Cities and Climate Challenges in Southeast Asia
CLIMATE CHANGE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAMME
About the Webinar
Concerns over climate risks and vulnerabilities have been gaining ground in many Southeast Asian cities as the region continues to experience greater and more intense climate impacts. Policymakers and communities have increasingly factored climate risk consideration in their urban planning policies. Yet, Southeast Asian cities, with their diverse development trajectories, local capacities, and their growth aspirations, face unique challenges in addressing the climate crisis.
Against this backdrop, the Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute organised a workshop for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars in October 2021 to discuss the interconnected challenges of climate risks and urban development and how cities in the region advancing their climate mitigation and adaptive capacities. The workshop has resulted in the publication of a compendium Cities and Climate Challenges in Southeast Asia which sheds light on varied and contextual experiences of Southeast Asian urban communities in addressing climate challenges and scenarios for future policy making.
This webinar will bring three contributors of the compendium to share their respective research projects in addressing the problem of water insecurity in the City of Baguio, Philippines; understanding the City of Jakarta’s collaborative experience with international city climate networks; and the role of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in promoting climate adaptation tools by drawing from the experience of Japanese ODA in Vietnamese cities.
Opening Remarks
Ms Sharon Seah is the Senior Fellow and the Coordinator of ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) and Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme (CCSEAP), ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. Prior to joining the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Ms Seah was Associate Director of the NUS Centre for International Law. She has spent 14 years in the National Environment Agency and Ministry of Foreign Affairs prior to entering academia, including a diplomatic posting to the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand from 2003 to 2007. Ms Seah maintains an interest in climate change and environmental issues; multilateralism and ASEAN development. Ms Seah graduated with a Master in Public and International Law from the University of Melbourne in 2018.
Expert Remarks
Dr.-Ing. Peter Andreas Gotsch is Professor for Sustainable Urban Development in the Global South in the Program Urban Ecological Planning at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Department of Architecture and Planning. He has extensive experience in integrating Urban Planning and International Cooperation. He served as a senior urban expert and advisor to UN-Habitat, the World Bank, GIZ and Misereor/KZE and to multiple local and national governments.
About the Speakers
Dr Alejandro N. Ciencia is Professor of Political Science at the Department of Economics and Political Science, College of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Baguio. He teaches research methods, political philosophy, and Philippine politics. His research interests include urban resilience, water security, judicial decision-making and politics, and issues of justice.
Ms Nila Kamil works at the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Directorate General of Climate Change Control. She is currently doing her PhD at the Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands. Her research focuses on climate transparency’s effects on reflexive policy-making capacity in developing countries, with multi-scalar analyses at global, national, and subnational levels. Nila has more than ten years of experience in climate negotiation process, and also in wider sustainability youth and civil society advocacy and science communication projects.
Dr Michiyo Kakegawa is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Soka University. She teaches “Development and the Environment”, “International Development and Cooperation”, and “Economics towards Sustainable Development” among others. Her research interests include international development policies, environment policy and management, environmental and social safeguards, and climate adaptation. Before taking this position, she worked both on the various policies and projects related to the environmental management, poverty alleviation, and development cooperation at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Vietnam Office, and Ministry of the Environment of Japan.
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. You can join the webinar at the specified date and time using devices (computer, phone, or tablet) with internet connection.
Please register here to receive your unique link for joining the webinar.