Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities
PRESS RELEASE

PASIG CITY, August 15, 2024 – Officials from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and representatives from government agencies and civil society discussed the importance of unlocking climate finance to support the implementation of effective climate action in cities and urban areas across the Philippines in a roundtable discussion on August 8.

“Cities are not infallible; in fact, having cities as concentration hubs for essential services, businesses, investments, and governance make them highly vulnerable to shocks. Now more than ever, it is imperative to properly plan and manage urban development strategies, which should include improved enabling conditions for climate finance to support climate-resilient development in urban areas,” said Angelo Kairos dela Cruz, Executive Director of Philippine-based non-government organization Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC).

The roundtable discussion, held in Pasig City, was organized under the Integrated Urban Climate Action for Low-Carbon and Resilient Cities (Urban-Act) Project, a regional initiative led by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The project aims to improve conditions for the planning and implementation of evidence-based and inclusive climate action in cities and urban areas in the Philippines, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and China, in line with the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions and the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. In the Philippines, ICSC is an implementing partner of Urban-Act Project in the Philippines, together with Clean Air Asia (CAA); DILG serves as the project’s political partner in the country. 

“Your presence here is a testament to the unwavering commitment we have towards addressing the pressing issues on urban climate finance. We in the DILG are very glad to have ventured in this partnership with our development partners, because these interventions reinforce the agency’s current efforts in capacitating local government units to ensure that they implement sustainable development practices,” said DILG’s Assistant Secretary Francisco Cruz in his opening remarks. 

“I am confident that the insights and recommendations generated in our discussions will significantly contribute to our collective efforts in mobilizing urban climate finance. Together, we can transform our cities into hubs of sustainability and resilience,” added ASec. Cruz.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) projects that approximately 70 percent of people globally will be living in cities and urban areas by 2050, yet many cities around the world are ill-prepared for rapid urbanization, where housing and infrastructure development have been unable to pick up speed. The Urban-Act Project aims to transform cities and urban areas towards low-carbon and resilient development by ensuring that local and national policy frameworks and long-term strategies facilitate access to climate finance and support climate action.

Director John Narag of the DOF highlighted the importance of governance and development planning in leveraging urban climate finance. “Climate action is cross-cutting — this is one issue with a multitude of concerns that we have to consider. The financing follows the plan: it is a tool that can help support climate action, but climate action goes beyond just financing.”

Sara Jane Ahmed, Finance Advisor to the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Finance Ministers of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), also talked about Climate Prosperity Plans, and how these can help accelerate climate action efforts of cities through investments, while DBM’s Atty. Philip Jeffrey David presented finance opportunities for cities through the Green Green Green Program, which aims to support the development of sustainable public open spaces in cities across the country.

The roundtable discussion is the first of a series of sessions, aiming to facilitate open, multi-stakeholder dialogues on how climate finance can be leveraged to advance low-carbon and resilient urban development in the Philippines. The next roundtable discussion is scheduled in October, which will focus on the monitoring and evaluation of climate finance.

PHOTOS
Access event photos here.
Photos (c) Ira Guerrero/ICSC

 

ABOUT

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities is a Philippine-based non-governmental organization that advances climate, energy, and low-carbon solutions to enable fair and climate-resilient development at the national and international levels.

 

CONTACT

Sanaf Marcelo, ICSC: media@icsc.ngo, +63 968 886 3466, +63 917 149 5649

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