The proposal for the “Energy Performance Contracting for Residential Retrofitting in Ulaanbaatar City” project, co-developed by GGGI Mongolia and ICLEI East Asia was shortlisted under the 6th Call NAMA Support Projects (NSPs) in 2019. Following the Detailed Preparation Phase extended through 2020-2021, the project is looking to enter the Implementation Phase by the first quarter of 2022. 

The proposed project aims to create a financing mechanism for Ulaanbaatar to carry out thermo-technical retrofitting to 375 precast residential building blocks. It is expected that the project will lead to GHG emissions reduction by 219,553 tCO2e, and over 53,000 residents will directly benefit from improved thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and increased value and lifespan of the buildings. ICLEI East Asia was leading the work packages of financial mechanism design and stakeholder engagement, to ensure the primary beneficiary – i.e. the household – would be supporting the retrofitting project.

From 2019 to 2021, ICLEi East Asia co-delivered a series of in-depth training to 4 selected cities/districts in China – namely Ningbo, Chengdu, Shanghai Changning, and Beijing – with UNDRR ONEA-GETI,  to strengthen their capacities on disaster risk reduction, as well as on designing and implementing urban resilience in the context of climate change.

Through the training, the participants were able to apply UNDRR’s Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient Scorecard and conduct preliminary assessments of the jurisdictions’ current status in disaster risk reduction and resilient development with the support of leading experts from multi-disciplinary backgrounds.

Relevant reports:

• Ningbo gears up to strengthen capacities for disaster risk reduction and resilient cities
• Chengdu accelerates resilience development to combat climate change
• Chinese cities exploring resilience approaches to navigate sustainable development

The EcoProcura conference series started in 1998 as a forum to promote exchange and dialogue on the latest strategies and practical solutions for sustainable, circular, and innovative procurement. The conference series has also been replicated in China:

• EcoProcura China 2015: Summary and Highlights (Chinese)
• EcoProcura China 2018: Summary and Highlights

Find out more at EcoProcura 

The Sino-German project “Urban-Rural Assembly” (URA) takes the urbanizing region of Huangyan-Taizhou in Zhejiang Province in China as a unique research and development environment aiming to

1. build an inter-disciplinary and multi-scalar understanding of trans-local interdependencies and metabolism at the urban-rural interface;
2. develop and implement community-driven pilot interventions enhancing resource efficiency and reinforcing regional circular economies; and
3. develop and demonstrate new multi-level, multi-actor governance tools that enable local municipalities to manage urban-rural linkages towards a progressive urban-regional model that builds on socio-ecologically inclusive and cooperative development approaches.

ICLEI supports the research project in creating an interface between the research partners and policymakers, both within the case region as well as nationally in China and internationally.

Find out more at urbanruralassembly.com

The Horizon2020 funded project CLEVER Cities uses nature-based solutions (NbS) to address urban challenges and promote social inclusion in cities across Europe, South America, and China.

ICLEI’s main activities in the project include: taking the lead in transferring and customizing NbS, co-developing NbS replication roadmaps, Co-developing the Urban NbS Plan along with the funding and investment strategies, Co-developing the NbS implementation plan and opportunity-based implementation, and Launching a CLEVER Exchange Programme by organizing webinars, workshops, study visits, etc. to ensure knowledge transfer.

ICLEI will also ensure strategic coordination of communication and dissemination activities and Organize dissemination and knowledge brokerage events. These efforts will help to (i) advance the knowledge base on NbS for inclusive urban regeneration, (ii) integrate NbS in urban regeneration and planning processes, and (iii) produce governance, business and financial models for NbS projects.

