45107 The World Bank in Thailand Development in Partnership the World Bank's activities in Thailand and o t h e r n e w s r e l a t e d t o d e v e l o p m e n t August 2008 At Last, a Practical Guide to Climate-Proof Our Cities What do Bangkok, Jakarta, Shanghai, and Hanoi have in common?These mega Asian cities are now facing greater risks from extreme weather events, thanks to climate change. The world's urban centers ­ many are coastal ­ are increasingly exposed to rising sea levelsandotherconsequencesofclimatechange.Thesechangesthreatentheproperty and the lives of billions of urban citizens. Damage inflicted could even undermine the world's economic gains of the past few decades, experts warn. Now the good news: cities'vulnerability to climate change-induced disasters can be reduced. Policy-makers responding to the greater risks will find support from international development institutions including the World Bank. Cities that have already responded are also willing to share good lessons with others, especially those in poorer countries. Technical and financial assistance The report is being launched today throughout the for local governments is also available. East Asia and Pacific Region. However, most of the necessary measures must be A Primer on reducing cities' vulnerability to climate taken by the cities themselves. To help local change disruption and strengthening disaster risk governments do just that, theWorld Bank joined with management, Climate Resilient Cities should prove the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster a useful tool for city managers the world over. After Reduction (UN/ISDR) and the Global Facility for all, eight of the world's 10 most populous cities are Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) to publish located near rivers or sea and are already exposed to aninteractivereportentitled,"ClimateResilientCities." hazards (flooding, earthquakes, typhoons, and low- quality infrastructure). The world's 10 most populous cities With the trend toward more frequent and extreme (by population) weather events, city managers should plan for these City Population* Country impacts now rather than later. Mumbai 13,662,885 India "Ultimately, the cities hardest hit by climate change will be the ones least prepared," said Neeraj Prasad, the Karachi 12,991,000 Pakistan Lead Environmental Specialist of the World Bank in Istanbul 11,372,613 Turkey East Asia and Pacific. Delhi 11,325,124 India The stakes are high. Cities form the center of the São Paulo 10,886,518 Brazil economy in many countries, so climate change's Moscow 10,452,000 Russia impact on urban populations also damages the Seoul 10,356,202 South Korea nation. Shanghai 10,231,000 China Mexico City 8,609,347 Mexico Jakarta 8,576,788 Indonesia * In million Continue on page 2 Page Continued from page city vulnerable. To this end, Climate Resilient Cities offers a tool to help policy-makers identify characteristics that make the city a "hot spot," create strategies to increase their resilience to impacts of climate change, and establish the link between climate change, disaster risk reduction, and city planning as well as management. The report uses a dual track approach to encourage cities to develop strategies for adaptation to climate change and plans to mitigate the consequences of future natural disasters, as well as find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the first place. Some of the measures are as simple as increasing public awareness of the consequences of climate For every 1-meter rise in sea levels, an economic loss equals to 2% of GDP can be expected change; providing more green space; using bicycles or walking more; and increasing the use of energy- Foreveryone-meterriseinsealevels,ClimateResilient efficient public transport vehicles. Others require Citiesestimatesalossof2%innationalGrossDomestic legislative support and public investment, including Product due to shortage of fresh water, damage to providing alternatives to fossil-fuels, and improving agriculture and fisheries, disruption of tourism, the quality of public infrastructure and buildings. The reduced energy security, and other consequences. report provides sound practices from cities that have Concentration of people in the cities also increases taken the climate change challenges seriously, among their vulnerability to climate change disruption. By them Milan,Tokyo, NewYork, China's DongTan, Hanoi, 2030, the world's urban centers will be home to almost Singapore, and a few cities within the Metro Manila 4 billion people. As a result, making cities more area. This affords the cities still defining their own climate-resilient must be a priority for city planners climate change strategy a wide range of mitigation and managers around the world today. and adaptation options. "The vulnerability is real in East Asia," said Jitendra J. "Every city is different. You have to respond based on Shah,whocoordinatestheWorldBank'senvironmental what your city is," Mr. Prasad said. "There is no cookie- programinCambodia,LaoPDR,MalaysiaandThailand. cuttersolutiontoclimatechangeimpacts.It'simportant "Four out of the top 10 most vulnerable cities are in this that you are able to anticipate the likely impacts on your region. We have seen events like