Dear Participants,
Thank you to those of you that participated in the discussion last week on city level plans and policies. Participation in these discussions is very valuable, even if the cities that you live and work in do not show clear signs of implementing the climate resilience strategies under discussion. As a community is it interesting for us to understand the realities across all of our countries, please do not shy away from taking part in the discussion – even if your contribution is merely to state that your cities have not implemented such practices. It is our hope that we can match up our strengths and weaknesses and help each other see different approaches to addressing similar needs. Another comment, before moving on to the summary of this week’s discussion is that in this Learning Alliance we are focusing specifically upon climate resilience at the city level – and not at the national level. There are of course very important links between the two, and we will certainly mention national strategies from time to time, when they directly affect city responses, however, our focus is upon cities because arguably it is location specific strategies and actions that will improve climate resilience in urban areas. In the following discussions we would like to encourage you to share practical local experiences.
Last week’s discussion about city level policies and plans showed that very few cities across Africa and Asia have developed city level strategies to improve climate resilience. We heard about national climate change plans, policies and strategies in existence or in development in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Plus, we know from the Week 1 discussion that many other countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America have national climate change strategies, plans and policies.
Several reasons were given as to why city level plans do not exist:
- Many participants attributed the cause to the fact that other development issues are further up the agenda.
- A participant from Zimbabwe stated that city level climate change plans would more likely be developed after the national plan is complete.
- Participants from Bangladesh and Ghana explained that a the lack of city level climate change strategies may have to do with the fact that there are no city governments as such.
- Participants from India and Zambia explained that climate change is seen as more of an agricultural or rural concern that an urban one.
Aside from the two cities featured in our discussion material – Mexico City and Quito – some other cities with specific climate change plans were introduced to us, along with other cities with uncoordinated programmes to improve climate resilience. From what participants shared last week we can see that:
In Bangladesh – the cities of Khulna and Dhaka have a series of initiatives to improve climate resilience, but no central city plan.
In Bolivia – La Paz has a plan for climate change, which focuses on early response to hazards.
In Ghana – the city of Accra has a plan to deal with flooding, and participants mentioned that byelaws are being passed in cities to improve climate resilience.
In India – Surat, Indore and Gorakhpu have specific climate change plans, and Visakhapatnam city is developing a plan now. Delhi has no specific plan, but is apparently very well organised and increasingly green.
In Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh city has a Climate Change Action Plan 2015-2025
Given that most cities do not have climate change plans the discussion on financing city level plans was largely combined with the discussion on whether or not cities could become resilient to climate change without a central city level plan. Many participants understood this question to be about whether it was necessary to have support from the central government, and as such we did have two similar but distinct discussions going on. On the whole, participants felt that the chances of success would be higher with support from city level administration. Most participants felt that cities would improve urban climate resilience if national governments gave political, economic and technical support – but many felt that power should be passed on to the city authorities.
Two additional, very interesting, recurrent comments that we saw throughout last week’s discussion were: 1) the view that it is necessary to have a multi-stakeholder group working on city level strategies, and, 2) that public-private partnerships would be necessary to fund such initiatives.
We would like to welcome comments on this summary, and invite those of you that have anything additional to add to the discussion to please do so here.
Thank you so much!
Charlotte and the ELLA Team
Thank you to those of you that participated in the discussion last week on city level plans and policies. Participation in these discussions is very valuable, even if the cities that you live and work in do not show clear signs of implementing the climate resilience strategies under discussion. As a community is it interesting for us to understand the realities across all of our countries, please do not shy away from taking part in the discussion – even if your contribution is merely to state that your cities have not implemented such practices. It is our hope that we can match up our strengths and weaknesses and help each other see different approaches to addressing similar needs. Another comment, before moving on to the summary of this week’s discussion is that in this Learning Alliance we are focusing specifically upon climate resilience at the city level – and not at the national level. There are of course very important links between the two, and we will certainly mention national strategies from time to time, when they directly affect city responses, however, our focus is upon cities because arguably it is location specific strategies and actions that will improve climate resilience in urban areas. In the following discussions we would like to encourage you to share practical local experiences.
Last week’s discussion about city level policies and plans showed that very few cities across Africa and Asia have developed city level strategies to improve climate resilience. We heard about national climate change plans, policies and strategies in existence or in development in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Plus, we know from the Week 1 discussion that many other countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America have national climate change strategies, plans and policies.
Several reasons were given as to why city level plans do not exist:
- Many participants attributed the cause to the fact that other development issues are further up the agenda.
- A participant from Zimbabwe stated that city level climate change plans would more likely be developed after the national plan is complete.
- Participants from Bangladesh and Ghana explained that a the lack of city level climate change strategies may have to do with the fact that there are no city governments as such.
- Participants from India and Zambia explained that climate change is seen as more of an agricultural or rural concern that an urban one.
Aside from the two cities featured in our discussion material – Mexico City and Quito – some other cities with specific climate change plans were introduced to us, along with other cities with uncoordinated programmes to improve climate resilience. From what participants shared last week we can see that:
In Bangladesh – the cities of Khulna and Dhaka have a series of initiatives to improve climate resilience, but no central city plan.
In Bolivia – La Paz has a plan for climate change, which focuses on early response to hazards.
In Ghana – the city of Accra has a plan to deal with flooding, and participants mentioned that byelaws are being passed in cities to improve climate resilience.
In India – Surat, Indore and Gorakhpu have specific climate change plans, and Visakhapatnam city is developing a plan now. Delhi has no specific plan, but is apparently very well organised and increasingly green.
In Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh city has a Climate Change Action Plan 2015-2025
Given that most cities do not have climate change plans the discussion on financing city level plans was largely combined with the discussion on whether or not cities could become resilient to climate change without a central city level plan. Many participants understood this question to be about whether it was necessary to have support from the central government, and as such we did have two similar but distinct discussions going on. On the whole, participants felt that the chances of success would be higher with support from city level administration. Most participants felt that cities would improve urban climate resilience if national governments gave political, economic and technical support – but many felt that power should be passed on to the city authorities.
Two additional, very interesting, recurrent comments that we saw throughout last week’s discussion were: 1) the view that it is necessary to have a multi-stakeholder group working on city level strategies, and, 2) that public-private partnerships would be necessary to fund such initiatives.
We would like to welcome comments on this summary, and invite those of you that have anything additional to add to the discussion to please do so here.
Thank you so much!
Charlotte and the ELLA Team
No comments:
Post a Comment