19. ACCCRN newsletter August 2010 Final
1
AUGUST 2010 / ISSUE 03
ACCCRN
NEWSLETTER
2
ADAPTATION FUNDING REFORM
4
BUILDING RESILIENCE FOR A GREENER, GREATER NEW YORK
5
SPOTLIGHT ON INDIA
6
Q&A
8
UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2010
2
FEATURE ARTICLE
Otto-Zimmermann explains that typically
only national governments, or applications
INTERVIEW WITH KONRAD OTTO-ZIMMERMANN, ICLEI:
ADAPTATION
FUNDING
REFORM
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
"Let cities, and the
vulnerable communities
that reside in them,
apply for funding for
adaptation from global
institutions themselves."
cities develop policies and projects locally
and determine their own funding needs.
This would effectively be an inversion of
PHOTO: KONRAD OTTO-ZIMMERMANN
the current funding structure and would put
st
At the closing of the 1 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.
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.
ISSUE 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
3
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Let cities develop policies
and projects locally and
determine their own
funding needs."
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).
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 evidencebased 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.
SOURCE: WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
ACCCRN at Bonn
ICLEIñLocal Governments for Sustainability,
, methods, and tools that the cities are
brought together local governments, experts,
employing to build climate change resilience.
and practitioners to discuss various issues
related to resilience.
ACCCRN also participated in the preconference Cities and Climate Change
Drawn from ACCCRN regional and local
Initiative (CCCI) Partners' Meeting convened
partners, the session drew on the experiences
by UN-HABITAT. The aim of the meeting
of panelists who are currently working to
was to bring together CCCI pilot cities and
make ACCCRN cities resilient to climate
partners to share the achievements, challenges
change and climate variability, such as
and lessons learned in the implementation of
ICLEIñLocal Governments for Sustainability,
the initiative. An ACCCRN representative
Thailand Environmental Institute, Mercy
was a panelist in the "Urban Vulnerability
Corps, Institute of Social and Environmental
Assessments in Developing Countries: Lessons
Transition, Gorakhpur Environmental Action
from Tool Makers and Field Testers" session.
The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) hosted and
Group, and the National Institute of Science
RF also showed a clip from the RF-funded
facilitated the "Building Resilience to Climate
and Technology in Hanoi, Vietnam. The
Hot Cities documentary series in the opening
Change in Asian Cities" session at the 1 World
Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP), based
plenary of the World Congress. (See http://
Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate
in Washington D.C., also participated. RFís
www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/
Change, held in Bonn, Germany, from May
session, with presentations and audience
multimedia/hot-cities for more information on
28-30. The World Congress, an initiative of
discussion, provided a forum to share processes
the Hot Cities documentary series)
PHOTO: ACCCRN
st
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2010
4
COLUMN
the NYC Panel on Climate Change (NPCC)
to develop New York City-specific climate
LEARNING FROM OTHER CITIES:
change projections. Second, we launched
BUILDING
RESILIENCE FOR
A GREENER,
GREATER NEW
YORK
the NYC Climate Change Adaptation Task
By Adam Freed,
Acting Director, Mayor’s Office Of Long-Term Planning &
Sustainability, City Of New York
Force to conduct a technical assessment of
"Mayor Bloomberg
launched a multifaceted effort to increase
the city’s resilience as
part of PlaNYC"
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
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.
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
SOURCE: NEW YORK CITY PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
flooding —are likely to become more frequent
Every year, New Yorkers experience heat
1
waves, snowstorms, nor’easters , tropical
800 miles of subway, 22 power plants, four
and more intense.
major tunnels, and two international airports.
