12. ACCCRN Newsletter issue 2 FINAL
1
MAY 2010 / ISSUE 02
ACCCRN
NEWSLETTER
2
LESSONS FROM DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
4
MAKING CITIES CLIMATE SMART
6
ACCCRN PARTICIPATION IN UN-HABITAT WORLD URBAN FORUM 5
7
Q&A
8
UPCOMING EVENTS
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
MAY 2010
2
FEATURE ARTICLE
relationship between exposure to natural
hazards and vulnerability. In terms of hazards,
ADDRESSING EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY:
LESSONS FROM
DISASTER RISK
REDUCTION
for example, Indonesia sits on the Pacific
Ring of Fire, an area where a large number of
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. In
addition, six out of eight of the world's most
populous cities that reside on earthquake fault
lines are Asian cities.
Vulnerability is a composite of many factors
(e.g., poverty, gender, physical location,
education, access to finance and credit). An
important dynamic influencing both exposure
and vulnerability in cities is the trend of
urbanization. According to ESCAP, the pace of
urbanization in Asia is unparalleled compared
The emerging field of urban
climate change resilience has
much to learn from the field of
disaster risk reduction and the
ability to reduce losses even in
the face of a rising number of
events. However, more work
is needed to build long term
resilience to the impacts that
climate change will bring to
urban communities over longer
periods of time.
"Natural disasters
are the product of a
complex relationship
between exposure to
natural hazards and
vulnerability."
ASIAN DISASTER TRENDS
Nargis. Ketsana. Mirinae. Parma. These
names conjure up images of loss, devastation,
destruction. In the past five years alone, we
have seen countless images captured amidst
the chaos and aftershocks of natural disasters,
from cyclones to typhoons to hurricanes to
earthquakes. The Centre for Research on
Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)1 recently
revealed that natural disasters affected
to anywhere else in the world. Municipalities
nearly two billion people between 2000 and
face pressures to meet growing demands for
2009, the vast majority affected by droughts,
infrastructure and services - often at a pace
hurricanes, and floods. Disasters in this time
that exceeds the capacity to respond. Poor
period killed more than 780,000 people (60%
land-use and infrastructure planning in urban
due to earthquakes), and economic costs
contexts, coastal development, exclusionary
reached a minimum of US$960 billion.
housing policies and practices, and use of
inappropriate construction materials can all
Asia, in particular, has suffered from massive
increase vulnerability and exacerbate damages
losses: the continent accounted for 85% of
from natural hazards.
all fatalities. In fact, a person living in Asia is
four times more likely to be affected by natural
disasters than someone in Africa, and 25
times more likely than someone in Europe
or North America, according to the UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP).
So, why is Asia so disproportionally affected?
Natural disasters are the product of a complex
ISSUE 02
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
1
UNLESS OTHERWISE MENTIONED, ALL STATISTICS IN
THIS ARTICLE ARE FROM CRED AND THE UNITED NATIONS
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DISASTER REDUCTION
(UNISDR)'S JOINT JANUARY 28, 2010 PRESS RELEASE.
3
FEATURE ARTICLE
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION:
adaptive capacity and participate in the urban
A CRITICAL ENTRY POINT TO URBAN
climate resilience process.
CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE
The emerging field of urban climate change
resilience (UCCR) has much to learn from the
field of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the
ability to reduce losses even in the face of a
rising number of events. Measures taken from
"Measures taken from
DRR represent an
important sub-set of
activities that can also
build toward broader
urban climate change
resilience"
The cities will then test small pilot projects to
explore specific vulnerability needs or areas,
which also help build and deepen stakeholder
engagement. For example, in ACCCRN
Vietnam partner city Quy Nhon, the VAs and
SLDs have led to pilot projects that aim to
increase their climate change preparedness.
The city is modifying housing construction
DRR represent an important sub-set of activities
by raising floor heights to respond to flooding
that can also build toward broader urban climate
risks. Climate impact assessment of Quy
change resilience - both those impacts that are
Nhon project sea level rise within the current
on the near-term horizon and those slower-onset
city boundaries.
changes that are less perceptible but present
significant threats to livelihoods, health, and
Through these actions and drawing upon both
social and cultural systems.
international and local experiences, the cities
are developing climate resilience strategies
and action plans that will enable them to
DRR also presents an entry point for city
better prepare for challenges of current and
governments and other urban leaders to
look at today's risks and exposure and how
ASIAN CITIES CLIMATE CHANGE
to manage these, especially for vulnerable
RESILIENCE NETWORK
populations and sectors. The focus of DRR
future climate change related threats.
Pilot Projects in
Gorakhpur City
tends to be on resilience-building for near-term
shock events (e.g., flooding, storm surge,
even drought). Increasingly, communities,
The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience
governments (at different scales), civil society
Network (ACCCRN) incorporates the existing
groups are undertaking actions to reduce risk
principles and best practices from urban
ACCCRN partner city Gorakhpur is situated
from disasters.
development and management, climate
on a plain in Northern India. The city is
adaptation, and DRR and aims to support
divided by two rivers and bordered by a
More work is needed, however, to
poor and vulnerable Asian urban communities
lake. The results of the city's SLDs and VAs
demonstrate the suite of impacts that climate
and systems to deal with current and future
showed these geographical characteristics are
change will bring to urban communities that
climate change related threats in a realistic
combining with urban expansion to create high
do not fit within the DRR framework - those
and actionable way.
water logging conditions (prolonged incidence
of standing water). In addition, since 90% of
impacts that will occur over longer periods
of time, such as increasing salinity in coastal
ACCCRN cities are exploring their current
the city's drains are open, solid waste often
aquifers, or changing disease vectors over
and future vulnerabilities, identifying the
enters and chokes the drainage systems, further
time. Many of the approaches developed
vulnerable populations and sectors, and are
exacerbating the issue.
