A low carbon growth path could deliver an average GDP growth rate of 6% annually until 2045. It would unlock an array of economic, social, and environmental benefits, including reducing extreme poverty, generating additional better-paid jobs, and avoiding deaths due to reduced air pollution.

In order to realise these benefits, the government of Indonesia developed a national action plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (RAN-GRK) in 2011 as well as a national action plan on climate change adaptation (RAN-API) in 2014. The next challenge is how to ensure the implementation of these plans at all levels of government.

It is vital that subnational levels of government can contribute to national climate policy development and implementation plans. This factsheet outlines some of the ways that are already happening and recommends further improvements.

India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) was created in 2008. This broad national policy was the basis on which the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was prepared. India’s federal structure distributes powers at national and state levels, and the implementation of the NAPCC is envisioned through the formulation of State Action Plans for Climate Change (SAPCC). Implementation of these will require clear Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems and access to finance.

Under the current system, climate data collection and communication across different levels of government could be improved. Local governments’ access to climate finance is also limited due to lack of mandate and knowledge on funding sources, limited technical capacity to design and implement bankable projects with clear risk mitigation, and absence of engagement with donors and financiers. These challenges all point toward a need for strengthened vertical integration to create better conditions for the implementation of the NDC and for India’s climate adaptation and mitigation strategies at sub-national levels.

This issue of the Urban-LEDS II Newsletter highlights the following: Project synergies: Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC) City in focus: Aalborg, Denmark Urban champion: Md. Zannatul Ferdous, Mayor, Singra Municipality, Bangladesh New project resources (New!) - KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

In the coming months and years, Member States will continue to undertake domestic processes to review, strengthen and implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Inclusion of urban climate action and sub-national government stakeholders in NDC formulation, priority setting, targets, governance and implementation has the potential to support government efforts to enhance ambition and delivery of NDCs. Similarly, the NDCs can inform urban policies and priority setting.

This guide for Enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions through urban climate action provides practical opportunities for incorporating urban climate action and human settlement issues into the current NDC revision and enhancement process, drawing on existing knowledge and networks. 

We hope this guidance can support countries to: 

• Enhance the ambition of their NDCs in the current 2020 and future revision processes, by harnessing the mitigation and adaptation potential of human settlements and urban climate action to deliver a high quality of life while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and building resilience.
• Support a more integrated approach to NDC development and implementation across national and local governments.
• Implement their NDCs by aligning the activities of urban stakeholders behind a common vision for human settlements.
• Embed their climate objectives into urban decision-making across all sectors of government 
• Create the enabling frameworks towards the implementation of high-ambition NDCs at sub-national level and help climate authorities to engage with urban authorities through a common basis of language and understanding.

This UN-Habitat publication was produced in a collaborative effort with a wide variety of expert contributors from; Arup, the Coalition for Urban Transitions, C40, the Environment, Forest & Climate Change Commission of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia , GIZ , Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, Global Green Growth Institute, Go Green for Climate,  ICLEI, the NDC Partnership, REN21, UNDP, UNEP, UNFCCC, and the University of Southern Denmark . 

The guide was supported by the Urban-Low Emission Development Strategies (Urban-LEDS) project phase II, funded by the European Commission and implemented by UN-Habitat and ICLEI.

SPANISH

Purpose and scope of this guide

To ensure that projects and related activities are adequately targeted at reducing climate change vulnerabilities in communities, it is necessary to conduct Vulnerability and Risk Assessments (VRAs) to understand which people and which areas are most at risk and why.

This information can subsequently be used to:

• Inform participatory action planning processes that lead to community-driven and owned adaptation, as well as settlements upgrading processes.
• Identify lower risk areas in which climate-resilient infrastructure and housing could be built.
• Develop targeted early warning systems, training programs in environmental management and risk reduction, community capacity building, alternative livelihood strategies, etc.
• Select, prioritize, and design appropriate resilient infrastructure development options.

To minimize social and environmental risks of projects, the VRAs conducted are also used to collect information about potential risks (e.g., people in vulnerable situations, natural habitats). Specific VRAs targeting people in vulnerable situations are necessary to capture more detailed disaggregated data focused on climate change related issues, needs, and perceptions of specific groups such as women and youth with the aim to develop differentiated approaches to building resilience.

This guide promotes community-driven development in identifying issues, developing solutions with technical assistance partners, and active participation in implementing projects. Involvement in planning is a critical component of both appropriately selecting projects and building cohesion within communities. Engagement in community committees builds motivation for collective action in project implementation. Full and equal participation of women, youth, and other people in vulnerable situations is essential to reach all genders and all ages and to avoid underrepresentation of specific groups.

Target audience

The process described in the guide is designed to be used by a wide range of actors. It is aimed at teams tasked with facilitating VRAs and Action Plan (AP) processes at the community-level, assisting them by providing guidance, methods, and tools. It may also support wider national government initiatives for slum upgrading and community climate resilience building as well as community-based organizations.

