Three Philippine cities hailed as national finalists of WWF’s One Planet City Challenge
February 2018
From 133 cities from 23 countries, forty (40) cities including the Cities of Makati and Pasig in the National Capital Region, and San Carlos in Negros Occidental have been selected as national finalists of the 2017-2018 run of the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) One Planet City Challenge (OPCC), a biennial global challenge that recognizes cities for developing infrastructure, housing, transport, and mobility solutions to power the global transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future.
Launched in 2011 as the Earth Hour City Challenge, the OPCC highlights the crucial role that cities play in the transition toward a low-carbon and sustainable future. Since then, 411 cities across 5 continents have heeded the call to sustainably address fast and large transformations in population, consumption patterns, resource use, and waste management.
This edition of the OPCC is anchored on sustainable transport and mobility, which is a major environmental challenge for cities around the globe. Almost one-third of carbon emissions come from the transportation of people and goods. As it is a challenge, it is also a great opportunity for cities to capitalize on sustainable solutions like renewable energy and positive synergies to meet the demands of highly urbanized lifestyles without exhausting our planet’s ecological capacity.
“Cities must cultivate their potential to directly improve the quality of life of their citizens while simultaneously reducing environmental impact. Offering smarter alternatives for energy, transportation, and building standards that affect a significant number of people is key in ensuring that we all thrive without pushing the limits of our shared home,” WWF-Philippines President and CEO Joel Palma stated, while congratulating the 3 national finalists, as well as the qualifiers of the earlier round of the OPCC namely Parañaque City, Naga City, Batangas City, Catbalogan City, Zamboanga City, and Tagum City, for championing low-carbon solutions through progressive policies and actions.
The 3 Philippine national finalists will now participate in the OPCC’s “We Love Cities” campaign that is aimed at inspiring and engaging their respective citizens for support, as well as sharing ideas for improvement, from May 7 to end of June. Simultaneously, an international expert jury will review all finalist cities, selecting both national and a global winner, which will be announced in a press release in June/July 2018 and thereafter celebrated in a global awards ceremony. Visit www.panda.org/opcc and http://www.welovecities.org/ for further details and updates.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
An international jury of urban sustainability experts will look for cities that demonstrate inspiring, ambitious and credible climate agendas that reflect how cities contribute to meeting the Paris Agreement goals. Joining the coalition of cities committed to the Compact of Mayors, and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy – as well as following up these commitments with action – will be considered a positive attribute in the evaluation procedure. Higher ambitions and the impact of corresponding action plans will be particularly favored. The thematic focus for this year’s One Planet City Challenge is sustainable transport, and the jury will be paying special attention to cities that present ambitious mobility plans and actions.
The jury will consider differences in resources and starting points in order to ensure a level playing field for evaluation. Overall, the jury will be looking for cities that:
- Demonstrate determination to align with a transparent and science-based GHG emission reduction trajectory
- Have ambitious and strategic action plans to meet stated commitments
- Integrate actions into coherent and overarching climate action plans
- Lead, with respect to local context and conditions
- Highlight sustainable mobility efforts
For more information, please contact:
Head, Climate and Energy Program Ms. Angela Ibay (gibay@wwf.org.ph)
One Planet City Challenge Project Manager Ms. Imee Bellen (ibellen@wwf.org.ph)
