Strengthening ASEAN urban resilience: promoting regional cooperation & inclusive solutions

Cities in the ASEAN region (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) are rapidly growing. Today, many cities face increasing threats from climate-related hazards like floods, heatwaves, and rising sea levels. Importantly, climate-related risks can be exacerbated by fast growth if strategies for resilient development are missing.

In three successive reports, adelphi research climate policy experts have looked at what is needed to improve climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, and sustainable urban development to strengthen urban resilience in the ASEAN region. Resilient urban systems can absorb and withstand disturbances, uphold or return to desired basic functions, and thrive – sustainably and in the long term – despite these disturbances. For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, adelphi seeks to support ASEAN in meeting emerging urban resilience needs. 

The first paper provides an assessment of selected climate risks for the region, reviews urban resilience policies, and identifies gaps. It highlights the need for targeted risks analyses, further regional measures to mitigate risks from extreme heat and air pollution, and a more integrated urban resilience approach. 

The paper also emphasizes opportunities for strengthening cooperation for urban resilience across policy levels, sectors and the region, targeting the identified gaps and challenges. 

The Scoping Paper has officially been endorsed by ASEAN. Read the full paper here.

Building on the Scoping paper’s results, adelphi research experts have outlined 12 implementation-focused action areas with concrete activities for specific stakeholders in ASEAN, such as policymakers and working group officials working on urban planning, urbanization, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk management. The action areas are grouped into four clusters:

• Supporting integration across sectors and governance levels;
• Promoting and mainstreaming responses to selected climate-related key risks – in step with climate change mitigation – to urgently reduce e.g. risks to health from increasing heat and from air pollution; as well to life and infrastructure from flooding in urban contexts; 
• Addressing vulnerable groups and gender aspects and promoting them in resilience action, with a focus on participatory approaches and sustainable, inclusive, and equitable urban planning and development; 
• Capacity building and implementation – increasing capacity among ASEAN member states and relevant ASEAN working groups and ASEAN institutions. 

These guidelines aim to contribute to a coordinated regional approach, and to strengthen urban resilience in ASEAN through increasing cooperation and concrete action. 

The Guidelines have officially been endorsed by ASEAN. Read the full guidelines here.

This paper investigates the potential of inclusive Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects to increase the resilience of ASEAN cities to climate-related risks, while empowering people in vulnerable situations. NbS have increasingly gained attention over the last decades in the field of climate change adaptation, due to their potential to address climate risks while providing important economic, social, and biodiversity benefits, often in a cost-effective way. However, although NbS are widely perceived as viable approaches, recent assessments stress that the actual use of NbS still remains limited.

The paper summarizes main drivers of vulnerability to climate change impacts in ASEAN cities and discusses advantages of NbS over grey solutions in climate change adaptation. It introduces concrete examples of urban NbS and investigates key aspects of NbS projects aiming at empowering women and other people in vulnerable situations. The role of targeted analyses, participatory processes, inclusive NbS design, and of income generating activities and capacity building are explored in more detail. The paper also explores important entry points for mainstreaming inclusive NbS in urban settings. 

Read the full paper here.