To successfully build resilience and adapt
storms, and torrential downpours. As a coastal
city that spans three islands and a peninsula,
Addressing these existing risks is critical
to the impacts of climate change, we have
New York has over 570 miles of coastline, the
to our future. And, as our climate changes,
adopted and developed several best practices,
most of any city in the U.S. While our density
increasing our climate resilience will become
including:
is one of the reasons we have a low per
even more necessary.
capita carbon footprint —one of the lowest
•
Leadership by a high-level executive;
among global cities —it also magnifies the
In 2008, Mayor Bloomberg launched a multi-
•
Links to larger sustainability activities
consequences of climate events when they
faceted effort to increase the city’s resilience
occur. In addition, the city contains a dense
as part of PlaNYC, the city’s comprehensive
network of interconnecting infrastructure
sustainability plan. PlaNYC outlines a science-
some of which is over 100 years old—that is
driven, risk-based approach that facilitates the
susceptible to the elements. This includes 5.2
creation of incremental responses to climate
(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
million trees, 90,000 miles of underground
change. First, we needed to understand
electric cables, 6,600 miles of sewers, 6,000
how climate change was likely to affect
1
miles of streets and highways, 2,000 bridges,
us. To do this, Mayor Bloomberg convened
OF THE U.S. AND CANADA
ISSUE 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
A STRONG STORM AFFECTING THE NORTHEAST COAST
5
SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight On India: Developing
Resilience Strategies
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.
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
The development of resilience strategies is
•
•
operations, management, and capital;
based on the understanding of current and
planning;
future climate risks and future growth and
Tools to help stakeholders identify and
development scenarios for each city. Cities
understand their risks and opportunities;
are located in unique geographical settings
and
and risks associated with climate change will
Use of a science-driven, risk-based
vary accordingly. The participating cities in
approach that develops incremental
India also face unique resource linkages and
responses over time.
constraints, requiring resilience strategies to
be catered to distinctive needs.
"Through PlaNYC, we
are re-imagining what
New York City can
be—and must be—in
the year 2030."
To tackle these questions, each city–Surat,
"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."
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
By taking this approach, we can increase
Indore also participated in a series of "Risk
efficiency, strengthen the city’s economy,
to Resilience" (R2R) workshops. By taking
Surat, Indore, and Gorakhpur are in the
improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers,
into consideration analyses to date, R2Rs
process of implementing pilot projects
reinvest in the city’s aging infrastructure, and
identified the axis of critical uncertainties
designed to experiment with on-the-
address existing climate risks.
that the city could face, identified possible
ground actions, while continuing to deepen
early indicators to address them, and yielded
stakeholder engagement and buy-in, and spark
Through PlaNYC, we are reimagining what
a range of technical, management and
discussions on the citiesí climate resilience
New York City can be—and must be—in the
policy intervention options. The third R2R
strategies. Each of these cities has also started
year 2030. Addressing the challenges posed
workshop presented the framework of the city
to develop the first round of proposals which
by climate change is central to this mission
resilience strategy to the CAC members and
will be submitted to RF to support specific
and critical to our city’s future.
city stakeholders.
resilience building interventions.
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2010
6
Q&A
Q&A
WITH HAI YAI RESIDENTS
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.
"Thanks to ACCCRN’s
tools and processes we
are now thinking more
outside-the-box"
PHOTO: SOMPORN MUANGTHONG
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, 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 Hat Yai, like other ACCCRN cities, has
undertaken a series of group discussions that
project about their experiences.
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
ISSUE 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
7
Q&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.
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 publicprivate 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
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
strong base of urban climate change resiliencerelated 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.
AUGUST 2010
8
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
UPCOMING
ACTIVITIES
Announcement
August 15
Ashoka calls for nominations of innovative social entrepreneurs in Asian
See www.ashoka.org/nominate or
cities working to prepare the public to deal with the anticipated social
contact Chris Cusano at ccusana@ashoka.org
effects of climate change.
for more information.
