Cooperating for sustainability

FRANKFURT – Being one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, the Philippines often gets special mention at the 49th annual meeting here of the Asian Development Bank, whose theme is “cooperating for sustainability.”

So it’s dismaying to find out that like a lot of things in the Philippines, certain climate programs are stuck in limbo.

At a seminar last Wednesday on advancing clean and climate-resilient development in the Asia-Pacific, Romell Cuenca, deputy executive director of the Climate Change Office of our Climate Change Commission, was asked why it was so hard to secure funding from the office, which he had earlier said had P1 billion on hand for climate financing. Cuenca admitted that in the past six years, not a single project had gotten off the ground, ostensibly for failure of the applicants to complete certain requirements.

In an earlier seminar, Preety Bhandari, director of the ADB’s division on climate change and disaster risk management, told us that the e-tricycle project in Metro Manila is on hold over procurement issues and production capacity of the country. “We’re holding our breath,” she said, adding, “it’s up to the government to decide its fate.”

The ADB is also supporting the long-derailed plan to revive the railway service from Manila to Legazpi City. “Now we’re in a holding pattern with the upcoming election,” Bhandari said.

Multilateral development banks and bilateral partners are prepared to assist the Philippines in coping with climate change, in terms of funding, technological aid and sharing of experience. Let’s hope the next administration can do a better job of tapping proffered partnerships and utilizing the assistance.

With efficient governance, we might yet achieve the sustainability of Frankfurt.

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The tulips are in bloom in this German city; they open late in the morning, and then fold close as evening approaches.

Green spaces dot Frankfurt. Over half of the city’s land area has been allocated for offsetting climate change, giving people wide areas for outdoor recreation. Its 8,000 hectares of forested area – about a third of the entire metropolis – helped earn Frankfurt last year’s honor of being named the world’s most sustainable city.

It was only fitting that the German government, host of this year’s ADB meeting of the board of governors, picked Frankfurt as the venue. The Germans are hoping to share with the world their experience in developing sustainable cities.

For those used to urban blight in the crowded cities of Asia, among the most striking features of Frankfurt, apart from the numerous green areas where squirrels and rabbits romp, is the cleanliness. 

Getting there wasn’t easy; we were told that it took the Germans 40 years to learn proper waste management – sorting and incinerating trash for conversion into energy. By sharing the German experience with those who are now faced with garbage problems, the learning process can be shortened to just three to four years, according to Hans-Joachim Fuchtel, ADB governor for Germany and the state secretary for the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

Compared with starting from scratch, sharing knowledge, experience and technological expertise can drastically cut consultancy and other costs, Fuchtel pointed out. By learning from others, there’s no need to make the same mistakes, he added.

Frankfurt Mayor Peter Feldmann told a seminar here on “cities of the future” that they were cutting carbon emissions by 95 percent and energy consumption by 50 percent, and have committed to use 100 percent renewables by 2050.

In the Philippines, business groups have expressed concern about the government’s carbon emission reduction targets. They might want to heed German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s words at the reception her government hosted for the ADB: “Sustainable development and good business go hand in hand.”

Frankfurt is also shifting to housing units that not only have low energy consumption but also generate their own energy supply, Feldmann said.

He didn’t go into details, but I can guess that generating one’s own energy supply involves recycling – a key factor in sustainability. An example is the recycling of human waste into biogas. The Germans have improved the technology and are selling it to the world.

In the so-called City of Sustainability – a showcase of German innovations in green technology, set up at the ADB meeting venue here, one of the items on exhibit is a contraption that ferments biowaste, and then converts it into biogas used for industrial-scale food refrigeration and cold storage facilities. Fraunhofer Umsicht has set up a biogas-driven facility for cold storage in India. It is useful in areas where toilet facilities are lacking and energy supply is unreliable.

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Consultancy firm Arcadis ranked Frankfurt No. 1 in its 2015 Sustainable Cities Index, which assessed 50 of the world’s biggest cities including Metro Manila. Our capital region ranked a dismal 46th in sustainability, below Indonesian capital Jakarta. We were ahead only of fast-growing mega cities Mumbai, Wuhan, New Delhi and Nairobi. In Asia, Seoul ranked sixth most sustainable; Hong Kong was eighth and Singapore 10th. Tokyo was 23rd, Kuala Lumpur 26th, Shanghai 35th and Beijing 39th.

Rankings were based on 20 indicators, including not only environmental factors but also health services, education facilities, ease of doing business, work-life balance and income inequality.

“Sustainable” cities, according to Arcadis, are those that “work well for their citizens in the present without causing problems for themselves and the rest of the world in the future.”

The ADB is now stressing sustainability and requiring climate screening in picking products for funding. It is tapping the private sector and multilateral partners such as Germany for support in climate financing and creating quality jobs in a safe environment. ADB President Takehiko Nakao announced that the bank is doubling its annual climate financing to $6 billion by 2020.

Among the key thrusts are energy efficiency, sustainable transport, integrated disaster risk management and climate change adaptation.

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So what’s the world’s most sustainable city like? Frankfurt is an aviation hub, with its airport (run by Fraport) ranking 12th globally last year in terms of passenger traffic. The city has buses, commuter trains and subways that run at precise times. Bicycles are ubiquitous, and the wide sidewalks have bicycle lanes.

There are open-air markets that sell fresh, artisanal (and often organic) goods. You can drink water straight from the tap. Buildings have walkalators, smart escalators and energy-efficient lighting.

Waterways are clean and the fresh air is great for the lungs. When you stop to smell the flowers, no vehicle emission spoils the wonderful scent.

Who knows – with proper leadership, and by learning from others, even Metro Manila might become a sustainable mega city.

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CORRECTION: While there was talk about a plan, no Chinese came out to challenge Takehiko Nakao’s bid for the ADB presidency in 2013. In fact, I was told, all ADB presidents in the past 50 years have been elected unopposed. Sorry for the error.