The Climate Action Plan (RAI) training series organized by United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific through the Climate Resilient and Inclusive Cities (CRIC) Project officially began in Gorontalo City, Monday (9/8). The rolling series of climate change mitigation and adaptation training also demonstrates the commitment of ten cities to respond to the climate emergency.
CRIC Project Manager Aniessa Delima Sari, who opened the virtual GHG Emissions Inventory mitigation training, said that this training is an important starting point for the CRIC pilot cities, and also for Indonesia’s efforts to address climate change. “From August 2021 to June 2022, the CRIC Working Group Teams will process together to become catalysts of change in their respective cities,” she said.
The RAI Preparation Training is a series of training on climate change mitigation and adaptation activities aimed at CRIC Working Group Team members in ten cities. This activity is organized with the support of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry and CCROM-Institut Pertanian Bogor and will be held in two phases throughout 2021 to 2022. Mitigation training consists of three main trainings, namely greenhouse gas emission inventory, determination of emission baseline and preparation of Regional Mitigation Action Plan. The adaptation training consists of the scientific basis of climate change, climate vulnerability and risk and the preparation of the Regional Adaptation Action Plan.
Taking climate action to the city level
The RAI Development Training, according to CRIC Project Coordinator Putra Dwitama in the Kick-Off activity on June 30, is urgent because the RAI outlines the basic principles for responding to the climate emergency and serves as a guide for identifying climate action strategies and instruments in the city.
These city-level actions need to be aligned with national-level targets and priorities. Indonesia has developed a roadmap of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to respond to the Paris Agreement, as a form of commitment to outline a strategy for reducing carbon emissions. The government then followed up on this commitment by establishing the National Action Plan for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction (RAN-GRK) as stipulated in Presidential Regulation No. 61/2011 and issuing Guidelines for the Development of Regional Greenhouse Gas Action Plans (RAD-GRK). The RAN-GRK has outlined emission reduction targets in five priority sectors, namely forestry and peatland; agriculture; energy and transportation; industry; and waste management.”[1]
Meanwhile, related to adaptation, national and local governments can refer to the Minister of Environment Regulation Number 33 of 2016 concerning Guidelines for Preparing Climate Change Adaptation Actions. This regulation serves as a guideline for the preparation of climate change adaptation action plans and their integration into the development plan of a specific region and/or sector. The specific sectors referred to in this Regulation are food security, energy independence, health, settlements, infrastructure and coastal and small islands.
CCROM-Institut Pertanian Bogor will be CRIC’s partner in developing the RAI training. Director of CCROM IPB Professor Rizaldi Boer said that through this training, cities will be assisted in two main areas. The first is to develop a greenhouse gas emission baseline study and a climate risk and vulnerability study. These two studies will be the basis for developing mitigation/adaptation policies in the city. Second, cities are assisted in developing mitigation and adaptation action plans through atagging process. “Through tagging, we identify existing programs at the city level to find out strategies to improve existing programs so that emission reduction targets are as expected, or find strategies for developing financing,” he said.
Ensure integration of action in development
To ensure sustainability and integration of city climate action in regional development, the mitigation training will use the SIGN SMART instrument (online greenhouse gas inventory calculation and reporting application system) and the adaptation training will use the Vulnerability Index Data Information System (SIDIK) developed by KLHK and ready to use.
“Both instruments are available and can be used by local governments independently,” said Head of Sub-Directorate of Identification and Vulnerability Analysis of the Directorate of Climate Change Adaptation, MoEF, Ir. Arif Wibowo, M.Sc. Regarding SIDIK, he continued, that cities can add specific indicators that are relevant to the city as long as they are in line with national priorities, such as those related to food, water, energy and health which are the four basic areas in the Adaptation NDC.
The RAI Development Training will be held online and also hybrid following the development of COVID-19 handling regulations at the national and local levels. Post-training in 2022, cities will be assisted to develop climate action plan proposals that are eligible for financing.
Relive the CRIC Climate Action Plan Development Kick-Off Training in Ten Pilot Cities at: https://youtu.be/n8eawoa2FMw
[1] Guidelines for the Preparation of Regional Action Plans to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency, 2011.