Public Events
October 21-22
Asia Pacific Climate Change
Adaptation Forum, Bangkok,
Thailand
Invitation Only Events
September 8-9
November TBD
ACCCRN India National
ACCCRN Thailand National
Workshop
Workshop
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 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2010 / ISSUE 03
ACCCRN
NEWSLETTER
2
ADAPTATION FUNDING REFORM
4
BUILDING RESILIENCE FOR A GREENER, GREATER NEW YORK
5
SPOTLIGHT ON INDIA
6
Q&A
8
UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2010
2
FEATURE ARTICLE
Otto-Zimmermann explains that typically
only national governments, or applications
INTERVIEW WITH KONRAD OTTO-ZIMMERMANN, ICLEI:
ADAPTATION
FUNDING
REFORM
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
"Let cities, and the
vulnerable communities
that reside in them,
apply for funding for
adaptation from global
institutions themselves."
cities develop policies and projects locally
and determine their own funding needs.
This would effectively be an inversion of
PHOTO: KONRAD OTTO-ZIMMERMANN
the current funding structure and would put
st
At the closing of the 1 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.
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.
ISSUE 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
3
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Let cities develop policies
and projects locally and
determine their own
funding needs."
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).
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 evidencebased 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.
SOURCE: WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
ACCCRN at Bonn
ICLEIñLocal Governments for Sustainability,
, methods, and tools that the cities are
brought together local governments, experts,
employing to build climate change resilience.
and practitioners to discuss various issues
related to resilience.
ACCCRN also participated in the preconference Cities and Climate Change
Drawn from ACCCRN regional and local
Initiative (CCCI) Partners' Meeting convened
partners, the session drew on the experiences
by UN-HABITAT. The aim of the meeting
of panelists who are currently working to
was to bring together CCCI pilot cities and
make ACCCRN cities resilient to climate
partners to share the achievements, challenges
change and climate variability, such as
and lessons learned in the implementation of
ICLEIñLocal Governments for Sustainability,
the initiative. An ACCCRN representative
Thailand Environmental Institute, Mercy
was a panelist in the "Urban Vulnerability
Corps, Institute of Social and Environmental
Assessments in Developing Countries: Lessons
Transition, Gorakhpur Environmental Action
from Tool Makers and Field Testers" session.
The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) hosted and
Group, and the National Institute of Science
RF also showed a clip from the RF-funded
facilitated the "Building Resilience to Climate
and Technology in Hanoi, Vietnam. The
Hot Cities documentary series in the opening
Change in Asian Cities" session at the 1 World
Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP), based
plenary of the World Congress. (See http://
Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate
in Washington D.C., also participated. RFís
www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/
Change, held in Bonn, Germany, from May
session, with presentations and audience
multimedia/hot-cities for more information on
28-30. The World Congress, an initiative of
discussion, provided a forum to share processes
the Hot Cities documentary series)
PHOTO: ACCCRN
st
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2010
4
COLUMN
the NYC Panel on Climate Change (NPCC)
to develop New York City-specific climate
LEARNING FROM OTHER CITIES:
change projections. Second, we launched
BUILDING
RESILIENCE FOR
A GREENER,
GREATER NEW
YORK
the NYC Climate Change Adaptation Task
By Adam Freed,
Acting Director, Mayor’s Office Of Long-Term Planning &
Sustainability, City Of New York
Force to conduct a technical assessment of
"Mayor Bloomberg
launched a multifaceted effort to increase
the city’s resilience as
part of PlaNYC"
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
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.
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
SOURCE: NEW YORK CITY PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
flooding —are likely to become more frequent
Every year, New Yorkers experience heat
1
waves, snowstorms, nor’easters , tropical
800 miles of subway, 22 power plants, four
and more intense.
major tunnels, and two international airports.