Find out more at clevercities.eu

CitiesWithNature is a partnership initiative between ICLEI, IUCN, TNC, WWF, the United Nations Environment Programme, and many other organizations that provides an innovative online platform to support the co-evolution of cities with nature. It offers access to an extensive array of guides, tools, and case studies to help cities and city regions redefine their relationship with nature. This interactive platform is recognized by the SCBD as the official vehicle for local and subnational governments to report their reports and ambitions for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Find out more at citieswithnature.org

UrbanByNature is a facilitated capacity-building program promoting exchange among cities, researchers, SMEs, and NGOs to build bridges with the Nature-Based Solutions communities across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and other regions that are interested. The program is powered by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and the EU-funded projects Connecting Nature and CLEVER Cities.

UrbanByNature has been launched in five regional hubs worldwide: Brazil, Korea, the Caucasus, China, and Spain. Participation is open and free of charge with new opportunities coming up regularly for other regions worldwide.

A six-part webinar series for China was delivered from June 2021 through February 2022 by the ICLEI European Secretariat and the ICLEI Beijing Office:

• #1 Recap: Introducing NbS and the UrbanByNature Programme in China
• #2 Recap: Enabling Conditions and Barriers to implementing NbS
• #3 Recap: Planning NbS with Citizens and Other Stakeholders
• #4 Recap: Technical Implementation of NbS
• #5 Recap: Monitoring and Evaluation of NbS
• #6 Recap: Replicating NbS across the Urban Fabric

WRI, C40, and ICLEI have partnered to create a GHG Protocol standard for cities formally known as Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC). 

The GPC provides a robust framework for accounting and reporting city-wide greenhouse gas emissions. It seeks to:

• help cities develop a comprehensive and robust greenhouse gas inventory in order to support climate action planning;
• help cities establish a base year emissions inventory, set reduction targets, and track their performance;
• ensure consistent and transparent measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions between cities, following internationally recognized greenhouse gas accounting and reporting principles;
• enable city inventories to be aggregated at subnational and national levels; and
• demonstrate the important role that cities play in tackling climate change, and facilitate insight through benchmarking – and aggregation – of comparable data.

Find out more about GHG Protocol for Cities 

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been annually hosting the Seoul International Forum on Air Quality Improvement since 2010, providing a platform for local governments in East Asia to discuss and seek joint countermeasures for air quality improvement via international cooperation. The ICLEI East Asia Secretariat has actively contributed to the preparation and the organization of the Forum since 2016.

The Ambitious City Promises project, led by ICLEI is designed to advance this work by capacitating local governments, engaging citizens and driving climate action through Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS).

The Promise of Seoul, a comprehensive climate strategy adopted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government at the ICLEI World Congress in 2015, is at the heart of Ambitious City Promises. It provides a model of effective climate action at the community level, showing that cities can be both engines of growth and global leaders on climate action by establishing inclusive low emission urban economies. Through Ambitious City Promises, local governments in Southeast Asia adapt this model of inclusive, ambitious climate action, mainstreaming low emission development strategies and creating new climate leaders.

The ICLEI East Asia Secretariat acted as one of the implementing partners of the project.

Find out more about the Ambitious City Promises project 

ICLEI is the local lead partner of the Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) in East Asia, taking responsibility to plan and execute the work plan, coordinating participating cities and stakeholders, and facilitating the engagement among business and local governments in the region.

Through the BEA, ICLEI has supported local governments in China and Mongolia to inquire about practical information for policy design and planning, to have access to international funding opportunities for project implementation and replication, and to strengthen the relationship with non-governmental stakeholders.

Find out more about the BEA

Since 2016, ICLEI East Asia and SHRDC have been co-organizing annual training programs for local government officials in Asia, aiming to help them strengthen their efforts in achieving sustainable urban development. Through policy presentations, site visits, and group discussions, participants of the training programs are provided with the latest insight on topics such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, energy transition, transportation, air quality, waste management, and citizen-led governance.

• Training on Climate Change and Air Quality Co-Control for ICLEI Members in Asia
• Capacity Building for Chinese Cities on Climate Change Policies
• ACP Cities updated with Seoul’s latest strategy on climate change and air pollution control