by the disaster risk reduction community
beginning to develop an urban resilience
are applicable, and indeed critical to building
strategy and an action plan. They are using a
One pilot project currently underway aims to
climate change resilience. For instance, while
combination of methods and tools centered
reduce this solid waste dumping in open drains.
the particulars are debated, experts agree on
on Shared Learning Dialogues (SLDs) and
This project is a joint collaboration of the
the value of local community engagement
climate Vulnerability Assessments (VAs)
municipality, a local college, and the project
in DRR. Local involvement is crucial for a
(see the February 2010 ACCCRN newsletter
team itself. A series of leaflets will encourage
number of reasons, but most importantly, for
for more information). Through VAs, cities
residents to change their own habits regarding
the simple rationale that they are facing the
are exploring what existing capacities can
waste and recycling, and to actively participate
disaster threats, and often best equipped to
enhance their ability to adapt and be more
in city government to solicit better services.
identify contextually relevant preventative
resilient to climate change. These results
The door-to-door collection of waste from 300
solutions. The UCCR field also recognizes
will feed into the iterative SLD and resilience
households is currently being composted on the
community engagement as a critical success
planning processes. SLDs are designed to
college campus, and research is simultaneously
factor in preparing cities for climate change
ensure that vulnerable populations in each
being conducted for the production of bacteria
impacts now and in the future.
city have the opportunity to build their
to enhance the pace of composting.
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
MAY 2010
4
COLUMN
and ecological vulnerability. It is the location of
ACCCRN, at this nexus of climate vulnerability
and poverty, that makes it unique. ACCCRN
Making Cities
Climate Smart
has taken the threads of local-level action,
poverty, vulnerability and climate variability
and woven them together into the complex
tapestry of climate change resilience. It has
created a program which has moved beyond
the rhetoric of global climate negotiations
Since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, much has been
made of the importance of local government as the sphere of
government that is closest to the people.
into the real world of people's day-to-day
existence. It focuses on understanding the
extraordinary complexity and variability of
local circumstances and uses this knowledge
to draw out common themes of purposeful
activity that can be used to design a replicable,
action-based framework across a range of
Asian city contexts.
This has evolved over the years into an
reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a
understanding that the nexus of government,
range of energy efficiency and clean energy
civil society and the private sector that occurs
programs. The growing concern that the
at the local level is a vital platform for the
now unavoidable elements of climate change
implementation of key international multilateral
will continue to create severe challenges
environmental agreements (MEAs) - such as
for the developmental aspirations of local
the United Nations Framework Convention
communities has been comparatively
on Climate Change. Cities in particular, as key
neglected. As a result, there is an emerging
drivers of global consumption and production,
call from a small but growing number of
Certainly for local stakeholders worldwide,
offer significant opportunities for constructive
local governments for equal recognition and
and local governments specifically, the
action in addressing the global climate change
support to be given to the issue of climate
outcomes (or the lack thereof) of COP15 in
change adaptation.
Copenhagen are a bitter disappointment. Yet,
"ACCCRN is
unquestionably a brave
and pioneering effort."
this is counteracted to some extent by the
“we need to
re-conceptualize our
cities as places and
spaces that can survive
and continue to function
appropriately"
Climate change is, of course, not the
emergence of programs such as ACCCRN,
only challenge faced by cities. Other
which are beginning to craft new paths
significant driving forces include poverty and
and visions for cities, creating new tools,
underdevelopment; economic and social
reinvigorating old processes, forming new
change; depletion and pollution of natural
networks and partnerships, and facilitating
resources; violence and criminality, to name
meaningful and relevant local action. As
but a few. The variable combination of these
such ACCCRN is unquestionably a brave
factors in different locales means that the
and pioneering effort. Given the range of
world's cities face an increasingly uncertain
challenges we face, particularly in the cities
and unpredictable future and that we must
of the Global South, it is precisely these sorts
challenge through the establishment of local
respond to climate change within the context
of bold, new interventions that are required
partnerships and focused local action.
of a host of social-economic-ecological drivers.
to support the critical local alliance of local
In essence we need to re-conceptualize our
government, civil society and the private
While figures may vary, current estimates are
cities as places and spaces that can survive
sector. Only in this way will it be possible to
that cities account for more than half of global
and continue to function appropriately under a
ensure that existing development gains, and
greenhouse gas emissions and for about
wide variety of ever-changing, and often more
long-term aspirations of a more sustainable
two thirds of global energy use. Pioneering
hazardous, climatic conditions. Our cities need
development path, are not lost on the rubbish
initiatives such as the C40 (a group of large
to become "climate smart."
heap of global climate change.
Climate Initiative have been established to
Nowhere is this challenge greater than in the
Dr. Debra Roberts (Ethekwini Municipality-
respond to this challenge. In most cases,
cities of the developing world, where large,
Durban, South Africa and ACCCRN Advisory
however, these new interventions echo the
poor, urbanizing populations exist under
Board Member).
existing international bias towards mitigation
conditions of service delivery deficit, climatic
and are focused primarily on helping cities
variability and high levels of social, economic
ISSUE 02
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
cities tackling climate change) and Clinton
robertsd@durban.gov.za
5
SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight On Thailand
Thailand's Participation in ACCCRN
HAT YAI (THAILAND) CITY KICK-OFF MEETING, JANUARY 2010. PHOTO: ACCCRN
DEBRA ROBERTS
Selected in 2009, the cities of Chiang Rai
and Hat Yai in Thailand are the latest
additions to the ACCCRN network.