To successfully build resilience and adapt
storms, and torrential downpours. As a coastal
city that spans three islands and a peninsula,
Addressing these existing risks is critical
to the impacts of climate change, we have
New York has over 570 miles of coastline, the
to our future. And, as our climate changes,
adopted and developed several best practices,
most of any city in the U.S. While our density
increasing our climate resilience will become
including:
is one of the reasons we have a low per
even more necessary.
capita carbon footprint —one of the lowest
•
Leadership by a high-level executive;
among global cities —it also magnifies the
In 2008, Mayor Bloomberg launched a multi-
•
Links to larger sustainability activities
consequences of climate events when they
faceted effort to increase the city’s resilience
occur. In addition, the city contains a dense
as part of PlaNYC, the city’s comprehensive
network of interconnecting infrastructure
sustainability plan. PlaNYC outlines a science-
some of which is over 100 years old—that is
driven, risk-based approach that facilitates the
susceptible to the elements. This includes 5.2
creation of incremental responses to climate
(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
million trees, 90,000 miles of underground
change. First, we needed to understand
electric cables, 6,600 miles of sewers, 6,000
how climate change was likely to affect
1
miles of streets and highways, 2,000 bridges,
us. To do this, Mayor Bloomberg convened
OF THE U.S. AND CANADA
ISSUE 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
A STRONG STORM AFFECTING THE NORTHEAST COAST
5
SPOTLIGHT
Spotlight On India: Developing
Resilience Strategies
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.
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
The development of resilience strategies is
•
•
operations, management, and capital;
based on the understanding of current and
planning;
future climate risks and future growth and
Tools to help stakeholders identify and
development scenarios for each city. Cities
understand their risks and opportunities;
are located in unique geographical settings
and
and risks associated with climate change will
Use of a science-driven, risk-based
vary accordingly. The participating cities in
approach that develops incremental
India also face unique resource linkages and
responses over time.
constraints, requiring resilience strategies to
be catered to distinctive needs.
"Through PlaNYC, we
are re-imagining what
New York City can
be—and must be—in
the year 2030."
To tackle these questions, each city–Surat,
"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."
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
By taking this approach, we can increase
Indore also participated in a series of "Risk
efficiency, strengthen the city’s economy,
to Resilience" (R2R) workshops. By taking
Surat, Indore, and Gorakhpur are in the
improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers,
into consideration analyses to date, R2Rs
process of implementing pilot projects
reinvest in the city’s aging infrastructure, and
identified the axis of critical uncertainties
designed to experiment with on-the-
address existing climate risks.
that the city could face, identified possible
ground actions, while continuing to deepen
early indicators to address them, and yielded
stakeholder engagement and buy-in, and spark
Through PlaNYC, we are reimagining what
a range of technical, management and
discussions on the citiesí climate resilience
New York City can be—and must be—in the
policy intervention options. The third R2R
strategies. Each of these cities has also started
year 2030. Addressing the challenges posed
workshop presented the framework of the city
to develop the first round of proposals which
by climate change is central to this mission
resilience strategy to the CAC members and
will be submitted to RF to support specific
and critical to our city’s future.
city stakeholders.
resilience building interventions.
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
AUGUST 2010
6
Q&A
Q&A
WITH HAI YAI RESIDENTS
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.
"Thanks to ACCCRN’s
tools and processes we
are now thinking more
outside-the-box"
PHOTO: SOMPORN MUANGTHONG
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, 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 Hat Yai, like other ACCCRN cities, has
undertaken a series of group discussions that
project about their experiences.
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
ISSUE 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
7
Q&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.
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 publicprivate 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
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER
strong base of urban climate change resiliencerelated 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.
AUGUST 2010
8
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
UPCOMING
ACTIVITIES
Announcement
August 15
Ashoka calls for nominations of innovative social entrepreneurs in Asian
See www.ashoka.org/nominate or
cities working to prepare the public to deal with the anticipated social
contact Chris Cusano at ccusana@ashoka.org
effects of climate change.
for more information.
Public Events
October 21-22
Asia Pacific Climate Change
Adaptation Forum, Bangkok,
Thailand
Invitation Only Events
September 8-9
November TBD
ACCCRN India National
ACCCRN Thailand National
Workshop
Workshop
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 03
ACCCRN NEWSLETTER