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 LUNCH SESSIONS |
26 Jul. 2011 13:15-14:15
Local Energy Solutions | | The aim of this workshop was to understand the policies and good practices of the local governments to deal with the challenges posed by the East Japan Disasters, based on a case study approach focusing on three issues ? finance, institutions, and technologies for implementing low-carbon actions. Participants looked at local government’s energy reduction initiatives by way of introducing photovoltaic (PV) power generation for public facilities, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and households through conserved energy use and creation of heat and power. Collaboration between the local government and the private sector facilitating a bottom up approach for energy usage is important in promoting low-carbon smart solutions. Moreover, inter-city cooperation on renewable energy supply and demand would help sustainable operation of low carbon societies and smart cities. Dynamic institutions, finance and appropriate technologies should complement each other for evolving low-carbon societies. | | Moderator: Prof. Hidefumi Imura, Senior Policy Advisor, IGES / Professor, Yokohama City University |  Kazuhiko Kobayashi, Executive Director, Office for Environmental Future City Promotion, Environment Bureau, City of Kitakyushu | | Masato Nobutoki, Director General, Climate Change Policy Headquarters, City of Yokohama | | Kentaro Yamaguchi, Director, Photovoltaic Power Generation Promotion Division, New Energy and Global Warming Countermeasures Department, Environment and Agriculture Bureau, Kanagawa Prefectural Government | | Shigeru Inoue, Deputy General Manager, City Planning Project, Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. | | Tsunehiko Nakagawa, General Manager, Planning and Advanced Engineering Development Devision, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD. |
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27 Jul. 2011 12:30-13:15
Towards the establishment of methodological and institutional framework for MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) of GHG in Asia | | The workshop discussed on the establishment of a robust framework for MRV (measurable, reportable and verifiable) especially in the context of post-2012 climate change regime on GHG mitigation actions including NAMAs (nationally appropriate mitigation actions) in Asian developing countries. The experts reflected on several existing schemes, problems in implementing MRV for international or domestic scheme, in different sectors, and within different geographical boundaries. Additionally, the IGES MVR capacity building activities were discussed. There is a need to understand what kind of differentiation is needed for MRV framework given its subject, objective and required level of stringency/ accuracy/transparency. Higher level of MRV framework and appropriate capacity building will be necessary for carbon crediting such as NAMA crediting. Furthermore, it is important to realise that the MRV framework should be soft enough to be appealing to developing countries to take more actions but hard enough to be credible for support by developed countries. Mitigation assurance should be based on robust domestic monitoring, assessment and evaluation (MAE) systems that are aligned with the underlying interests of the countries employing them. National MAE systems in developing countries may face significant capacity gaps that need to be filled and therefore opportunities exist for the international community to engage in filling these capacity gaps. | | Moderator: Mr. Taka Hiraishi, Senior Consultant, and Member, Board of Directors, IGES | | Prof. Teng Fei, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University, China (1.13MB) | | Dr. Srinivasan Ancha, Principal Climate Change Specialist, Asian Development Bank(ADB) (134KB) | | Dr. Yasushi Ninomiya, Director, Market Mechanism Group, IGES (136KB) | | For details |
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| OPEN SEMINAR (26 Jul.) |
15:30-17:30 (Japanese)
Has the reform on the CDM (clean development mechanism) been happening? -Verifying progress through IGES databases- | | The workshop introduced new findings from quantitative analysis using IGES CDM databases, related to progress and challenges for reforming the CDM. It proposed ways to further improve the CDM based upon the analysis of IGES researchers. The experts discussed about the enhanced efficiency of the CDM registration process as the average time for registration became shorter. However, progress should be made to reduce the time for the issuance of certified emission reduction (CER). The guidelines for CER issuance should be improved by introducing simplified rules. The experts proposed that the default value of grid emission factor (GEF) for renewable energy project for both the LDCs and the countries with low electrification rate should be introduced. It is suggested that the standardised baseline should include specific procedures to identify baseline/project scenario and conditions to meet the additionality criteria, which will reflect country-specific circumstances. Emission reduction calculation should accompany the excel-based automatic calculation sheet, by introducing default and/or country specific values. The discussion underlined that the CDM “procedures” not “principles” have been enhanced especially in terms of efficiency. | | For details |
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| EXPERT WORKSHOPS (25 Jul.) |
9:30-16:15
Expert Workshop on Strengthening Environmental and Sustainable Development Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives |  This workshop brought together experts and researchers to discuss regional governance issues, and found that strengthening governance in Asia Pacific is important because environmental and sustainability challenges are emerging as a result of increasing global economic significance of the region. Institutional reform was also discussed, both in a UN purview, and in terms of its regional significance. Regarding institutional reform, the workshop considered a two-phased proposal to strengthen UNEP which would introduce universal membership of its Governing Council and a subsequent upgrade to a specialised agency. Other ideas included strengthening regional institutions such as ESCAP and UNEP ROAP or creating a new regional organisation. Proposals for a regional or global Principle 10 Convention were also discussed. Here, the importance of accountability, public participation and access to information were highlighted, as was multilevel governance - including enhanced coordination within and between levels. | | For details | | |
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| EXPERT WORKSHOPS (26 Jul.) |
10:30-13:00
Monitoring and Evaluation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Asia-Pacific Region |
The Education for Sustainable Development programme at United Nations University ? Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) and the Governance and Capacity group at IGES hosted a one and a half day expert workshop as part of ISAP on “Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Asia-Pacific Region”. The primary goal of this workshop was to provide strategic support through the outlining of a conceptual framework for an ongoing research project between these two organisations to develop indicators of ESD for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of ESD that has occurred in Asia-Pacific under the framework of the UN Decade of ESD (2005-2014).
