climate change projections to inform

1 A STRONG STORM AFFECTING THE NORTHEAST COAST

OF THE U.S. AND CANADA

"Mayor Bloomberg launched a multi-faceted effort to increase the city’s resilience as part of PlaNYC"

SOURCE: NEW YORK CITY PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE

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Spotlight On India: Developing Resilience Strategies

The development of resilience strategies is

based on the understanding of current and

future climate risks and future growth and

development scenarios for each city. Cities

are located in unique geographical settings

and risks associated with climate change will

vary accordingly. The participating cities in

India also face unique resource linkages and

constraints, requiring resilience strategies to

be catered to distinctive needs.

To tackle these questions, each city–Surat,

Indore, and Gorakhpur–formed a City

Advisory Committee (CAC), which consists

of representatives from the municipal

government, academia, the private sector,

civil society, and the public. Surat and

Indore also participated in a series of "Risk

to Resilience" (R2R) workshops. By taking

into consideration analyses to date, R2Rs

identified the axis of critical uncertainties

that the city could face, identified possible

early indicators to address them, and yielded

a range of technical, management and

policy intervention options. The third R2R

workshop presented the framework of the city

resilience strategy to the CAC members and

city stakeholders.

SPOTLIGHT

Surat, Indore, and Gorakhpur are in the

process of implementing pilot projects

designed to experiment with on-the-

ground actions, while continuing to deepen

stakeholder engagement and buy-in, and spark

discussions on the citiesí climate resilience

strategies. Each of these cities has also started

to develop the first round of proposals which

will be submitted to RF to support specific

resilience building interventions.

"Through PlaNYC, we are re-imagining what New York City can be—and must be—in the year 2030."

operations, management, and capital;

planning;

• Tools to help stakeholders identify and

understand their risks and opportunities;

and

• Use of a science-driven, risk-based

approach that develops incremental

responses over time.

By taking this approach, we can increase

efficiency, strengthen the city’s economy,

improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers,

reinvest in the city’s aging infrastructure, and

address existing climate risks.

Through PlaNYC, we are reimagining what

New York City can be—and must be—in the

year 2030. Addressing the challenges posed

by climate change is central to this mission

and critical to our city’s future.

"The development of resilience strategies is based on the understanding of current and future climate risks and future growth and development scenarios of the city."

LAUNCHED IN 2009 WITH AL GORE, THE NYC COOL

ROOFS PROGRAM IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN ADAPTATION

ACTION NYC IS CURRENTLY UNDERTAKING - TRYING TO

COAT ONE MILLION SQUARE FEET OF ROOFS TO REDUCE

ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND COMBAT THE URBAN

HEAT ISLAND EFFECT. SEE HTTP://WWW.NYC.GOV/

HTML/COOLROOFS/HTML/HOW/HOW.SHTML FOR MORE

INFORMATION

PHOTO: CITY OF NEW YORK

Representatives from the City Advisory Committees of Surat, Indore, and Gorakhpur met in New Delhi in May 2010 to discuss progress toward their citiesí resilience planning process. All three ACCCRN-partner cities are currently integrating the insights gleaned from the vulnerability assessments, sector studies, and climate impact and scenario planning exercises into their urban climate change resilience strategies.

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Q&A

Hat Yai, Thailand, is an ACCCRN partner city. The city is located in a

low lying plain surrounded by mountains ranges in the south of the

country. Hat Yai experiences frequent flooding and deforestation

runoff caused by heavy rain. ACCCRN partner APCO Worldwide

interviewed two Hat Yai residents who are involved in the ACCCRN

project about their experiences.

SOMPORN MUANGTHONG

Somporn Muangthong is a sanitation technician with the Engineering Bureau of Hat Yai municipality. He holds a master’s degree in environment management and is responsible for maintaining and improving Hat Yai’s environmental condition.

Somporn has been involved with ACCCRN since the initial engagement with Hat Yai. From the city selection stage, he helped to prepare environmental data in coordination with the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI).

Hat Yai, like other ACCCRN cities, has undertaken a series of group discussions that bring together a range of key actors. These multi-stakeholder engagements, called Shared Learning Dialogues (SLD), have provided a way to build a base of understanding of urban climate change impacts. Somprom explained that this type of process is good for any public development project and that it contrasts with conventional approaches where “government authorities feel they know best and implement the project regardless of the voice from the communities.”