Debra Roberts, PhD, heads the
Environmental Planning and Climate
Protection Department of Ethekwini
Municipality in Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Roberts is also vice-chair of UNHabitat's HS-NET Advisory Board, which
Hat Yai, located in Thailand's south, is highly
urbanized and is prone to flooding. Chiang
Rai, in the north and more rural, faces
challenges from water and air pollution, as
well as severe landslides.
is currently working on the 2011 "Cities
and Climate Change" Global Report. Dr.
Roberts has also written widely in the fields
of environmental management and climate
protection and has received numerous
awards for her work.
"As newcomers to the
ACCCRN program,
these two cities have
the benefit of learning
best practices from the
ACCCRN's other
urban centers."
Three other cities, Udon Thani, Samut
Sakorn, and Phuket are participating as
observers in this process in order to construct
their own understanding of concepts,
frameworks, and applied methodologies for
shared learning and resilience planning.
The two core cities are off to a great start in
the ACCCRN program. In January 2010,
with the help of local partner the Thai
Environmental Institute (TEI), both cities
held a project kick-off event, designed to raise
awareness of ACCCRN and climate change
issues in general. Both events were wellattended by various stakeholders, the general
public, and the local media. The mayor and
deputy governor of Chiang Rai delivered
opening remarks, with over 50 participants
attending the event. In Hat Yai, the city's
mayor gave the opening remarks, and over 150
participants attended.
Chiang Rai and Hat Yai have also selected
core working groups comprised of provincial
and local government officials, academics,
businesses, local NGOs, and members of
the community. These groups attended
their respective city's first Shared Learning
Dialogue, at which participants identified
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
critical systems for the functioning of the city,
as well as vulnerable populations and areas.
Hat Yai participants specifically identified
the city's critical systems as water supply and
waste management, for example. TEI reports
that city partners and working groups have
been fully engaged throughout this process.
Sharing between the two cities is going well,
too. Two representatives from Chiang Rai
have visited Hat Yai, and there is a plan for
the reverse, as well. They shared insights
regarding the process of the program, as well
as similar environmental hazards.
Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, and local academic
institutions will take the next step of
conducting Vulnerability Assessments (VA),
so they can more concretely determine the
population groups and systems most at risk
from climate change. Following that, technical
partner SEA START will carry out a climate
VA, and both assessments will be presented at
the second SLD scheduled for May.
A meeting with national-level stakeholders will
also take place in May, where the working groups
from Chiang Rai and Hat Yai will present the
results of their assessments and SLDs.
As newcomers to the ACCCRN program,
these two cities have the benefit of learning
best practices from the ACCCRN's other
urban centers. TEI reports that the regional
ACCCRN meeting held this past March
helped the Thai cities understand the
program's bigger picture. Thai city partners
are also looking forward to utilizing the
networking fund that ISET has made
available to visit other city partners in
different countries.
MAY 2010
6
WORLD URBAN FORUM
ACCCRN Participation In UN-Habitat
World Urban Forum 5
Program Director of Mercy Corp Indonesia
and ACCCRN partner, discussed the work of
Mercy Corps Indonesia in relation to reducing
vulnerabilities to climate change.
Ms. Kooy shared that the participants of
the ACCCRN network have learned to look
beyond direct climate change impacts, such
as flooding, to indirect effects on systems and
populations. They have also realized that they
must move beyond physical interventions to
examine more structural issues. Instead of
working in isolation, they should mainstream
effective strategies. Or as Ms. Kooy said
in her concluding remarks during the panel
discussion,"Climate change provides not
MEMBERS OF THE MERCY CORPS INDONESIA DELEGATION AT THE WORLD URBAN FORUM. PHOTO: MICHELLE KOOY
MERCY CORPS
The fifth session of the World
Urban Forum (WUF) took place
in March in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, and had a record 21,000
delegates from around the world.
The theme of the forum was 'Bridging the
Urban Divide.' Its aim was to narrow the gaps
“climate change also
provides a pathway
to renew the call for
provision of basic needs to
urban poor communities”
between wealthy and poor people, national
and city authorities, gender and youth issues
in urban settings. At WUF, ACCCRN hosted
a networking event entitled 'Lessons from
Practice: Toward Climate Change Resilient
Cities.' The event included panelists who are
representatives of ACCCRN and the North
American Urban Leaders Adaptation Initiative
(led by Center for Clean Air Policy). The
session, which included presentations and
audience discussion, provided a forum to share
only a pathway and a motivation towards
processes, methods, and tools that cities are
environmental sustainability, but climate
employing to build climate change resilience.
change also provides a pathway to renew
the call for provision of basic needs to urban
ISSUE 02
In addition, ACCCRN partner Mercy Corp
poor communities' as lack of urban services,
participated in another WUF session:
decreased mobility, living on marginal lands,
'Thematic Open Debate for Dialogue 6
inadequate shelter, and lack of participation in
'Sustainable Urbanization: Cities in a Changing
the political systems and decision making all
Climate. 'At this event, Michelle Kooy, Urban
make poor communities more vulnerable."
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
7
Q&A
Q&A
ON THE ROLE OF CLIMATE WORKING GROUPS
currently consists of 11 members
from various departments;
including, Foreign Affairs; Natural
Resources and Environment;
Construction; Agriculture and
Rural Development; Planning and
Investment; Health; Education and
Training; Labor, Invalids and
Social Affairs; Transportation;
Culture, Sports and Tourism;
and Institute of Planning and
Construction.
