Sweco and CAS to advise Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta on climate adaptation
Consultancy firm Sweco and the Climate Adaptation Services Foundation (CAS) have won two contracts to advise the Asian megacities of Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta on their climate action plans to make the cities more resistant to future weather extremes.
Roadmaps
Sweco and CAS will help the two cities with their climate action plans. Setting up roadmaps and monitoring and reporting systems should ensure the climate adaptation strategies are also translated into actual actions.
According to project director Enrico Moens at Sweco authorities of megacities in South East Asia are generally already involved in climate mitigation and reducing their CO2 emissions.
‘But they are less engaged with adapting their cities to the changing climate’, says Moens. ‘While this region often has to deal with flooding and extreme heat. With a roadmap and a monitoring system, we help the cities to set priorities and actually take action.’
Call-off order
Both assignments are part of the framework contract that the C40 Climate Leadership Group concluded with a number of parties, with the aim of supporting megacities in Southeast Asia in drawing up their climate action plans.
This includes the cities of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi (Vietnam), Quezon City (Philippines), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Jakarta (Indonesia).
C40 is a network organization of 97 cities that stimulates cities to collaborate and take action in the field of climate change.
Climate risk analysis
Sweco and CAS have previously carried out a number of projects under the framework contract, including the preparation of a climate risk analysis for the cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur and Quezon City.
Because of Covid-19 this consultancy has mainly been done digitally. In Jakarta, Sweco recently organized online workshops with city administrators and relevant stakeholders. Among other things, 15 climate actions were defined and prioritized for the Jakarta climate action plan.
More ambitious targets
Alissa Raj, City advisor Kuala Lumpur: ‘Although some city governments have been implementing climate actions for years, we are now seeing a shift in the way programs and projects are planned in the city through this approach.'
'More ambitious targets are being set,' Raj continues, 'and now ecological solutions are also being considered for climate risk reduction, which was not the case before.’