This workshop brought together fifteen regional and international experts in ESD and M&E. Major discussions addressed the success factors and barriers in previous attempts for M&E of ESD, important ESD themes for indicator development, and establishing a conceptual framework to structure the regional research on ESD indicator development. The expert group formed consensus that the primary benefit of such an M&E process should target national governments and policy-makers to provide them with relevant information for improving their countries’ ESD systems. In this manner, National Curriculums (including both formal education and teacher training) should be the primary focus, while both non-formal education and private sector & civil society will also be addressed as secondary focuses. The evaluation format can be structured around capacity assessment targets of institutional capacities/frameworks, knowledge & leadership, resource capacities, and accountability to strengthen the relevance for policy makers. While the indicators should also address the thematic topics of climate change education, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable consumption & production/ education for sustainable consumption as important trends in ESD. |
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14:30-17:30 (closed: Japanese)
Preliminary Framework for Recycle Certification in Asia | | The workshop focused on the significance of recycle certification as a necessary tool to facilitate sound environmental management in East Asia. The experts discussed the recent research on recycle certification and addressed several issues that Japanese recyclers face while operating in other Asian countries. Further discussion took up the objectives of introducing the certification, the possible effects of the certification and a preliminary framework of the certification including its categories and criteria. A clear compliance and strong commitment from the disposers and an incentive mechanism for participants is important. Moreover, the certification scheme should not be an additional burden on participants of the scheme. While designing the scheme, we must consider country-specific conditions, the need of renewing system, clear setting of a boundary and issues of avoiding duplication to ease extra burdens on stakeholders. | | | 14:30-17:30 (closed)
Assessment of Hayama Proposal | | The closed session on the IGES Hayama Proposal for the future climate regime had four main objectives: 1) to understand the contexts of the main negotiation issues and discuss three possible options for each issue; 2) to discuss the political acceptability of the Hayama proposal and, 3) to discuss main components such as measurement, reporting and verification systems, flexible mechanisms and financial mechanisms. Participants included experts, academic scholars and NGOs from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Republic of Korea. One of debated issues was the concept of “being legally binding”, since the Hayama proposal gives equal treatment to developed and developing countries in terms of being legally binding internationally, but differentiated them by the consequence of non-compliance. Some participants claimed that it would be more realistic to ask developing countries to make legally binding commitments under domestic laws, rather than international law. | | | 14:45-17:00 (E-J simultaneous interpretation)
IGES - Yokohama City University Joint Seminar on Low Carbon and Smart Cities: Part 1 |
| | The workshop presented a comprehensive analysis of low-carbon and smart cities in Asia based on a case study approach drawn from local governments and private sector. The aim was to facilitate knowledge sharing towards building the next generation of smart cities. The experts discussed the low-carbon policies and smart city models which can be emulated by the rapidly developing cities in the region. It is important that the local governments shift focus to long-term energy policy supporting efficient energy conservation and emission reduction. For this, it is necessary to design a framework considering the energy conservation potential of the private sector and best energy mix supply including renewable energy. Furthermore, it is necessary to evaluate the cost of key technologies and total energy mix. It is critical for the energy consumers to appreciate renewable energy technologies with respect to energy density and life cycle cost for building sustainable cities. There were some apprehensions regarding the three issues (a) definition of green energy (b) institutional constraints and (c) limited subsidies for installing solar panels. Strengthening capacity building for renewable energy technologies is essential for building low-carbon and smart cities. |
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| EXPERT WORKSHOPS (27 Jul.) |
9:30-12:00 (E-J simultaneous interpretation)
IGES - Yokohama City University Joint Seminar on Low Carbon and Smart Cities: Part 2 |  This workshop discussed ways to promote local government action for low-carbon development by filling the gap between capacity and resources. It shared information on various cooperation activities among stakeholders from the Asia-Pacific region for promoting low-carbon development. The significance of defining local-level visions and roadmaps for low-carbon urban development was acknowledged. There is a need for an information base for city-level policy-makers to synergise existing policies. The importance of external support for capacity-building and providing knowledge-sharing platforms is recognised. A two-pronged approach of demand-side and supply-side energy management is important for reducing emission. There needs to be an evaluation system for analysing the impacts of low-carbon policies, and incentives for compliance are essential. Moreover, it is important to understand the regional characteristics of each city and integrate citizens’ perspectives while developing low-carbon and smart cities. | | For details | | | 9:30-11:00 (Closed)
