Aseans recently participated in an online leadership program to strengthen their coordination to develop and implement regional policies on climate change and sustainable land use.
Eight Asean member-states were represented in the recent second Asean Climate Leadership Programme (ACLP) that was conducted by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture () and the Deutsche Gessellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmBH-Climate-Smart Land Use in Asean (CSLU) Project. The program have sessions until October 28.
Zahra Mutiara, adviser for the GIZ CSLU Project, said ACLP aims to support Asean in strengthening its coordinating role to develop and implement policies that ensure the promotion of climate change mitigation and adaptation in the land use sector, a news release said.
Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio said the participants brought their diverse background and expertise into use as they embark on a leadership journey toward enhanced competencies, organizational skills and understanding of regional policy processes on sustainable land use, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Asean participants were from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
“They are being primed as competent and motivated leaders, who will champion the initiation and facilitation of complex change processes in addressing climate change in Southeast Asia,” he said.
Gregorio said the 15-day leadership program promotes climate-smart land use for implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a core component of the Paris Agreement.
The NDCs were committed by the 196 negotiating parties to substantially reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions and to strengthen those commitments over time.
The program helps strengthen the participants’ leadership skills in facilitating change processes and collective cross-sectoral transformative action in climate-smart land use.
“It will enable participants to enhance their contribution to promoting the implementation of climate-friendly and resilient land use practices to achieve NDCs within the context of Asean policies and priorities,” said.
Mutiara said ACLP provides the participants with a review of climate-smart practices in the land-use sector and introduce them to tools and framework that can help them become more effective leaders during policy formulation and implementation.
She added that the program would serve as a great avenue for participants to expand their network at the regional level and, in the future, take proactive roles in facilitating cross-cutting coordination in their respective national contexts as well as in the context of Southeast Asia.
Dr. Rex Victor O. Cruz, a professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, served as the program’s technical expert.