CRIC Project attended the First EU-ASEAN Knowledge Exchange Workshop on Smart Green Cities, that took place at Pullman Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday, 22 July 2022.

The workshop was organized by The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in close cooperation with the Global Fund for Cities Development (FMDV) and ASEAN Secretariat in the framework of the Smart Green ASEAN Cities (SGAC) Programme.

The programme – dedicated to foster the development of funding and financing solutions to implement smart green city projects – is a unique initiative of the European Union, implemented by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in consultation with the ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC) and the ASEAN Secretariat. This workshop aims to take stock of experience and lessons learned from pioneering cities and key stakeholders from the two regions.

In her presentation, Aniessa Delima Sari, Regional Project Manager, United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) on behalf of CRIC shared about the CRIC project and its pilot cities’ deep involvements in the process of developing Climate Action Plan (CAP). The cities are directly involved in mapping greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, assessing city’s vulnerability and risks with help from CRIC training partners from CCROM, IPB.

“Those involvements are signs of CRIC Pilot Cities’ better ownerships of the CRIC project and seen as an added value for the project compared to other initiatives that are fully relying on consultants in developing a Climate Action Plan (CAP),” Aniessa said.

CRIC pilot cities, according to Aniessa, are also mainstreaming climate resilience and climate actions in their development plans. The mainstreaming process – called programme tagging – identifies local climate initiatives and links those initiatives to local development budgeting and funding. “This is important as pilot cities realise that they are in the forefront in efforts tackling climate change, which makes the climate actions committed relevant,” she added.

Aniessa mentioned that climate finance is an obvious necessity for building climate resilience. However, climate finances – to tap financing on climate-resilience related investments – are rarely being assessed, as cities are still having a gap in the Climate Action Plan development. 

Learning from CRIC pilot cities’ experiences Aniessa offered some opportunities to boost cities’ capacity on climate financing. Those opportunities include: strengthening capacity of “city’s planners” on climate finances at the same time understanding of potential investors on climate resilience; improving cities’ understanding on climate investment criteria and increasing institutional capacity of those cities to deliver climate projects.

CRIC’s involvement in this workshop is important to fully capitalize on good practices developed through previous/ongoing regional initiatives. The event will also provide a first platform for peer-to-peer exchange and lay the foundation for an EU-ASEAN Community of Practice on Smart & Green Cities.

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Contributors: Aniessa Delima Sari (UCLG ASPAC Regional Project Manager)