Da Nang is one of three cities in Vietnam selected
to participate in ACCCRN, along with Can Tho, and
Quy Nhon. In each city, project leadership rests
with the People's Committee. A vice-chairman
leads the Project Steering Committee, which is
comprised of relevant technical departments and
civil society organizations, with the participation
of Challenge to Change (CtC) and the Institute for
Social and Environment Transition (ISET). Climate The original mandate of the WG
was to assist the PMB in carrying
Working Groups provide technical support.
INTRODUCTION
Q: WHAT EXACTLY IS DOFA’S ROLE
IN ACCCRN?
The city of Da Nang synthesized
four technical climate
vulnerability studies into one easyto-understand report, which was
then presented to the Peoples'
Committee, the city of Da Nang's
executive body.
This report was the city's own
initiative (raised after the 2nd
Shared Learning Dialogue),
undertaken by the City Climate
Working Group (WG), to help
increase political leadership of
the issues, and increase awareness
for climate resilience actions.
The result has been greater local
ownership and buy-in for the
resilience planning process.
In Da Nang, the WG leads
the city-level planning and
implementation activities
for ACCCRN. ACCCRN's
communications partner APCO
Worldwide posed questions about
the WG to Ms. Hanh, Deputy
Director of the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DoFA), the
ACCCRN City-level Coordinator:
A:The role of DoFA in this project
is to be a facilitator. We coordinate
activities, communicate amongst
the different member departments,
and make connections between
donors (Rockefeller Foundation,
ISET, CtC), country partners
(National Institute for Science and
Technology Policy and Strategic
Studies [NISTPASS]), and the city
of Da Nang.
At this point in the ACCCRN
program, we are going to get more
involved in the production of the
city's resilience strategy.
Q: HOW DID THE CITY CLIMATE
WORKING GROUP (WG) COME ABOUT?
A: The city decided to establish
a WG at the same time with
the Project Management Board
(PMB). The PMB is comprised of
three parts: the steering board, the
heads of key technical departments
and agencies, and the WG.
Q: HOW DID YOU IDENTIFY THE
out ACCCRN project activities,
so at that time, its members were
chosen from the departments
whose leaders were members of
the PMB. However, the
membership of the WG changed
to include key players in the
production of a city resilience
strategy. The presence of these new
representatives in the WG also
meets the need to integrate climate
change into cross-sector planning.
As members of WG come from
the city's key departments, they
will communicate and share
information with one another,
discover potential connections to
their own development planning,
and be able to make suggestions
and raise issues and concerns to
help shape and develop the city's
resilience strategy.
Q: WHO DECIDES WHAT WILL BE ON
THE AGENDA?
A: The agenda of the WG will
follow ACCCRN’s program
schedule. As coordinator, DoFA
will ensure that the WG meetings
carry out these activities.
WG MEMBERS?
A: Actually, the WG has just
been approved by the city to add
more members so that it can serve
as a cross-sector mechanism. It
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
Q: HAS THE WG HAD ANY SPECIFIC
AND TANGIBLE OUTCOMES?
A: The most specific outcome that
the WG has achieved is the city's
Synthesis Report.
Q:WHAT PROMPTED THE
PRODUCTION OF THE
SYNTHESIS REPORT?
The city conducted research and
vulnerability assessments with the
assistance of ISET, NISTPASS, CtC,
and local Vietnamese institutes. The
conclusions of the four technical
reports that were produced during
that phase are considered essential
inputs in the city's resilience strategy,
which will be developed under the
direction of Dr. Nguyen Dinh Anh,
Department of Natural Resources
and Environment.
Developing the resilience strategy
will also help us to provide the
necessary components to develop
additional adaptation proposals,
and thus provide us with more
opportunities to apply for climaterelated funding.
The resilience strategy will also
be used to serve future climate
projects or adaptation activities in
the future. We see that there is a
need to make the research results
of the synthesis report become a
scientific basis, approved by the
city, upon which the city's strategy
will be built upon.
A synthesis report makes sense.
The report, comprised of reliable
data, outlines climate change
impacts on the city, general
information about the city, and
the issue of climate adaptation. It
will be a visible product of what
the city has done so far and also
demonstrate the effectiveness of
the ACCCRN project in Da Nang.
Once this report is approved by
city leaders, it will facilitate the
development of the resilience
strategy and the approval of the
resilience strategy.
MAY 2010
8
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
UPCOMING
ACTIVITIES
Public Events
May 28-30
June 28-30
ICLEI World Congress, Bonn.
World Cities Summit, Singapore.
ACCCRN will present a panel
on Building Urban Climate
Resilience: Lessons from Asian
Cities Climate Change Resilience
Network (ACCCRN).
Invitation Only Events
VIETNAM
INDONESIA
INDIA
THAILAND
May
End of May
End of May
May
Third round of Shared Learning
Two-day national resilience
Full day national workshop to
National stakeholders meeting.
Dialogues in Da Nang, Quy Nhon,
strategy workshop.
convene national stakeholders
and Can Tho.
involved in urban development
August
to discuss urban climate change
National Workshop.
resilience and share project findings.
End of June
National workshop on resilience
strategies and lessons learned.
For more information on these events please contact acccrn@rockfound.org
ACCCRN
PARTNERS
SUPPORTED BY
The Rockefeller Foundation’s Climate Change Resilience Initiative
The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network supports
aims to catalyze attention, funding and action to support vulnerable
local communities to cope with and respond to climate change
communities as they respond proactively in an effort to manage the
impacts by developing their capacity to plan, finance, and implement
risks associated with climate change. The Initiative provides support for
robust response models. The Network provides a platform for sharing
the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, capacity building
experience, knowledge, and resources among stakeholders on
in the agricultural sector in Africa, and strengthened adaptation policies
effective practices, to promote the resilience concept and expansion of
and resilience efforts by the United States.
response models in a growing number of cities.
