The Adaptation Session was facilitated by myself and had as presenters Minister Penny Wong, Climate Change and Water; Saleemul Huq, Head, Climate Change, International Institute for Environment and Development; Cr Marian Nieuwoudt and Gregg Olsefer, Head Cape Town, South Africa. I provided an overview of the Indonesian Resilient Cities Network Project. The Minister and the Indonesian Project were well received indeed.

The LGCS concluded with a Plenary Session facilitated by the Secretary General, Konrad Otto Zimmerman, including presentations from Dr Jerzy Buzek, former Prime Minister, Poland, and now a member of the European Parliament; the Minister for Environment, Patali Champika Ranawaka, Sri Lanka; Mayor of Copenhagen, Klaus Bondam; and Mayor of Poznan, Ryszard Grobelny.

The message was clear, cities and local governments must mobilise local governments, national governments and local communities, and partners on the road to Copenhagen. The COP now enters its most critical stage as ICLEI and its participating partners – including UCLG, Metropolis, C40 and the World Mayors Council for Climate Change – prepare for the road to Copenhagen and its next lobbying phase.

Wednesday August 27, 2008

Day 1 – Monday
Vung Tau, a beachside resort three hours west of Ho Chi Minh City, was the venue for the second seminar.

Delegates arrived Sunday evening and the seminar commenced the next day on the dot of 8.00 am with the formal welcome from the Deputy Co-Chairs, from the Office of the National Assembly (ONA) and the UNDP.

There were again around 70 deputies (councillors) attending the seminar this time from the Peoples' Councils and Peoples' Committees from 30 or so Provinces in the south. The same theme, the same set of issues – how to build the capacity of local government to oversight, the budget, infrastructure, health and education.

I took to the stage at 9.15 am and concluded at 10.00 am. The good sign was the questions that came later in the day and references to my presentation by the next speaker!

The translator was doing a good job, or perhaps he was providing his own information and filing in for me. There is no doubt that a translator has the last word and therefore plays a critical role in such exchanges. As you sit and listen to them grappling with meaning and nuance for the Vietnamese to English translation, you realise the importance of straight talking.

Budget and infrastructure oversight is about ensuring effective and efficient outcomes through checks and balances of the political and administrative arms of local government and engaging the community.

The lines of responsibility for elected representatives and management need to be mapped out and adhered to by the principle players.

Finding the right balance between legislative codes of practice on the one hand and principles, ethics and guidelines on the other is no easy task.

Viet Nam is growing at around 10% with inflation running at 28%. Urbanisation and decentralisation are happening along with moves to socialisation, that is power sharing with the community or building social capital.

The Central, Provincial, District and Commune levels of government are feeling their way in a country moving toward a market driven economy and in a world that is investing heavily and demanding change to governance processes.

Day 2 – Tuesday
Last night I wandered the long beach looking for a breath of wind. There were many others doing the same but they were locals and resigned to not getting relief I suspect.

Many stalls, many diners on their makeshift tables and chairs, many motor cyclists sniffing the wind they created and many high rise hotels in amongst the shacks of shops. It was a myriad of images, smells and sounds that comprised this beach culture.

Next morning we started again at 8.00 am sharp. As the hands on the clock moved into position the co-chairs would confer and start on the stroke! The rest of the agenda is not quite so structured given the many presentations and the number of delegates wishing to respond.

There is no doubting the interest in the topic and the number of deputies wishing to speak their mind!

Whilst the seminar is similar in most respects to the one in the north, the questions and comments from the floor are fast and at times passionate and animated. I was told that there was a different ‘culture’ in the south and to expect questions.

The day proceeded with some of the deputies recounting stories of health, education, budget and infrastructure issues.

The Deputy for Ho Chi Minh City described how difficult it was to provide replace old infrastructure despite some believing his city to be 'wealthy'! The Deputy from a more rural Province lamented that staff moved to Ho Ch Minh City after they had been trained. Others remarked on the state of their infrastructure and over spending and the lack of revenue. Land clearance and compensation loomed large, along with budget oversighting practices or lack thereof.

We concluded for a long lunch provided by the local Province. It was a culinary delight…but that’s another story. The Saigon beer, the shots of vodka and the comaraderie filled the dining room. Talk was easier and freer now and the challenges of this emerging Asian nation became more and more evident.

