Reporting from Bonn, UNFCCC: Forum on experiences and best practices of Cities and Subnational Authorities in relation to adaptation and mitigation
10 June 2014
In response to a request by the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), yesterday the UNFCCC organised a Forum on experiences and best practices of cities and subnational authorities in relation to adaptation and mitigation. It is hoped that this will provide an opportunity for parties and relevant stakeholders to share experiences and best practices of cities and subnational authorities.
In the session, the Chair indicated that what is needed is proper governance and a clear direction to commit to a carbon neutral world at the local level, and that collaboration of national, subnational and local government for sustainable development should also be facilitated to promote transformational urban process. It was also pointed out that there needs to be accountability and responsibility at city and sub-national level as well as leadership in planning and designing low-carbon cities.
In the presentation and discussion, participants communicated the need to increase the role of cities, and emphasised vertical integration of international, national and city levels in order to reflect efforts by cities ahead of the 2015 agreement. From the floor, Prof. Ho of UTM highlighted the importance of quantitative analysis, inputs of scientific research into action, baseline setting and target setting to reduce CO2 at the city level. He also drew attention to the example of Iskandar, Malaysia to showcase bottom-up policy planning and consensus building, and emphasised the role of networks such as Low Carbon Asia Network (LoCARNet) to help promote low-carbon societies in Asian countries through open discussions of best practices on mitigation and adaption issues in cities.
The article is also available from IGES website