ICLEI South Asia, in association with ICLEI Japan, ICLEI Indonesia and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), organised  a key session on ‘Strengthening G7 and G20 Urban Groups Partnership on Sustainable Urbanisation and Multilevel Climate Action: Lessons and Experience from the Asia Pacific Region’ on October 28, 2023, at the Eighth Asia-Pacific Urban Forum (APUF-8), held in Suwon, South Korea.

Speaking at the session, distinguished experts focused on key implementation initiatives such the role of G7 and G20 Urban Groups Partnership on Sustainable Urbanisation and Multilevel Climate Action; important takeaways on urban climate action from India’s Presidency of G20  and Japan’s Presidency of G7; the lessons learnt and experiences in implementing urban climate actions in the Asia Pacific region; and the importance of improving credit rating and record keeping at the local government level to access climate finance through municipal bonds, green bonds, carbon and plastic credits.

Ms. Kanak Tiwari, Programme Director, Urban Strategy Unit and U20 Technical Secretariat, NIUA, said, “The potential of cities to become drivers of the global agenda requires the right kind of nudges from the  G20 and G7 countries in areas of financing, capacity building and policies to action the U20 priorities worldwide. Now is the time to mobilise multiple stakeholders for localising and actioning global development agendas, especially in the light of G20 and G7 acknowledging the significance of the urban constituency.”

The importance of  multilevel stakeholder consultation at the local, regional and national levels to formulate reforms for enabling climate finance flows and capacity building to make urban financing more innovative and flexible was emphasised. In this context, Mr. Bernardus Djonoputro, CEO, Rebana Metropolitan Management Authority, West Java Province, Indonesia, said, “We encourage vertical integration and cross-sectoral and intergenerational involvement by actively engaging wider communities in climate energy response, promoting inclusivity and collective actions… We also support our cities in building climate resilience through strong stakeholder consultation.”

Some of the key conclusions arrived at the session were the need to mobilise multiple stakeholders for localising and actioning global development agendas; training and capacity building of urban local bodies in preparing bankable projects and low credit rating for enabling  financial institutions and banks to evaluate and provide funds for implementation; and preparing standardised procedures and frameworks for accessing climate finance.