I would like to return to build on the knowledge I had gained in this short and sharp experience.

Saturday August 23, 2008

Day two commenced at 8.00 am sharp!

Presentations continued from Provincial Government members of the Peoples Committees focused on oversighting across budget, infrastructure, health and education.

Issues focused on the experience of council members, skills of staff, lack of legal requirements and relationship with the central government.

Following the presentations there was an opportunity to respond to a a number of issues. The focus was on community participation and consultation.

There was interest in both the approach and some examples of how to ensure community ‘oversight’. Particular interest was expressed in engaging the poor and uneducated in the community. There was also interest in the use of social indicators in council decision-making.

The seminar concluded with a call for further opportunities for members to meet and engage on their roles and responsibilities. We said farewell and headed for the Bay!

Tuesday August 20, 2008

The flight to Hanoi via Ho Chi Minh City from Melbourne was delayed two hours. I had done my calculations and the original time made a landing in Hanoi about the time my body clock would be saying ‘just in time’. Two hours and my body clock would be saying… 'time out’!

The 'visa on arrival' at Ho Chi Minh City airport had its moments. My passport was swept away along with a myriad of documentation and I sat in a queue awaiting the announcement that my visa had been granted.

Sounds quite orderly really.

But the fact that the Vietnamese announcer was unable to pronounce the names on the passports as they were processed meant that every time she made an announcement we all rushed to the window to look to see if it was our passport that had been approved.

Half an hour went by and at last I was called (along with six others) and reocgnised that distinctive unhealthy photo of me!

The flight to Hanoi was a domestic flight so off we all trundled to a bus with a food voucher – yes, another delay. The food voucher is a polite way of saying we don’t have a plane yet!

The wait in the domestic terminal was softened by my successful search for a wireless connection. It is amazing how easy it is to tap in and so the time was whiled away with downloads and uploads.

The arrival in Hanoi at 11pm, the search for a taxi and the arrival on the doorstep of the Golden Lotus was well over my body clock time of 3am. I hit the bed not knowing where I was and what would come of the next day….but time would tell.

Thursday July 31, 2008

The morning wake up call was not needed; I awoke at 3.30 am (Melbourne time body clock) for the 5.30 am wake up call. The WALGA Convention and Exhibition was the  occasion for our traditional  ICLEI Oceania Recognition and Briefing Breakfast.

As in past years the turn up is early and strong. By 7.00 am for a 7.15 am start the tables were full and the speakers at hand. The speakers included Cr Bill Mitchell, President of WALGA,  Kim Taylor, Director General Department of Water, Mayor Paddi Creevy, Mandurah City Council, Shayne Silcox, CEO City of Melville and me!

It was a good event with 80 plus delegates crowded into the venue; always good for atmosphere. The 20 councils awarded for their milestone achievements on CCP and the Water Campaign™ were received by a sprinkling of mayors, shire presidents councillors, CEOs and managers within councils. It underlies the partnership and the extent of the  breadth of involvement in our campaigns.

Mayor Paddi Creevy and CEO Shayne Silcox gave testamonials on the partnership with ICLEI and their campaign achievements. Kim Taylor spoke on the Water Campaign and its value add to the Department of Water and its work to acheive water management outcomes. Bill Mitchell called on the State Government to recognise the important role of CCP in supporting local governments response to climate change. I provided an overview of ICLEI Oceania's role at home and abroad.

It was a breakfast that had a buzz!

Monday 21 July 2008

A ‘plain English explanation of what you need to understand and advice on what you can do’ on carbon trading, carbon offsets, carbon neutral was the topic at the LGPro Forum held on Friday in the Nagambie Lakes Regatta Centre on the banks of Nagambie Lakes.

And Stephen Kenihan and I were on the program to deliver!
 
The draft Garnaut Climate Change Review and the Green Paper on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme had hit the road and the airwaves over the past week so this was certain to be a briefing with many questions and hopefully some of the answers.

It seems to me that getting the questions right is the first step in the process of determining the impacts and opportunities presented to local government in this new regime of carbon pricing and the compliance and complementary actions that will deliver the national and international response on climate change.

ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Campaign has been an international voluntary program that has effectively and efficiently turned round the thinking and practices of hundreds of councils around the world and some 230 councils over the past 10 years here in Australia.

We are a movement of considerable impact especially given the urban century that we have now entered. CCP has provided a methodological and structural approach to dealing with the complex issue of addressing climate change through the identification, communication and actions necessary to reduce corporate and community greenhouse gas emissions whilst delivering financial savings and investments in new technologies and new ways of doing things.

The briefing provided an overview of the changes taking place at ICLEI Oceania including the decentralisation of our office into state-based offices, the partnering with likeminded organisations, the apolitical advocacy on behalf of CCP mayors and their councils, the increased regional role especially in Indonesia and the retrofitting of the CCP program to accommodate and respond to these needs of our councils.

For all of the above reasons we have introduced a three-tiered CCP program: for CCP Participants ready access to our website, templates and tools; for CCP Partners direct program, technical and political support; and to CCP Leaders accelerated and extended climate change actions towards a carbon reduced municipality.
 
We then proceeded to background previous experiences in environmental markets that operate to price eco-system services. These included in the water sector such as irrigation rights, in biodiversity such as fishing quotas and air pollution where in the USA there has been a sulphur dioxide market in operation for sometime.

So carbon as a market provides similar challenges and opportunities for government and the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. A description and analysis of the Garnaut Review and the Federal Government’s Green Paper on the ‘Carbon Pollution Reduction (CPR) Scheme’ then became a general question and answer session on the opportunities and understandings that local governments would need to comply or complement under the CPR Scheme.

The key interest was waste, given its inclusion in the scheme resulting in discussion of opportunities for methane capture, green waste diversion, paper recycling and composting.

The range of council arrangements for waste collection and disposal will require contract by contract and site by site analysis. The impact on residential and commercial sectors focussed on the complementary measures that local government could directly and indirectly apply in response to the price on carbon. And of course how councils can minimise their carbon liability through energy, transport and waste efficiencies was on the agenda.

It was a discussion that will continue over the weeks and months ahead. ICLEI Oceania will be working with CCP Partners and CCP Leaders in their role as being part of the national and international solution and responding to the needs of their communities.

Thursday July 3, 2008

We took the longer route back to Jakarta to take in the mountains in West Java, the tea plantations that fall down the hillsides, the occasional well heeled and established residences and the villages scattered through the valleys below.

The trip highlighted the density of living and the difficulty of providing and maintaining basic physical infrastructure. Climate change will impact on an already brittle physical and social environment. The towns are bursting with people, ingenuity and traffic. Each town has its specialty but traffic is all pervading.

No doubt basic water, energy and waste services are pushed to and beyond the limit. In this context climate change is only part of the mix of risks and vulnerabilities that many Indonesian people experience. Resilience is a quality that already exists!

The Jakarta Post July 2, 2008 under the heading ‘The number of poor falls by 2.2m’ reports that a national study has identified a fall of 2.2 million people now catagorised as 'poor', to a total of 35 million people or 15% of the population.

The definition of ‘poor’ is based on a person having less than three meals a day or living on less than 182,000 RP (US$19.00) per month. However the World Bank has a definition of ’poor’ that would place one in five Indonesians as being poor based on a a person receiving les than US$60.00 per month.

The Indonesian Government’s response to this definition is that it is ‘too high for Indonesian standards’. And given an inflation rate currently running at 11% additional burdens will continue to be placed on the poor.

UN Secretary General Moon says that there is a triple crisis for the poor, ‘climate change, poverty and food prices’. It is a challenging trifecta and reminds us, if it were needed, of the responsibility of governments working together across national, regional and local borders to address climate change and poverty.

Wednesday May 28, 2008

Cairns and Douglas now are one… and the newly formed Cairns Regional Council is ready to build on the work completed by the sum of its amalgamated parts. The Cairns Regional Council is an icon for Australians and international visitors alike… with the reef, rainforest and tablelands, it boasts a unique and delicate environment.

The impact of climate change in terms of warmer ocean temperatures, increased coral bleaching; stronger cyclones – increased coastal inundation, coral damage; property damage and beach erosion; less water for the city, agriculture; natural ecosystems; reduced biodiversity – decreased rainforest habitat; increased temperatures – linked to increased health issues; increase in water born diseases, are real enough.

