ICLEI SEAS team's courtesy call to Mayor Valmayor of San Carlos City.

Located in the Negros sub-region in Central Philippines, San Carlos City is one of 25 cities from the Philippines that committed to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, an international alliance of cities and local governments that promote and support voluntary action to combat climate change and build a more resilient society.

As a Global Covenant of Mayors-committed city, San Carlos has carried out its first community-level greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, with technical support from the ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Southeast Asia Secretariat (ICLEI SEAS).

Through the process, the city found that its GHG emissions in 2015 amounted to 88,330 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) from its energy, transport, agriculture and waste sectors. This is equivalent to the emissions from over 37 million liters of consumed gasoline.

Despite its continued economic growth, the city has put a premium on maintaining and conserving its forest. The city has a vast forest cover of 17,868 hectares that has a calculated emissions removal capacity of 173,655.20 tCO₂e.

“As the city continues to grow rapidly economically, we will continue to engage in initiatives that protect our environment. The completion of the city’s GHG emissions inventory is a milestone for us. This is in line with our goal to become a green city,” explains Mr. Arthur Batomalaque, Assistant Head of the City Environment Management Office (CEMO) in San Carlos City.

The data gathering process across city departments and the private sector was facilitated by CEMO, following the Global Protocol for Community-scale GHG Emission Inventories (GPC), which is consistent with international standards. Conducting this community-level GHG inventory is a key step in the city’s efforts to advance climate action and become a renewable energy hub in the Philippines.

San Carlos City reports its greenhouse gas targets and actions to the carbonn Climate Registry.

This work is supported by grant funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies to ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability in support of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.