By: Hizbullah Arief *
The 2024 SDG Progress Report, launched by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), highlighted the persisting challenges of poverty and inequality, with gender and location playing pivotal roles.
United Nations News reports that Goal 13 on Climate Action faces major challenges, with progress on all of its targets off track and some targets are in reverse. This underscored the needs to integrate climate action into national policies, enhance resilience, and improve adaptive capacity to cope with climate-related disasters.
Climate action (Goal 13) has continued to regress and action to reverse this trend becomes ever more urgent. Asia Pacific region remains both a victim and a major driver of climate change.
Temperatures in the region are increasing faster than the global mean. Extreme, unpredictable weather events and natural hazards continue to become more frequent and intense.
Six of the worst affected countries are in Asia and the Pacific, yet the region continues to account for more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions, much of which is driven by coal combustion.
The indicators under this goal for which data are available underscore the need to integrate climate action measures into national policies, strategies, and planning, and to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to cope with climate-related hazards and natural disasters.
Data to measure progress towards Goal 13 are insufficient and critical data gaps need to be filled to support effective policy responses.
Under goal number 13, the report sees Goal number 13.1. Resilience and adaptive capacities are accelerating progress to achieve the target. While goal number 13.2. Climate change policies are reversing the trend to achieve the target. However, there are three goals: 13.3 Climate change awareness; 13.a UNFCCc commitments and; 13.b Climate Change Planning and management where the report can't measure the progress.
Climate Resilient and Inclusive Cities (CRIC), a project under UCLG ASPAC - funded European Union - participated in the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) exhibition from 20-22 February to showcase project achievements and implementations.
CRIC shared project's initiatives under three pillars: knowledge production and exchange, local action plans for climate-resilient and inclusive cities, and communication and capacity building.
On the first pillar, the CRIC project digitally shared urban analysis reports and other scientific and collaborative publications between European, Indonesian and other Asian cities.
CRIC project is now preparing for the first Thematic Panel of Experts (PoE) in Makassar between 5-7 March 2024 with the theme, "Building City Resilience through Triangular Cooperation."
CRIC First Thematic Panel of Experts will showcase the thematic tools developed by CRIC partners on early warning and disaster management to increase the city's resilience in the face of the climate crisis.
In this event, the CRIC project - working with partners - is also training not only pilot cities but also other cities under triangular cooperation initiative on urban resilience and risk management.
On the second pillar, CRIC is accelerating its collaborative efforts to develop climate mitigation and adaptation action plans in 10 CRIC pilot cities. 8 of 10 pilot cities have completed the first and second chapters of climate adaptation and mitigation action plans and continue to finalise the climate plans that will become guidance for city mid and long-term development.
On the third pillar, communication, and capacity building, the CRIC project has completed all mitigation and adaptation trainings in all 10 CRIC pilot cities on January 2024.
These climate mitigation and adaptation trainings increased the city's understanding of important aspects of climate actions. These aspects are inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas baseline and projection, city's risk and vulnerability profiles, urgency map, and programme tagging.
CRIC trainings have also inclusively compiled climate-related data and information that paved the way to the finalisation of city's climate mitigation and adaptation action plans.
Furthermore, in the APFSD exhibition, CRIC project has also showcased the impactful world of its pilot cities through video profiles of each, spotlighting city initiatives and support in climate mitigation and adaptation activities. The purpose was to amplify awareness among CRIC stakeholders, spark collaboration, and expand the CRIC network across Asia-Pacific.
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* Hizbullah Arief is the Regional Project Manager of Climate Resilient and Inclusive Cities. He was reporting from the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand.
