Mae Valdez-Irong (leftmost), ICLEI Southeast Asia (SEA) Regional Program Manager, shares recommendations for cities implementing their climate action plans in a panel discussion with fellow panelist Kristine Lea S. Galon (middle), Quezon City Climate Change and Environmental Education Division Chief, and panel moderator Kristina Katich (rightmost), Senior Urban Development Specialist of the ADB Water and Urban Development Sector Office, during the ADB Water and Urban Development Forum (AWUF) 2025 at the ADB Headquarters.

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Southeast Asia (SEA) highlighted the importance of data and capacity building for local governments to strengthen their climate action plans at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Water and Urban Development Forum (AWUF) 2025 last May 28-30, 2025 at the ADB Headquarters, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.

Mae Valdez-Irong, ICLEI SEA Regional Program Manager, shared two key recommendations for cities in implementing their climate action plans, as a panelist in a session titled “Bridging Boundaries, Driving Resilience: Rethinking Climate Action Planning for Cities” last May 29.

Based on ICLEI SEA’s experience in working with cities in the region, Valdez-Irong emphasized the importance of integrating risk information in cities’ climate action plans and developing the skills and knowledge of city government staff, especially those required to plan and deliver climate action.

Risk-informed climate action plans

While many cities already have their existing local climate change action plans, Valdez-Irong said not all are evidence-based.

“Major Southeast Asian cities—Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh—are within the top five cities that are most at risk to climate change impacts globally. Although city climate action plans are in place in these cities as mandated by their national governments, their scope, quality, and implementation vary. Even for the Philippines, when all cities and municipalities are required to prepare their Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP), almost all local government units have LCCAPs, but only 22% are risk-informed,” said Valdez-Irong.

Integrating risk information in cities’ climate action plans, said Valdez-Irong, involves using climate information tools, hazard maps, and climate projections, and measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to improve the city’s plans.

Gathering risk information, she added, is also an opportunity for cities to tap into innovation. 

Valdez-Irong mentioned ICLEI SEA’s partnership with the Quezon City and Pasig City local governments for the “Sparking active mobility actions for climate-friendly cities” (SPARK) project, wherein data on active transport (which includes travelling by foot, bicycle, and other non-motorized vehicles) will be collected through the help of technology. The collected data will support measures for climate-friendly transport plans in the cities. 

Mae Valdez-Irong, ICLEI SEA Regional Program Manager

Investing in local government staff

Aside from utilizing accessible tools and technologies to gather data on climate change and localized risks, Valdez-Irong said it is also important for cities to invest in building the expertise of city government staff in implementing climate change action plans.

“It’s one thing knowing information, and another being able to use the information. We’ve learned this through our experience (at ICLEI SEA), so our capacity building approach is more strategic and programmatic, aiming to build competencies, such as what we’re doing in the Enhancing Socially Inclusive Resilience Building in Asia (SIRA) project,” said Valdez-Irong.

Supported by UK Aid through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the International Development Research Centre, Canada through the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) programme, the SIRA Project is currently being implemented by the ICLEI SEA and South Asia Secretariats in Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

“(Local government) personnel need to have the capacity to translate information into something useful and relevant for their roles and mandates,” said Valdez-Irong.

Among the capacities that should be developed among local government staff, she added, include systems thinking, leadership, and change management, which are “not built overnight” but are needed for local governments to be able to think ahead, adapt, manage changes, and establish risk management strategies.

When local government units (LGUs) invest in their staff’s competencies, Valdez-Irong said they will also be able to connect the strategic and cross-cutting nature of climate action and how it reinforces their priority development agenda. 

“Sometimes LGUs see climate action plans as an additional plan, but it’s actually a risk management strategy for all the plans, which should have a harmonizing effect for their entire planning, programming, and budgeting process,” she added.

Supporting cities’ climate action plans

During the panel discussion, Valdez-Irong was also asked how ADB and national governments can better support cities in their climate action planning.

Valdez-Irong said development partners can support cities by helping them build internal competencies for climate action planning and implementation through more strategic and programmatic trainings; enabling access to financing for local governments; and providing LGUs a platform for private sector engagement, especially for adaptation finance.

On assisting LGUs to access financing for climate action, Valdez-Irong emphasized how LGUs need more access to grants because most of them rely on national budgets and find it difficult to meet requirements.

“We (ICLEI) help (LGUs) access (grants), but it’s not enough. They need more access, even for grants, since most grants are coursed through national agencies and other designated entities,” she added.

Moreover, on adaptation finance, Valdez-Irong said: “There is a huge gap on adaptation finance that needs to be filled and the private sector can come in, since this will also climate-proof their supply chains, so we need to take them on board.”

Innovation Fair

ICLEI SEA also joined several international nongovernmental organizations, private sector companies, think-tanks, consultancy firms, and ADB partners as an exhibitor in the AWUF’s Innovation Fair.

As one of the exhibitors in the forum, ICLEI SEA shared its work in the region through its booth and a presentation led by James Anthony Oriña, ICLEI SEA Project Officer, during the Innovation Marketplace session on May 28, which introduced the exhibitors to participants.

James Anthony Oriña, ICLEI SEA Project Officer, introduces ICLEI SEA during the Innovation Marketplace session of the AWUF 2025 last May 28.

The AWUF 2025 is a flagship knowledge sharing event of ADB which gathered communities of practice from across the Bank’s operations, along with ADB’s Developing Member Country (DMC) representatives and external experts for a week of interactive engagement on the critical drivers of water and urban development in the region.

With the theme, “Valuing water and enhancing livability in Asia and the Pacific,” the forum included master classes, peer-to-peer clinics, debates, and fireside chats to facilitate discussions and knowledge exchange on the latest approaches and current progress from across the Asia-Pacific Region to achieving resilience, improving livability, and delivering just outcomes for all.

ICLEI SEA Secretariat staff, led by Victorino Aquitania (leftmost) as the Regional Director and Mae Valdez-Irong (second from the left) as Regional Program Manager, engage with visitors at the ICLEI SEA booth for the AWUF 2025’s Innovation Fair.