And judging by the turnout at a briefing today on ICLEI, CCP and the current council activities and plans for the future, the Council is well positioned to continue work on reducing greenhouse emissions and develop responses to climate change impacts.

Mayor Val Schier was one of a number of elected members who attended the hour and half session along with senior managers and staff from across the council.

But this was only part of the story as neighbouring councils Tablelands and Cassowary Coast, who are member councils of the FNQROC, also had representatives attend the briefing. The FNQROC member councils are keen to do their own local thing and plus take on regional projects.

Sunday May 25, 2008

The stage is set for the 2008 ICLEI Oceania Recognition Event at the LGMA National Congress on the  Gold Coast. The line up of speakers and awards will reflect the theme for the event - 'Tackling climate change across boundaries'. The impacts of climate change are now evident across all spheres of government given an electorate that has made itself heard at the ballot box.

Postscript:

The Recognition and Briefing Breakfast recognised 29 councils from Peppermint Grove in the west to Hunters Hill in the east and from Darwin in the north to West Torrens in the south.

Mayor Ron Clarke welcomed delegates to the event and impressed on mayors and councillors the need to speak out on their local issues; Greg Withers, Office of Climate Change Queensland Government, covered the range of issues and opportunities that the Office would be seeking partnerships with local government and Wayne Wescott covered off on the work of ICLEI in Sustainability Services, launched the Water Campaign Profile booklet and detailed the new CCP Partners and Leaders programs to provide renewed leadership for CCP on climate change.

Beth Riordan, Director Community Partnerships, DEWHA congratulated councils on their work on CCP and offered continued support to the work undertaken by CCP councils.

To conclude the event Mayor Bob Abbot called on delegates to do something and not repeat past mistakes and Paul Di Iulio CEO Campbelltown City Council, SA reminded delegates that the measure of success is action.

Monday May 5, 2008

Getting a taxi is easy but getting the 'right' taxi is not so easy. In the hustle and bustle of Jakarta airport we found our way through the phalanx of would-be drivers to a taxi rank.

The drive from the airport to the hotel was certainly not easy… in fact I wondered if we should have opted for one of the touting drivers. The time it took to get into the central city was not the problem. There was no doubting the driver’s skill; his use of the emergency lane was nothing less than creative and his capacity to weave through fast moving cars and trucks would have challenged Grand Prix winners.

The end to the experience was rather anti climatic; we got lost amid the towering apartments in this city that knows no end. And since my bahasa is restricted ‘terima kasah’ I did regret the offer of a phrase book when I left Melbourne. Nevertheless arrive at the hotel lobby we did and though my body said 12 midnight I was having to come to terms with 9pm Jakarta time and an adrenalin rush of the taxi ride that would result in a long period of sleep resistance.

But sleep I did until 4am prayers. Yes I now had to come to terms with being in the largest Muslim country in the world and our nearest neighbour. It was going to be five days to learn about what we in ICLEI Oceania could do in partnership with city governments, central government, NGOs and civil socitey to get an understanding of the challenges of those in the grip of poverty and vulnerable to climate change.

And if cities are to play a role what role could ICLEI play in harnessing their political will and adminstrative capacity to work with others to ameliorate the risks and take advantage of the opportunities. Time would tell.

Tuesday April 22, 2008

The agenda was thorough and the papers we had received from the IMCC Secretariat were numerous and detailed. This was the inaugural meeting of the Global Mayor’s Forum Council under the auspices of the International Mayors Communication Centre.

Attending the Council meeting were representatives from Sister Cities International, the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, ICLEI and Citynet.

The work program required us to sign off on a Constitution, the Rules of Procedure, confirm partner organisations of the Global Mayors Forum Council including the Chair, Dr Carl Men Ky Ching, establish a Steering Committee its membership and role, approve the appointment of the IMCC as Secretariat.

Nine hours or so later we had achieved most of what we had set you to do plus prepare for a media launch to take place in Hong Kong in the morning. The media launch would have 30 or so media outlets, 20 or so mayors from across China and representatives of central and local government departments.