Planning for Relief Aid and Reconstruction using Community-based Approaches | | The aim of this workshop was to understand the linkages between disaster preparation, response and climate change adaptation policy from different perspectives including cases from Japan, Bangladesh and New Zealand. The experts reflected on their experiences regarding disaster response, resilience and community-based approaches. The discussion included the importance of proper and adequate communication, information-sharing and a crisis management approach among the central, prefectural, and local government including local communities. The value of building a resilient community by respecting the differences of culture, society as well as types of disasters was acknowledged. Long-term partnership between local governments, cities, schools, business sectors was discussed as an effective tool to respond to the disaster. | | For details | | | 9:30-12:00 (closed)
Inceptional Workshop on Establishing Methodological and Institutional MRV Framework in Asian Developing Countries | | This expert workshop shared information on work plans of IGES-wide MRV project conducted by different IGES projects to contribute to establishment of a robust framework for MRV on NAMAs in Asian countries. The experts underlined the importance of developing a common understanding and drawing concrete lessons from the current discussion/ international negotiation on NAMAs and MRV. Understanding the reasons for failure will help to identify barriers for MRV and potential countermeasures from internationally supported NAMAs. The issue of no clear definition of NAMA was addressed. The concept of NAMA can be comprehended through case studies. The importance of establishing an appropriate MRV framework for each type of NAMA in the post 2012 regime was discussed. In this regard, IGES activities and studies are expected to contribute to international negotiation on MRV framework. The issue of measuring not only mitigation but also co-benefit to the NAMAs was addressed. | | For details | | Page top | 9:30-12:30 (closed)
Promoting the Application of Low Carbon Technologies in Asia: Special Emphasis on India | | The aim of the workshop was to discuss various mechanisms to effectively strengthen public-private partnerships to promote the application of low-carbon technologies in Asia, particularly in India. The high capital cost and lack of R&D are major obstacles to technology application in the region. The experts discussed that establishment of an effective global mechanism for low-carbon technology transfer is crucial to bring down the cost of technology as well as to overcome other systematic barriers. There is an urgent need of a comprehensive local condition assessment of the recipient country in terms of low-carbon technology. The responsibility of the government is instrumental in providing infrastructure, along with institutional and financial support to promote low-carbon technology application. Energy pricing policy is perceived as a barrier to energy saving. In this context, policy regarding incentive and pricing in developing countries should be revised. It was observed that the adoption of low-carbon technologies such as clean coal, renewable energy, waste to energy, nuclear energy, biomass gasification and biofuels is not uniform across the developing countries in Asia-Pacific region. Discussion also highlighted the importance of education programmes for SME about energy saving technologies to raise their awareness, as well as about best practices and measures for energy saving. | | | 9:00-12:30 (Venue: UNU-IAS)
UNU-IAS-IGES-ACP Joint Meeting Greening Growth in Asia: Making Co-benefits Mainstream | | Forty participants from government agencies, international organisations, and research institutions discussed 1) the linkage between green growth and co-benefits; 2) a researcher’s perspective on co-benefits; and 3) a policymaker’s perspective on co-benefits. The main goals of the session were to exchange knowledge and identify pragmatic steps for mainstreaming co-benefits into decision-making processes in Asia. Key messages included: points of overlap between co-benefits and green growth include alleviating poverty and capturing resource efficiencies; increasing importance for policymakers to integrate co-benefits into their decision making process and addressing institutional issues including coordination and capacity; co-benefits calculator offers a simple tool to scope benefits before more rigorous calculations are made. It was also pointed out that the challenge is to overcome the perception that quantifying co-benefits is difficult and that there are insufficient incentives to overcome those difficulties. Environmental impact assessments (EIA) may also offer a useful entry point for project planning. Organisations championing co-benefits need to clarify who is financing, who is implementing, and who is the audience for proposed projects. |
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