Recording
The Asia-Pacific region will experience the greatest – by population – impact from climate change if we do not meet the Paris Agreement. The cascading consequences of extreme heat, weather disasters and rise in sea-levels stand to acutely impact communities throughout the Asia-Pacific, especially the urban poor.
The Race to Resilience will host a panel of non-state resilience actors who are taking action across the region to protect the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people by creating climate resilient dwellings and water supplies, led by the unique needs and cultures of their communities. It will also lay out how both private and public sector actors can constructively partner with pre-existing resilience initiatives to scale their work.
The event will also explore the interconnections between rapid urbanisation, climate migration and gender inequality and how they are key factors impacting the climate resilience of communities in the region.
The side-event will focus on two of the themes for the Regional Climate Week: Integrated approaches for climate resilient development and Seizing Transformation Opportunities.
The side-event will be a 90 minute moderated panel discussion featuring Race to Resilience initiatives who are working in the Asia-Pacific region including Nepal, India, Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines and Indonesia. The initiatives selected to participate are those focussed on building the adaptive capacity and resilience of vulnerable communities whose housing and livelihoods are under increasing risk due to climate change.
The purpose of the side-event will be to:
- Highlight the latest resilience analytics on community vulnerability to extreme heat and its consequences in the Asia-Pacific and the intersection of underlying causes which are increasing their vulnerability to climate shocks.
- Highlight the actions already being taken by non-state actors in the Asia-Pacific to adapt and build resilience to climate change, specific to urban dwellings.
- Identify, through best-practise case studies, the integrated approaches state and non-state actors can adopt which build the resilience of urban dwellings and housing particularly for those living in informal settlements.
- Highlight the work of the Race to Resilience to address resilience and adaptation challenges by building collaborative coalitions of non-state actors and sharing knowledge to scale up best-practise.
Race to Resilience will be the organising party, bringing in speakers working on the ground in the region to share their expert insight and also raise the voice of vulnerable persons who are most acutely affected by the issue of lack of climate resilient housing and public services.
Agenda
Welcome and introductions
Anand Muthukrishnan, the Principal Counsellor, India Green Building Council and Vice Chair, World GBC’s Asia Pacific Regional Network (APN)
Keynote Speaker: Setting the Scene
Sheela Patel, Race to Resilience Climate Champions Ambassador & Founder-Director of Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centres (SPARC)
Panel Discussion:
How to build the adaptive capacity and resilience of vulnerable communities whose housing and livelihoods are under increasing risk due to climate change?
Panelists:
Mardi Mapa Suplido, Country Director for Philippines and Indonesia, Build Change, representing R2R Partner Initiative – Resilient Housing
Bijal Brahmbhatt, Director, Mahila Housing Trust
Vanessa Peter, Founder of Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) in Chennai, India – partner of Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance, Race to Resilience Partner Initiative.
Kotchakorn Voraakhom, Chief Executive Officer, Porous City Network, Thailand
Closing Remarks