The Global Mayor’s Forum will take place in Hong Kong and Shenzhen from September 16 – 18 2009. The Forum will be held in the Hong Kong Convention Centre and already there are commitments from mayors and senior officials across China to attend. There will be a trade fair accompanying the Forum.

The Global Mayors Forum will be important opportunity to connect cities across China and the world on 'Meeting the Challenges for Sustainability'. There is no doubt it will also provide a strategic platform for cities in the Asian region to be heard at the Conference of the Parties 15 to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Friday February 22, 2008

It was a webinar…a teleconference with power points! The topic was ‘Sustainability in Government’ and it was held on Wednesday at 7am Melbourne time. The panel of presenters comprised  Michele Crim, Office of Sustainable Development in Portland, Oregon, Eric Friedman, Director of Leading by Example Programs, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and myself. It was an hour in length and there were listeners and some questioners from across the USA and Canada and someone from Port Douglas, Australia!  There were people from Oakland, Portland, Tucson, Boulder, Lake Oswego USA, Vancouver, Calgary Canada. In all there were some 15 – 20 people to listen to 15 minute power point presentations followed by questions. Portland, Oregon has been on its sustainable pathway dating back to the 1970’s. Their accomplishments include the most extensive green building program in the USA, the highest hybrid ownership in USA per capita, public transport passenger rates up by 85%, bike commutes have quadrupled, vehicle miles traveled are down 7%, per capita, household energy is down 5%, per capita and recycling rates have more than tripled. The State of Massachusetts is active in working on state instrumentalities with initiatives that include climate plans for 29 campuses, undertaking retro-commissioning and improved maintenance for buildings and the piloting of new technologies like architectural wind and traffic and street light efficiency and capital funds for up-front incremental costs for energy efficiency. Watch out for a possible webinar coming near you!

Friday February 8, 2008

‘This is the hardest and yet the sweetest recognition event of them all….and I have done many in the past 10 years!’

With these words I opened the ‘Bon voyage’ Recognition event for Michelle Isles, Partnerships Advisor in the Partnerships and Political Support Unit.

Michelle commenced work with ICLEI in May 2004 and held a number of positions and roles that contributed to our work across the ICLEI World Secretariat, ICLEI Oceania and our member and participant councils.

Whether Michelle was dealing with the mayor of Darebin, Delhi, Denpasar or indeed Dunedin she had a way! 

Her legacy will be felt more than her loss however as she has put in place relationships, partnerships and many wikis! And the standouts include her work on our Indonesia cities project working with 10 cities and culminating in Bali at the UN Climate Change Conference and the Australasian Mayors Council for Climate Protection and the soon to be launched website…and of course membership!

Michelle will be missed by ICLEI staff professionally and personally.

Friday January 4, 2008

The ICLEI Oceania Planning and Review days provide an opportunity for staff across our offices, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Wellington NZ, to get together and sum up what achievements, what challenges and what directions for ICLEI Oceania. The Partnerships and Political Support Unit, (Michelle and me) were  able to report on 2007 and plans for 2008 -  3 achievements, 3 challenges and 3 future directions.

Our collective achievements for 2007 must go down to the establishment of the Australasian Mayors Council for Climate Protection, an outcome of the Accelerating Now Conference in May; the continuing growth in the number of councils participating in CCP Au (230), CCP NZ (31), the Water Campaign (109) and the TBL Capacity Building program (22); and the Kemitraan Australia Indonesia Sustainable Cities Program culminating this year in an event at the ICLEI Climate Sessions during the COP13 in Bali.

Challenges in 2007 included the continuing need to integrate our work with councls across our campaigns and programs through our regular State Based Strategic Meetings; the re-engagement of Queensland councils following their amalgamation and elections in March 2008; and maintaining political support both internally for ICLEI staff and for our participating councils.
 
Future Directions for 2008 will include further development of the work and activities of the AMCCP including our involvement with the World Mayors Council on Climate Change, the US Mayors Agreement on Climate Change together with the promotion of the 'World Mayors and Local Governments Climate Protection Agreement’. There will continue to be the need to build political advocacy for ICLEI Oceania, to network regional offices across Asia and to plan for events at state, national and international levels for the 'Road to Copenhagen' and COP15. Consolidating our efforts in Indonesia and securing funding to re-establish CCP Indonesia is a high priority.