Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) is an international non-government group advancing fair climate policy and low carbon, climate-resilient development. Check out this video to know more about ICSC's work.

This year, we celebrate communities, and the power we have when we come together for a sustainable, prosperous, and hopeful future. Let us continue harnessing our strengths and empower each other as we welcome the new year. Happy holidays from your friends at the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities!

The island of Sulu-an in Eastern Samar only receives eight hours of electricity each day, negatively impacting the daily lives of its residents. Despite these limitations, women on the island are turning to #SolarPower to help bring light to their community through the group Sulong Sulu-an. Learn more about how #RenewableEnergy is helping Sulu-an island in this feature by ABS-CBN Corporation’s #TaoPo, which also features ICSC RE-Charge Pilipinas Coordinator Orlando Quesada: https://lnkd.in/gH7MPmR5

#UpdateFromTheFrontlines: Fellows of the 2024 Jaime Espina Klima Correspondents Fellowship have successfully participated in their in-person learning sessions, held December 10-12, 2024 in Quezon City. In the three-day event, Fellows engaged in discussions on the country’s energy situation, the importance of #RenewableEnergy and its applications in communities, and how to translate energy information into compelling stories through data and visual journalism. Launched in 2022, the #KlimaFellowship aims to highlight climate and energy stories in Philippine communities by training professional journalists and media practitioners. The Fellowship is named in honor of the late Jose Jaime “Nonoy” Espina, a veteran journalist and press freedom campaigner, whose reportage on energy, environmental, and climate change issues in Negros Occidental helped shape the current public discourse on climate change and #EnergyTransition. The stories of our #KlimaFellows2024 will be published in their respective media outlets in early 2025. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/g_4xzE6U

Accessible, well-designed public spaces do more than add to aesthetics; they are hallmarks of an empowered community. In Quezon City, volunteers are transforming the iconic Maginhawa street into a safer, more vibrant place by supporting small-scale, community-led projects that encourage inclusive #UrbanSpaces and #ActiveMobility for all. Pedestrianization initiatives along Maginhawa were held under the Sparking Active Mobility Actions for Climate-Friendly Cities (#SPARK) Project, organized by ICSC and ICLEI Southeast Asia. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gj5TycGG

#UpdateFromTheFrontlines: ICSC’s Energy Policy Team joined #EnergyTransition leaders at the 7th Renewable Energy Congress to discuss inclusive, sustainable solutions for the Philippines. Francis Joseph Dela Cruz, ICSC Partnerships and Advocacy Advisor, stressed the vital role of local governments in driving #renewableenergy adoption. He called for cross-sector collaboration to advance a just energy transition, integrate low-carbon solutions, and ensure equity in climate action. Bencyrus Ellorin, ICSC Public Engagement and Advocacy Advisor in Mindanao, underscored the critical need to accelerate renewable energy investments to achieve 50% RE share in Mindanao’s energy mix by 2030. This includes mobilizing aggressive yet strategic investments in renewables. He also emphasized the importance of leveraging RE for rural electrification to ensure sustainable growth and energy access in the region. Themed “RE Calibrate: Make Renewable Energy Right,” the event, organized by The CENTRE Philippines on December 12-13, emphasized collective efforts to achieve 35% and 50% RE share in the power mix by 2030 and 2040, respectively.

LOOK: Select local government stakeholders from across the Philippines gathered to review planning tools on local #ClimateFinance at the Local Government Consultation on the Development of a Local Climate Finance and Implementation Plan (LCFIP), held December 10, 2024 in Quezon City. Organized by ICSC, as supported by the Catholic Relief Services through the USAID's Climate Resilient Cities (CRC) Project, the consultation and workshop focused on reviewing the draft #LCFIP research and guidebook, which was developed to complement existing tools for designing and implementing resource mobilization strategies for #ClimateAction. Participants included representatives from the CRC partners (Batangas, Borongan, Cotabato, Iloilo, Legazpi, and Zamboanga); as well as partners from ICSC’s USAID #INSPIRE Multi-Actor Partnership towards Enhanced Local Climate Action (MAP-ELCA) Project in Eastern Visayas (Paranas, Guiuan, and Salcedo). The consultation allowed the project to gather critical feedback that will help enhance the guidebook’s relevance and local context, as well as identify local #ClimateAdaptation needs, policy gaps, and other opportunities for improvement. Once revised following feedback from the consultation, the guidebook will be further discussed with government partners and piloted in selected partner cities and/or municipalities. 

This month, the International Network of Energy Transition Think Tanks (INETTT) Secretariat visited some of our members to ramp up our collaboration, and discuss activities and potential future initiatives 📈   🇰🇷 Rabia Ferroukhi, INETTT Director, visited our members NEXT group and Green Energy Strategy Institute in South Korea to discuss: 🔹 progress in the country’s #energytransition 🔹 potential joint activities with the network   On this occasion, she also discussed policy collaboration with our partner Solutions for Our Climate (기후솔루션).   🇵🇭 Last week, INETTT Project Lead Lidia Wojtal met with colleagues from our member Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) in the #Philippines to discuss future cooperation within the network and the role of ICSC in our dynamically developing community of think tanks.   She also participated in the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) Conference 2024, organised by the Philippines’ Department of Energy and CASE for Southeast Asia in Davao city.   At the conference, ICSC experts delivered recommendations for: 🔹 power supply procurement of distribution utilities and 🔹 risk management strategies related to the Philippine government’s commitment to increase of renewables in the energy mix to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2050   We would like to thank our colleagues in the network and partner organisations for their kind welcomes and continued exchange. We look forward to more fruitful collaboration 🤝

LOOK: The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities was given a Special Recognition Award during the 2024 Sustainable Energy Awards, hosted by the Department of Energy Philippines. The inaugural award ceremony, held on December 12, 2024 at Makati Diamond Residences, acknowledged ICSC’s remarkable efforts in promoting #SustainableEnergy development and advancing the country’s #EnergyTransition. ICSC has been a key partner of the DOE’s Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB) in driving the Philippines’ energy transition. It serves as the local expert organization of the Clean, Affordable, and Secure Energy - CASE for Southeast Asia Project, working in partnership with GIZ Philippines and Pacific Island Countries and the DOE as the government counterpart. These efforts include the organization’s work on data analytics, policy initiatives, as well innovative information and education campaigns aimed at empowering stakeholders to achieve the country’s #RenewableEnergy targets and foster a sustainable energy future. See all winners: https://lnkd.in/gsAPgpsR 

The art and food hub that is Maginhawa Street in Quezon City is best experienced on foot—but poor pedestrian infrastructure is limiting visitors and locals alike from fully exploring all that the area has to offer. Last month, visitors came together to help make Maginhawa more vibrant and accessible for all. The citizen-led pedestrianization initiatives encourage walkable, safe, and inclusive public spaces that benefit the whole community. This initiative is part of the Sparking Active Mobility Actions for Climate-Friendly Cities (#SPARK) Project, organized by ICSC and ICLEI Southeast Asia Secretariat. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gu_MNcbt