Yogyakarta, 7-8 March 2022 | UCLG ASPAC as the host of the GCoM Southeast Asia Secretariat, in collaboration with Yogyakarta City Government, conducted the two-day national training on climate change mitigation at the Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta City. The hybrid event was attended by 43 participants from 21 local governments, mostly from the Development Planning Agency and Environment Department. The Vice Mayor of Yogyakarta Mr. Heroe Poerwadi was present at the venue to officially open the national training.
Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi (Secretary-General of UCLG ASPAC) and Ms. Henriette Faergemann (First Counsellor – Environment, Climate Action, ICT of the EU Delegation to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam) delivered their opening remarks virtually. Emphasising the role of cities in climate actions, Ms. Faergemann stated, “There is no way we can achieve our targets unless cities are very much involved. That’s why I’m really happy we have 21 cities that are part of the GCoM Asia Project here.”
After the remarks, the event proceeded to a panel discussion bringing up a topic, “State of the Art of Energy and Climate Sectors in Indonesia”. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Kunto Bimaji of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia with three panelists from different ministries in Indonesia: Mr. Medrilzam of the National Development Planning Agency, Mr. Irawan Asaad of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and Mr. Joko Tri Haryanto of the Ministry of Finance. The discussion highlights the importance of communication between stakeholders to mainstream climate-related projects into the development planning documents, the importance of correct and agreed-upon GHG inventory calculation, and the opportunity to explore other financing options for climate-related projects.
During the rest of the first-day training, the participants learned directly from the Centre for Climate Risk and Opportunity Management in Southeast Asia Pacific (CCROM-SEAP) IPB about GHG emission formulation and GHG inventory reporting platform developed by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia, which is also known as SIGN SMART. From Ms. Giulia Melica of the European Commission – Joint Research Centre (JRC), the participants learned about data collection and GHG emission accounting in other countries, especially in Europe. While Ms. Giorgia Rambelli of the GCoM Global Secretariat presented the benefits of using and utilising existing data provided by various stakeholders as entry points for GHG inventory, for example, Google Environment Insight Explorer and Data Portal for Cities.
The second day of the training started with a presentation from the GCoM Southeast Asia Secretariat on the introduction of the GCoM and how to be GCoM members. It was then followed by an interactive group discussion moderated by the GCoM Asia Team Leader Ms. Asih Budiati. The participants were divided into five groups (industry, transportation, waste and water management, buildings, and renewable energy) to share their experiences on the said topics. By the end of the session, each group was also requested to present their discussion results to other groups. The presentations were very informative with an emphasis on the political willingness of the local leaders that should be translated into strong regulations to implement sustainable projects.
The training was concluded with a field visit to Yogyakarta City’s Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and Gambiran Resilient Village (Kampung Tangguh Bencana) to learn directly about Yogyakarta’s best practices regarding climate and disaster mitigation and resilience. Before the field visit, Co-Managing Director of GCoM Global Mr. Piero Remitti delivered his closing remarks and invited cities and regencies to be part of the GCoM community.
Following the two-day training on climate change mitigation in Yogyakarta, the GCoM Southeast Asia Secretariat will organise similar training on climate change adaptation this coming May 2022 in Denpasar, Bali.
—
Written and reviewed by: Rona Ikram Putri