How to use this guide

This guide focuses on the processes involved in developing community-based VRAs and APs, providing general content, tools, and guidance on participatory methodologies and techniques. It may be used to support slum and informal settlements upgrading initiatives or can be used as a stand-alone process tool in support of local action. Case studies from different regions exemplify the processes and methodologies described.

During the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi in February 2020, representatives from Urban-LEDS cities, countries, the Adaptation Fund and the Coalition for Urban Transitions joined together to explore good practices in vertical and horizontal integration of climate change. Read the full story here.

Cambodia is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to natural disasters and has suffered repeatedly from floods, storms and strong winds which have caused the loss of lives and destruction of livelihoods.

In 2018, due to the heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm SON-TINH, the Sepa-Nam Noi dam in Lao PDR collapsed affecting 62,317 households residing near the Mekong river. The massive floods caused 16 deaths and forced 5,398 households to evacuate in the five downstream provinces in Cambodia. The rural poor communities near the river suffered the destruction of their houses. Many families were forced to evacuate their homes to the temporary shelters with no sufficient food and access to clean water and sanitation.

To support the recovery process and strengthen climate resilience of the population affected by the floods, UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Royal Government of Cambodia implemented the “Project for Improving Living Environment and Disaster Prevention Capacity in Cambodia” (April 2019 – March 2020) with grant aid from the Government of Japan.

The project was completed with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 202 houses with 1,098 people in the target area of Cambodia. It also benefited nearly 10,000 people through a wide range of capacity building activities related to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

The Future Saudi Cities Programme is a joint programme developed by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in Saudi Arabia and UN-Habitat, implemented in close cooperation with the municipalities of 17 major Saudi cities, the cities have been selected based on their different population sizes, geographic distribution, and a range of criteria based on capacities and economic potential to create a more balanced regional development among the cities of Saudi Arabia. The chosen cities include Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah, Taif, Madinah, Tabuk, Dammam, Qatif, Al-Ahsa, Abha, Najran, Jazan, Hael, Arar, AlBaha, Buraidah, and Skaka. one of FSCP outcomes is the city profiles.

The city-profile performs as a thinking tool that constitutes together an assessment tool and guidance for the current and future planning of the city, whilst defining a clear strategy for sustainable development. This tool is based on the UN-Habitat’s three-pronged approach considers spatial planning in relation to legal and institutional frameworks, in addition to financial mechanisms. In this way, success criteria for the sustainable implementation of a spatial plan should include flexible but enforceable rules and regulations, in addition to a financing strategy and projections.

The City Profile Methodology, that is applied to Tabuk, is contenting the following steps:
1- Evidence based input approach.
2- The City reviews.
3- The City Prosperity Index assessment report.
4- The GIS spatial analysis.

The Future Saudi Cities Programme is a joint programme developed by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in Saudi Arabia and UN-Habitat, implemented in close cooperation with the municipalities of 17 major Saudi cities, the cities have been selected based on their different population sizes, geographic distribution, and a range of criteria based on capacities and economic potential to create a more balanced regional development among the cities of Saudi Arabia. The chosen cities include Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah, Taif, Madinah, Tabuk, Dammam, Qatif, Al-Ahsa, Abha, Najran, Jazan, Hael, Arar, AlBaha, Buraidah, and Skaka. one of FSCP outcomes is the city profiles.

The city-profile performs as a thinking tool that constitutes together an assessment tool and guidance for the current and future planning of the city, whilst defining a clear strategy for sustainable development. This tool is based on the UN-Habitat’s three-pronged approach considers spatial planning in relation to legal and institutional frameworks, in addition to financial mechanisms. In this way, success criteria for the sustainable implementation of a spatial plan should include flexible but enforceable rules and regulations, in addition to a financing strategy and projections.

The City Profile Methodology, that is applied to Tabuk, is contenting the following steps:
1- Evidence based input approach.
2- The City reviews.
3- The City Prosperity Index assessment report.
4- The GIS spatial analysis.

The Future Saudi Cities Programme is a joint programme developed by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in Saudi Arabia and UN-Habitat, implemented in close cooperation with the municipalities of 17 major Saudi cities, the cities have been selected based on their different population sizes, geographic distribution, and a range of criteria based on capacities and economic potential to create a more balanced regional development among the cities of Saudi Arabia. The chosen cities include Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah, Taif, Madinah, Tabuk, Dammam, Qatif, Al-Ahsa, Abha, Najran, Jazan, Hael, Arar, AlBaha, Buraidah, and Skaka. one of FSCP outcomes is the city profiles.

The city-profile performs as a thinking tool that constitutes together an assessment tool and guidance for the current and future planning of the city, whilst defining a clear strategy for sustainable development. This tool is based on the UN-Habitat’s three-pronged approach considers spatial planning in relation to legal and institutional frameworks, in addition to financial mechanisms. In this way, success criteria for the sustainable implementation of a spatial plan should include flexible but enforceable rules and regulations, in addition to a financing strategy and projections.

The City Profile Methodology, that is applied to Tabuk, is contenting the following steps:
1- Evidence based input approach.
2- The City reviews.
3- The City Prosperity Index assessment report.
4- The GIS spatial analysis.