ISSUE 02
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
MAY 2010 / ISSUE 02
ACCCRN
NEWSLETTER
2
LESSONS FROM DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
4
MAKING CITIES CLIMATE SMART
6
ACCCRN PARTICIPATION IN UN-HABITAT WORLD URBAN FORUM 5
7
Q&A
8
UPCOMING EVENTS
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
MAY 2010
2
FEATURE ARTICLE
relationship between exposure to natural
hazards and vulnerability. In terms of hazards,
ADDRESSING EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY:
LESSONS FROM
DISASTER RISK
REDUCTION
for example, Indonesia sits on the Pacific
Ring of Fire, an area where a large number of
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. In
addition, six out of eight of the world's most
populous cities that reside on earthquake fault
lines are Asian cities.
Vulnerability is a composite of many factors
(e.g., poverty, gender, physical location,
education, access to finance and credit). An
important dynamic influencing both exposure
and vulnerability in cities is the trend of
urbanization. According to ESCAP, the pace of
urbanization in Asia is unparalleled compared
The emerging field of urban
climate change resilience has
much to learn from the field of
disaster risk reduction and the
ability to reduce losses even in
the face of a rising number of
events. However, more work
is needed to build long term
resilience to the impacts that
climate change will bring to
urban communities over longer
periods of time.
"Natural disasters
are the product of a
complex relationship
between exposure to
natural hazards and
vulnerability."
ASIAN DISASTER TRENDS
Nargis. Ketsana. Mirinae. Parma. These
names conjure up images of loss, devastation,
destruction. In the past five years alone, we
have seen countless images captured amidst
the chaos and aftershocks of natural disasters,
from cyclones to typhoons to hurricanes to
earthquakes. The Centre for Research on
Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)1 recently
revealed that natural disasters affected
to anywhere else in the world. Municipalities
nearly two billion people between 2000 and
face pressures to meet growing demands for
2009, the vast majority affected by droughts,
infrastructure and services - often at a pace
hurricanes, and floods. Disasters in this time
that exceeds the capacity to respond. Poor
period killed more than 780,000 people (60%
land-use and infrastructure planning in urban
due to earthquakes), and economic costs
contexts, coastal development, exclusionary
reached a minimum of US$960 billion.
housing policies and practices, and use of
inappropriate construction materials can all
Asia, in particular, has suffered from massive
increase vulnerability and exacerbate damages
losses: the continent accounted for 85% of
from natural hazards.
all fatalities. In fact, a person living in Asia is
four times more likely to be affected by natural
disasters than someone in Africa, and 25
times more likely than someone in Europe
or North America, according to the UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP).
So, why is Asia so disproportionally affected?
Natural disasters are the product of a complex
ISSUE 02
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
1
UNLESS OTHERWISE MENTIONED, ALL STATISTICS IN
THIS ARTICLE ARE FROM CRED AND THE UNITED NATIONS
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DISASTER REDUCTION
(UNISDR)'S JOINT JANUARY 28, 2010 PRESS RELEASE.
3
FEATURE ARTICLE
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION:
adaptive capacity and participate in the urban
A CRITICAL ENTRY POINT TO URBAN
climate resilience process.
CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE
The emerging field of urban climate change
resilience (UCCR) has much to learn from the
field of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the
ability to reduce losses even in the face of a
rising number of events. Measures taken from
"Measures taken from
DRR represent an
important sub-set of
activities that can also
build toward broader
urban climate change
resilience"
The cities will then test small pilot projects to
explore specific vulnerability needs or areas,
which also help build and deepen stakeholder
engagement. For example, in ACCCRN
Vietnam partner city Quy Nhon, the VAs and
SLDs have led to pilot projects that aim to
increase their climate change preparedness.
The city is modifying housing construction
DRR represent an important sub-set of activities
by raising floor heights to respond to flooding
that can also build toward broader urban climate
risks. Climate impact assessment of Quy
change resilience - both those impacts that are
Nhon project sea level rise within the current
on the near-term horizon and those slower-onset
city boundaries.
changes that are less perceptible but present
significant threats to livelihoods, health, and
Through these actions and drawing upon both
social and cultural systems.
international and local experiences, the cities
are developing climate resilience strategies
and action plans that will enable them to
DRR also presents an entry point for city
better prepare for challenges of current and
governments and other urban leaders to
look at today's risks and exposure and how
ASIAN CITIES CLIMATE CHANGE
to manage these, especially for vulnerable
RESILIENCE NETWORK
populations and sectors. The focus of DRR
future climate change related threats.
Pilot Projects in
Gorakhpur City
tends to be on resilience-building for near-term
shock events (e.g., flooding, storm surge,
even drought). Increasingly, communities,
The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience
governments (at different scales), civil society
Network (ACCCRN) incorporates the existing
groups are undertaking actions to reduce risk
principles and best practices from urban
ACCCRN partner city Gorakhpur is situated
from disasters.
development and management, climate
on a plain in Northern India. The city is
adaptation, and DRR and aims to support
divided by two rivers and bordered by a
More work is needed, however, to
poor and vulnerable Asian urban communities
lake. The results of the city's SLDs and VAs
demonstrate the suite of impacts that climate
and systems to deal with current and future
showed these geographical characteristics are
change will bring to urban communities that
climate change related threats in a realistic
combining with urban expansion to create high
do not fit within the DRR framework - those
and actionable way.
water logging conditions (prolonged incidence
of standing water). In addition, since 90% of
impacts that will occur over longer periods
of time, such as increasing salinity in coastal
ACCCRN cities are exploring their current
the city's drains are open, solid waste often
aquifers, or changing disease vectors over
and future vulnerabilities, identifying the
enters and chokes the drainage systems, further
time. Many of the approaches developed
vulnerable populations and sectors, and are
exacerbating the issue.
