Taking the role as Global Covenant of Mayors Secretariat for Southeast Asia (GCoM SEA), United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) continues support to achieve the climate target in number of cities within four ASEAN Countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam). This support is implemented under the GCoM Asia Project phase 2 that was kicked off on 17 January 2022.
The kick-off event was under the theme of “Climate Mitigation Strategies Towards Zero Emissions: A Lesson-learnt from Indonesia Local Governments.” There were 5 (five) Indonesian cities (Malang, Denpasar, Palembang, Makassar, and Depok City) invited as panel discussion representatives to share relevant climate action, results, challenges and lessons learned.
During the discussion, those Cities panel representatives were highlighting the importance of having in-line strategies with the national government. They mentioned a lot about the national program by the Ministry of Environment and forestry called “Program Kampung Iklim” or Climate Village Program and their strategies to achieve the program’s goals.
Most actions taken by cities are switching conventional lamps to LED, promoting energy efficiency, strengthening waste management which includes developing waste banks, developing cycling lanes, and tree planting. Since it is important to use a Penta helix model, all cities are involving various stakeholders, such as academia, public, private sector, non-profit organizations in the implementation.
In fact, there is a need to increase the pace with more ambitious actions. Recognizing a huge amount of budget for that, some cities come up with various solutions, such as using the Government and Business Entity Cooperation (KPBU) scheme, Availability Payment scheme, and even holding an auction to increase engagement and awareness. Moreover, GCoM Southeast Asia through this project also offers to link 8 project proposals to the financial institutions to support cities in tackling the financial challenge.
Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, the Secretary-General of UCLG ASPAC, GCoM SEA, and ASEAN Mayors Forum (AMF) stated that GCoM Project Phase 2 aims to encourage cities in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and South Asia’s climate action through capacity building and achieved their local target and NDC. She also express her gladness that many cities could benefit from the program.
Ms. Asih Budiati, Team Leader Asia of GCoM encouraged cities in ASEAN to sign the GCoM commitment. It requires no financial contribution and cities are able to participate in various GCoM SEA training to be part of the global movement in achieving the global goals.
For more information regarding GCoM Southeast Asia, visit: http://asean-mayors.eu
By KM Team