“Thanks to ACCCRN’s tools and processes we are now thinking more outside-the-box and

"Thanks to ACCCRN’s tools and processes we are now thinking more outside-the-box"

PHOTO: SOMPORN MUANGTHONG

Q&AWITH HAI YAI RESIDENTS

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Q&A

SOMPORN SIRIPORANANON

Somporn Siriporananon is vice president of the Songkhla Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman of IMT – GT (Indonesia Malaysia Thailand – Growth Triangle), Thai Business Chapter. He is a Hat Yai native who owns a number of businesses in his home town, from property development to logistics and ventures focused on environment protection.

"The SLDs stimulate us to share experiences, thinking, and viewpoints so that everyone can move forward together."

PHOTO: SOMPORN SIRIPORANANON

Somporn is ACCCRN chairman for Hat Yai’s working group. Although ACCCRN is focused on Hat Yai municipality, Somporn has a much larger vision for how these efforts to build urban climate change resilience can reach a broader physical geography. Drawing on his own experience, he sees strong value in incorporating business and private sector actors and in identifying opportunities for public-private partnerships.

Somporn sees SLDs as a logical process to help a range of stakeholders identify key issues and priorities. Through this learning and engagement process, the city is able to focus on specific project opportunities that increase urban resilience to climate change. For example, the city and community have started to underscore the needs in terms of a coordinated and institutionalized action in the municipality. Early conceptions of possible areas of focus include generating a

are not confined to conventional top-down bureaucratic processes when implementing a project,” Somporn said. Rather, the approach allows for perspectives and contributions from a range of stakeholders in the city to help build toward a more resilient future.

The SLD methodology is new among government officials. Somporn discussed the value of the approach and how through a facilitated process he has come to understand the breadth and depth of knowledge within the community. Through the SLDs, Somporn said he has been able to learn and share ideas with other government agencies, and also with communities, which are repositories for tremendous indigenous knowledge. In addition to the new methods, processes, and techniques that Somporn has gained from ACCCRN, he also discussed the value of the new relationships that have formed through his involvement. He was inspired to discover how many other people are also committed to improving the quality of life in the city. ACCCRN has provided a space for practitioners engaged in efforts to increase urban climate change resilience to engage with other city champions and thought leaders.

This sharing of experiences and best practices is essential to building new communities of practice that cut across a range of sectoral divisions and geographies. It also, Somporn expressed, makes this pioneering work less lonely and isolating.

strong base of urban climate change resilience-related knowledge and data, establishing an early warning system, and developing an institutional mechanism in the city to help direct coordinated UCCR activities.

Despite the fact that the city team is comprised of representatives from more than 10 different organizations, Somporn believes that the team is moving very fast. He attributes this to a sense of shared objectives. “The SLDs stimulate us to share experiences, thinking, and viewpoints so that everyone can move forward together,” Somporn said.

In the coming months, Hat Yai will continue to synthesize learnings from a set of commissioned studies and from the SLD processes. City stakeholders eventually will map out a city resilience strategy and propose a set of measures aimed at increasing urban climate change resilience.

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ACCCRN PARTNERS

UPCOMING ACTIVITIESAnnouncement

Public Events

Invitation Only Events

August 15

Ashoka calls for nominations of innovative social entrepreneurs in Asian

cities working to prepare the public to deal with the anticipated social

effects of climate change.

October 21-22

Asia Pacific Climate Change

Adaptation Forum, Bangkok,

Thailand

September 8-9

ACCCRN India National

Workshop

November TBD

ACCCRN Thailand National

Workshop

The Rockefeller Foundation’s Climate Change Resilience Initiative

aims to catalyze attention, funding and action to support vulnerable

communities as they respond proactively in an effort to manage the

risks associated with climate change. The Initiative provides support for

the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, capacity building

in the agricultural sector in Africa, and strengthened adaptation policies

and resilience efforts by the United States.

The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network supports

local communities to cope with and respond to climate change

impacts by developing their capacity to plan, finance, and implement

robust response models. The Network provides a platform for sharing

experience, knowledge, and resources among stakeholders on

effective practices, to promote the resilience concept and expansion of

response models in a growing number of cities.

For more information on these events please contact [email protected]

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

SUPPORTED BY

See www.ashoka.org/nominate or

contact Chris Cusano at [email protected]

for more information.

AUGUST 2010 / ISSUE 03 ACCCRN NEWSLETTER. ACCCRN... · At the closing of the 1st World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change (the Congress), Konrad Otto-Zimmermann,

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