The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) is an international alliance of cities and local governments with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to a low emission, resilient society. In doing so, GCoM, through its national and regional covenants, serves cities and local governments by mobilizing and supporting ambitious, measurable, planned climate and energy action in their communities, with Asian cities being central to their initiative.
On 17th January 2022, the Global Covenant of Mayors Southeast Asia (GCoM SEA) and several ASEAN cities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that binds the parties towards a greener and more sustainable future. Cities such as Tangerang, Medan, Petaling Jaya, Iskandar Puteri, Prik, Cao Lanh, and Can Tho reckon the climate-induced danger that lies ahead and have agreed, through this agreement, to build a greener future collectively. In greater depth, this agreement exercises greater emphasis on a variety of concerted actions such as the cultivation of climate resilience and the achievement of zero-net carbon emission amidst the devastating impacts of the pandemic. On top of that, this agreement also marks these cities’ involvement in GCoM Phase 2 implementation.
The GCoM SEA Signing Ceremony was witnessed by the Secretary-General of United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC), Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, who has been actively advocating for the localization and assistance of climate efforts, primarily for the global south.
‘While this agreement surely is a milestone, but the devil is in the details. We have to make sure that we are vigilant of our future, and that means our mission to delimit global temperature to 1.5 degrees celsius takes the utmost priority,’ said Dr. Bernardia. ‘I am confident that GCoM SEA and its member cities will play an important role in fulfilling our mission to achieve a brighter and more sustainable future.’
In the past few years, the GCoM SEA has been tremendously helpful in aiding Asian cities in developing their respective climate action plans. In his remarks, the representative of Cao Lanh city, Vietnam, recounted the projects and collaboration that the city and GCoM SEA had developed together and how they are confident about this partnership moving forward.
“We have faith in the way things are going, as we had the pleasure of working with GCoM SEA and see, first hand, how GCoM SEA helped us in developing our climate action plan,”, adding that they are now entering the implementation phase of their action plan with the support of GCoM SEA and how thrilled they are to be a part of this network. “We are as hopeful as much as we are ecstatic to learn from other member cities, garner best practices from around the world, and be a part of this network.
Before the signing ceremony, Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi as UCLG ASPAC Secretary-General spoke on a webinar “GCoM Online Webinar in Indonesia ‘Climate Mitigation Strategies Towards Zero Emissions: A Lesson-learned from Indonesia Local Governments’” organised by the ASEAN Mayors Forum. She stated that COP26 is not the end of the line, but it rather establishes a new chapter in our lives where we would have to fight harder to ensure that there will be a new page to be opened by our future generations. In this light, she wished that this collaboration would yield a favourable outcome that our future generations could benefit from.
By KM Team