by the disaster risk reduction community
beginning to develop an urban resilience
are applicable, and indeed critical to building
strategy and an action plan. They are using a
One pilot project currently underway aims to
climate change resilience. For instance, while
combination of methods and tools centered
reduce this solid waste dumping in open drains.
the particulars are debated, experts agree on
on Shared Learning Dialogues (SLDs) and
This project is a joint collaboration of the
the value of local community engagement
climate Vulnerability Assessments (VAs)
municipality, a local college, and the project
in DRR. Local involvement is crucial for a
(see the February 2010 ACCCRN newsletter
team itself. A series of leaflets will encourage
number of reasons, but most importantly, for
for more information). Through VAs, cities
residents to change their own habits regarding
the simple rationale that they are facing the
are exploring what existing capacities can
waste and recycling, and to actively participate
disaster threats, and often best equipped to
enhance their ability to adapt and be more
in city government to solicit better services.
identify contextually relevant preventative
resilient to climate change. These results
The door-to-door collection of waste from 300
solutions. The UCCR field also recognizes
will feed into the iterative SLD and resilience
households is currently being composted on the
community engagement as a critical success
planning processes. SLDs are designed to
college campus, and research is simultaneously
factor in preparing cities for climate change
ensure that vulnerable populations in each
being conducted for the production of bacteria
impacts now and in the future.
city have the opportunity to build their
to enhance the pace of composting.
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
MAY 2010
4
COLUMN
and ecological vulnerability. It is the location of
ACCCRN, at this nexus of climate vulnerability
and poverty, that makes it unique. ACCCRN
Making Cities
Climate Smart
has taken the threads of local-level action,
poverty, vulnerability and climate variability
and woven them together into the complex
tapestry of climate change resilience. It has
created a program which has moved beyond
the rhetoric of global climate negotiations
Since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, much has been
made of the importance of local government as the sphere of
government that is closest to the people.
into the real world of people's day-to-day
existence. It focuses on understanding the
extraordinary complexity and variability of
local circumstances and uses this knowledge
to draw out common themes of purposeful
activity that can be used to design a replicable,
action-based framework across a range of
Asian city contexts.
This has evolved over the years into an
reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a
understanding that the nexus of government,
range of energy efficiency and clean energy
civil society and the private sector that occurs
programs. The growing concern that the
at the local level is a vital platform for the
now unavoidable elements of climate change
implementation of key international multilateral
will continue to create severe challenges
environmental agreements (MEAs) - such as
for the developmental aspirations of local
the United Nations Framework Convention
communities has been comparatively
on Climate Change. Cities in particular, as key
neglected. As a result, there is an emerging
drivers of global consumption and production,
call from a small but growing number of
Certainly for local stakeholders worldwide,
offer significant opportunities for constructive
local governments for equal recognition and
and local governments specifically, the
action in addressing the global climate change
support to be given to the issue of climate
outcomes (or the lack thereof) of COP15 in
change adaptation.
Copenhagen are a bitter disappointment. Yet,
"ACCCRN is
unquestionably a brave
and pioneering effort."
this is counteracted to some extent by the
“we need to
re-conceptualize our
cities as places and
spaces that can survive
and continue to function
appropriately"
Climate change is, of course, not the
emergence of programs such as ACCCRN,
only challenge faced by cities. Other
which are beginning to craft new paths
significant driving forces include poverty and
and visions for cities, creating new tools,
underdevelopment; economic and social
reinvigorating old processes, forming new
change; depletion and pollution of natural
networks and partnerships, and facilitating
resources; violence and criminality, to name
meaningful and relevant local action. As
but a few. The variable combination of these
such ACCCRN is unquestionably a brave
factors in different locales means that the
and pioneering effort. Given the range of
world's cities face an increasingly uncertain
challenges we face, particularly in the cities
and unpredictable future and that we must
of the Global South, it is precisely these sorts
challenge through the establishment of local
respond to climate change within the context
of bold, new interventions that are required
partnerships and focused local action.
of a host of social-economic-ecological drivers.
to support the critical local alliance of local
In essence we need to re-conceptualize our
government, civil society and the private
While figures may vary, current estimates are
cities as places and spaces that can survive
sector. Only in this way will it be possible to
that cities account for more than half of global
and continue to function appropriately under a
ensure that existing development gains, and
greenhouse gas emissions and for about
wide variety of ever-changing, and often more
long-term aspirations of a more sustainable
two thirds of global energy use. Pioneering
hazardous, climatic conditions. Our cities need
development path, are not lost on the rubbish
initiatives such as the C40 (a group of large
to become "climate smart."
heap of global climate change.
Climate Initiative have been established to
Nowhere is this challenge greater than in the
Dr. Debra Roberts (Ethekwini Municipality-
respond to this challenge. In most cases,
cities of the developing world, where large,
Durban, South Africa and ACCCRN Advisory
however, these new interventions echo the
poor, urbanizing populations exist under
Board Member).
existing international bias towards mitigation
conditions of service delivery deficit, climatic
and are focused primarily on helping cities
variability and high levels of social, economic
ISSUE 02
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
cities tackling climate change) and Clinton
robertsd@durban.gov.za
5
SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight On Thailand
Thailand's Participation in ACCCRN
HAT YAI (THAILAND) CITY KICK-OFF MEETING, JANUARY 2010. PHOTO: ACCCRN
DEBRA ROBERTS
Selected in 2009, the cities of Chiang Rai
and Hat Yai in Thailand are the latest
additions to the ACCCRN network.