the 2004 tsunami, and city and make the decision to deal with that." recently Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and a typhoon in the Philippines. Local governments are facing the challenge of dealing with that." To download the full report, visit www.worldbank.or.th Dealing with the impact of climate change at the city For more information about disaster risk reduction levelrequiresbetterunderstandingofwhatmakesany in Asia Pacific, contact Angelika Planitz, UN/ISDR, email: planitz@un.org Poor Chon Buri Village Benefits from 1st WB-Supported Carbon-Finance Project in Thailand The quality of life at a poor village in this coastal decliningsugarcaneproduction,furthercompounding province of Thailand is about to get better, thanks to poverty. a community benefit plan supported by the World Bank. The community benefit plan will bring change. A facility to produce clean drinking water will be Currently, Moo 10 village, in Chon Buri's Koh Chan installed, so will street lights. Scholarships will be District, has only very basic infrastructure and limited provided to poor students. A pilot project to help social services. There is no clean drinking water, no villagers increase their income and improve living lighting on the streets. Poor children cannot afford conditions will also be developed and implemented education. Deteriorating soil quality has led to ­ by the villagers themselves. Page 2 This community benefit plan is one component of the This is also the first carbon-finance project being new Thailand AEP Livestock Waste Management supported by the World Bank. It builds on Thailand's Project ­ the first carbon-finance project in Thailand experience as the beneficiary of the Livestock Waste being supported by the World Bank. Livestock Management in East Asia project, launched in 2006 production is an important element of the Thai and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF),* economy. However, livestock waste also causes major said Ian Porter, the World Bank's Thailand Country healthandenvironmentalimpacts,andalsocontributes Director. to the country's annual greenhouse gas emissions.The Project will support the Thai Government's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing swine manure to generate electricity. Under this Project, a system to process livestock waste will be installed at 10 pig farms in Chon Buri and Ratchaburi Provinces, located near the Mae Klong and Tha Chin river basins.Together these farms own a total of 131,000 pigs, producing a significant amount of swine manure each day. From the waste, biogas will be produced and then used to generate electricity for the farm. The Project is expected to generate a combined total of 6,250 kWh of electricity per day and reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by a combined total of 58,000 tons. This emission reduction is marketable as carbon credits. The credits will then be purchased by the Community Development Carbon Fund (CDCF), administered by the World Bank. This is a unique project because it enables smaller pig farms to take part in what is known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) ­ by bundling the carbon emission reduction by all 10 farms, then selling it as one unit in a complex carbon market. "This pilot project sends a signal to smaller swine farms throughout Thailand that they, too, can participate in and benefit from the CDM," said Sirithan Pairoj- Boriboon, Executive Director, Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization). "Ihopeitwillpavewayformoreprojectslikethistocome in the future." Continue on page 4 Page Continued from page "ThisProjectisverymuchpartofthebroaderpartnership inenvironmentbetweentheRoyalThaiGovernmentand the World Bank Group," Porter said, referring to the Countr y Development Par tnership in Environment (CDP-E). On Monday, the World Bank signed the agreement to purchase carbon credits with Advance Energy Plus Co. Ltd. (AEP), a consortium formed by a group of Thai experts with experience in energy and environmental projects. AEP will also act on behalf of the farmers to collectivelydocumentandmarkettheresultingcarbon credits, thus generating the added income to make participation advantageous to each farm. Apartfromtheenvironmentalbenefits,villagersliving near the farms, like those in Chonburi's Moo 10 village, willbeabletoimprovetheirqualityoflifewithsupport from the community benefit plan ­ a required component of any carbon-finance project funded by CDCF.Ofthe$7.72millionprojectcost,about$230,000 will be spent on community development initiatives at selected low-income villages with limited infrastructure and social services. Financial support to the Project comes from the CDCF, the GEF, and Methane-to-Markets, an international program set up to reduce methane emission.TheThai Government-owned Energy Conservation Fund also For more information on World Bank's carbon contributes to this project, through the Energy finance operations, contact Pongtip Puvacharoen at Research and Development Institute, Chiang Mai (0) 2686-8300, email: ppuvacharoen@worldbank.org University. Participating farmers are also contributing For more information on the AEP Livestock Waste to the investment cost. Management Project, visit www.worldbank.or.th Page 4