UN-Habitat is gearing up to implement a bold initiative that aids the transition towards a climate-resilient, low-carbon, and biodiversity-friendly society.
Transformative Actions for Climate and Ecological Protection and Development (TRANSCEND), will assist the Philippine government in accelerating the integrated, transparent and accountable implementation of climate change and biodiversity policies at multiple scales. Through the six-year project, funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) through the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the country is envisioned to be in better position to achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution and post-2020 Biodiversity Framework targets. It will be implemented by a consortium of organizations working on four major outputs: biodiversity protection, resilient communities and built environment, climate-smart industries and low-carbon transport, and improved climate governance.
UN-Habitat will focus on enhancing policies and capacities of community organizations, local, subnational, and national governments on ecosystem-based adaptation for the built environment, or urban EbA.
Utilizing and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services for climate adaptation, urban EbA will contribute to the development of resilient built environments and communities, as well as deliver mitigation co-benefits. TRANSCEND will operationalize this using a landscape approach, highlighting urban systems thinking, transboundary planning and action, and multilevel implementation.
As part of project preparations, UN-Habitat and the consortium conducted a series of consultation workshops with national and local government partners and stakeholders in three selected landscapes across the major island groups of the country, from March to April 2023. The landscapes encompass several provinces such as Batangas and Oriental Mindoro in Luzon, Iloilo and Antique in the Visayas, and Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental in Mindanao. The series of consultations served as a platform to map stakeholders, and gather inputs on how the project outcomes link to different local priorities, plans, and projects, and identify next steps. The consultations will help shape the project’s outcomes, outputs, and activities, and ensure that the needs, priorities, and climate change and biodiversity concerns of government and community partners are addressed.
The project will be further detailed and finalized within the third quarter of the year, with full implementation beginning in November 2023. Besides UN-Habitat, the consortium also includes Conservation International Philippines, RARE, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Clean Air Asia, International Council on Clean Transport, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, Climate Analytics, University of the Philippines–Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, and Wuppertal Institut, with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) as the joint project coordinator.