Debra Roberts, PhD, heads the
Environmental Planning and Climate
Protection Department of Ethekwini
Municipality in Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Roberts is also vice-chair of UNHabitat's HS-NET Advisory Board, which
Hat Yai, located in Thailand's south, is highly
urbanized and is prone to flooding. Chiang
Rai, in the north and more rural, faces
challenges from water and air pollution, as
well as severe landslides.
is currently working on the 2011 "Cities
and Climate Change" Global Report. Dr.
Roberts has also written widely in the fields
of environmental management and climate
protection and has received numerous
awards for her work.
"As newcomers to the
ACCCRN program,
these two cities have
the benefit of learning
best practices from the
ACCCRN's other
urban centers."
Three other cities, Udon Thani, Samut
Sakorn, and Phuket are participating as
observers in this process in order to construct
their own understanding of concepts,
frameworks, and applied methodologies for
shared learning and resilience planning.
The two core cities are off to a great start in
the ACCCRN program. In January 2010,
with the help of local partner the Thai
Environmental Institute (TEI), both cities
held a project kick-off event, designed to raise
awareness of ACCCRN and climate change
issues in general. Both events were wellattended by various stakeholders, the general
public, and the local media. The mayor and
deputy governor of Chiang Rai delivered
opening remarks, with over 50 participants
attending the event. In Hat Yai, the city's
mayor gave the opening remarks, and over 150
participants attended.
Chiang Rai and Hat Yai have also selected
core working groups comprised of provincial
and local government officials, academics,
businesses, local NGOs, and members of
the community. These groups attended
their respective city's first Shared Learning
Dialogue, at which participants identified
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
critical systems for the functioning of the city,
as well as vulnerable populations and areas.
Hat Yai participants specifically identified
the city's critical systems as water supply and
waste management, for example. TEI reports
that city partners and working groups have
been fully engaged throughout this process.
Sharing between the two cities is going well,
too. Two representatives from Chiang Rai
have visited Hat Yai, and there is a plan for
the reverse, as well. They shared insights
regarding the process of the program, as well
as similar environmental hazards.
Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, and local academic
institutions will take the next step of
conducting Vulnerability Assessments (VA),
so they can more concretely determine the
population groups and systems most at risk
from climate change. Following that, technical
partner SEA START will carry out a climate
VA, and both assessments will be presented at
the second SLD scheduled for May.
A meeting with national-level stakeholders will
also take place in May, where the working groups
from Chiang Rai and Hat Yai will present the
results of their assessments and SLDs.
As newcomers to the ACCCRN program,
these two cities have the benefit of learning
best practices from the ACCCRN's other
urban centers. TEI reports that the regional
ACCCRN meeting held this past March
helped the Thai cities understand the
program's bigger picture. Thai city partners
are also looking forward to utilizing the
networking fund that ISET has made
available to visit other city partners in
different countries.
MAY 2010
6
WORLD URBAN FORUM
ACCCRN Participation In UN-Habitat
World Urban Forum 5
Program Director of Mercy Corp Indonesia
and ACCCRN partner, discussed the work of
Mercy Corps Indonesia in relation to reducing
vulnerabilities to climate change.
Ms. Kooy shared that the participants of
the ACCCRN network have learned to look
beyond direct climate change impacts, such
as flooding, to indirect effects on systems and
populations. They have also realized that they
must move beyond physical interventions to
examine more structural issues. Instead of
working in isolation, they should mainstream
effective strategies. Or as Ms. Kooy said
in her concluding remarks during the panel
discussion,"Climate change provides not
MEMBERS OF THE MERCY CORPS INDONESIA DELEGATION AT THE WORLD URBAN FORUM. PHOTO: MICHELLE KOOY
MERCY CORPS
The fifth session of the World
Urban Forum (WUF) took place
in March in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, and had a record 21,000
delegates from around the world.
The theme of the forum was 'Bridging the
Urban Divide.' Its aim was to narrow the gaps
“climate change also
provides a pathway
to renew the call for
provision of basic needs to
urban poor communities”
between wealthy and poor people, national
and city authorities, gender and youth issues
in urban settings. At WUF, ACCCRN hosted
a networking event entitled 'Lessons from
Practice: Toward Climate Change Resilient
Cities.' The event included panelists who are
representatives of ACCCRN and the North
American Urban Leaders Adaptation Initiative
(led by Center for Clean Air Policy). The
session, which included presentations and
audience discussion, provided a forum to share
only a pathway and a motivation towards
processes, methods, and tools that cities are
environmental sustainability, but climate
employing to build climate change resilience.
change also provides a pathway to renew
the call for provision of basic needs to urban
ISSUE 02
In addition, ACCCRN partner Mercy Corp
poor communities' as lack of urban services,
participated in another WUF session:
decreased mobility, living on marginal lands,
'Thematic Open Debate for Dialogue 6
inadequate shelter, and lack of participation in
'Sustainable Urbanization: Cities in a Changing
the political systems and decision making all
Climate. 'At this event, Michelle Kooy, Urban
make poor communities more vulnerable."
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
7
Q&A
Q&A
ON THE ROLE OF CLIMATE WORKING GROUPS
currently consists of 11 members
from various departments;
including, Foreign Affairs; Natural
Resources and Environment;
Construction; Agriculture and
Rural Development; Planning and
Investment; Health; Education and
Training; Labor, Invalids and
Social Affairs; Transportation;
Culture, Sports and Tourism;
and Institute of Planning and
Construction.
Da Nang is one of three cities in Vietnam selected
to participate in ACCCRN, along with Can Tho, and
Quy Nhon. In each city, project leadership rests
with the People's Committee. A vice-chairman
leads the Project Steering Committee, which is
comprised of relevant technical departments and
civil society organizations, with the participation
of Challenge to Change (CtC) and the Institute for
Social and Environment Transition (ISET). Climate The original mandate of the WG
was to assist the PMB in carrying
Working Groups provide technical support.
INTRODUCTION
Q: WHAT EXACTLY IS DOFA’S ROLE
IN ACCCRN?
The city of Da Nang synthesized
four technical climate
vulnerability studies into one easyto-understand report, which was
then presented to the Peoples'
Committee, the city of Da Nang's
executive body.
This report was the city's own
initiative (raised after the 2nd
Shared Learning Dialogue),
undertaken by the City Climate
Working Group (WG), to help
increase political leadership of
the issues, and increase awareness
for climate resilience actions.
The result has been greater local
ownership and buy-in for the
resilience planning process.
In Da Nang, the WG leads
the city-level planning and
implementation activities
for ACCCRN. ACCCRN's
communications partner APCO
Worldwide posed questions about
the WG to Ms. Hanh, Deputy
Director of the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DoFA), the
ACCCRN City-level Coordinator:
A:The role of DoFA in this project
is to be a facilitator. We coordinate
activities, communicate amongst
the different member departments,
and make connections between
donors (Rockefeller Foundation,
ISET, CtC), country partners
(National Institute for Science and
Technology Policy and Strategic
Studies [NISTPASS]), and the city
of Da Nang.
At this point in the ACCCRN
program, we are going to get more
involved in the production of the
city's resilience strategy.
Q: HOW DID THE CITY CLIMATE
WORKING GROUP (WG) COME ABOUT?
A: The city decided to establish
a WG at the same time with
the Project Management Board
(PMB). The PMB is comprised of
three parts: the steering board, the
heads of key technical departments
and agencies, and the WG.
Q: HOW DID YOU IDENTIFY THE
out ACCCRN project activities,
so at that time, its members were
chosen from the departments
whose leaders were members of
the PMB. However, the
membership of the WG changed
to include key players in the
production of a city resilience
strategy. The presence of these new
representatives in the WG also
meets the need to integrate climate
change into cross-sector planning.
As members of WG come from
the city's key departments, they
will communicate and share
information with one another,
discover potential connections to
their own development planning,
and be able to make suggestions
and raise issues and concerns to
help shape and develop the city's
resilience strategy.
Q: WHO DECIDES WHAT WILL BE ON
THE AGENDA?
A: The agenda of the WG will
follow ACCCRN’s program
schedule. As coordinator, DoFA
will ensure that the WG meetings
carry out these activities.
WG MEMBERS?
A: Actually, the WG has just
been approved by the city to add
more members so that it can serve
as a cross-sector mechanism. It
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
Q: HAS THE WG HAD ANY SPECIFIC
AND TANGIBLE OUTCOMES?
A: The most specific outcome that
the WG has achieved is the city's
Synthesis Report.
Q:WHAT PROMPTED THE
PRODUCTION OF THE
SYNTHESIS REPORT?
The city conducted research and
vulnerability assessments with the
assistance of ISET, NISTPASS, CtC,
and local Vietnamese institutes. The
conclusions of the four technical
reports that were produced during
that phase are considered essential
inputs in the city's resilience strategy,
which will be developed under the
direction of Dr. Nguyen Dinh Anh,
Department of Natural Resources
and Environment.
Developing the resilience strategy
will also help us to provide the
necessary components to develop
additional adaptation proposals,
and thus provide us with more
opportunities to apply for climaterelated funding.
The resilience strategy will also
be used to serve future climate
projects or adaptation activities in
the future. We see that there is a
need to make the research results
of the synthesis report become a
scientific basis, approved by the
city, upon which the city's strategy
will be built upon.
A synthesis report makes sense.
The report, comprised of reliable
data, outlines climate change
impacts on the city, general
information about the city, and
the issue of climate adaptation. It
will be a visible product of what
the city has done so far and also
demonstrate the effectiveness of
the ACCCRN project in Da Nang.
Once this report is approved by
city leaders, it will facilitate the
development of the resilience
strategy and the approval of the
resilience strategy.
MAY 2010
8
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
UPCOMING
ACTIVITIES
Public Events
May 28-30
June 28-30
ICLEI World Congress, Bonn.
World Cities Summit, Singapore.
ACCCRN will present a panel
on Building Urban Climate
Resilience: Lessons from Asian
Cities Climate Change Resilience
Network (ACCCRN).
Invitation Only Events
VIETNAM
INDONESIA
INDIA
THAILAND
May
End of May
End of May
May
Third round of Shared Learning
Two-day national resilience
Full day national workshop to
National stakeholders meeting.
Dialogues in Da Nang, Quy Nhon,
strategy workshop.
convene national stakeholders
and Can Tho.
involved in urban development
August
to discuss urban climate change
National Workshop.
resilience and share project findings.
End of June
National workshop on resilience
strategies and lessons learned.
For more information on these events please contact acccrn@rockfound.org
ACCCRN
PARTNERS
SUPPORTED BY
The Rockefeller Foundation’s Climate Change Resilience Initiative
The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network supports
aims to catalyze attention, funding and action to support vulnerable
local communities to cope with and respond to climate change
communities as they respond proactively in an effort to manage the
impacts by developing their capacity to plan, finance, and implement
risks associated with climate change. The Initiative provides support for
robust response models. The Network provides a platform for sharing
the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, capacity building
experience, knowledge, and resources among stakeholders on
in the agricultural sector in Africa, and strengthened adaptation policies
effective practices, to promote the resilience concept and expansion of
and resilience efforts by the United States.
response models in a growing number of cities.
ISSUE 02
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER