Today the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) launched a member-based regional network of national, regional and local practitioners and institutions committed to helping cities withstand and recover from the projected impacts of climate change. ICLEI will bring cities to this network and help with capacity building, while Mercy Corps will head the network.
Today more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this number will increase along with vulnerability to erratic and severe weather patterns.
“Increasing frequency and intensity of storms, unpredictable growing seasons, floods and drought are becoming a day-to-day climate reality in many parts of the world,” says Jim Jarvie of Mercy Corps and ACCCRN Regional Network Director. “When coupled with the pace of urbanization, poor and migrant populations in urban areas are especially vulnerable.”
“To save lives and protect homes and livelihoods, it’s important to invest in approaches to urban challenges embedded in governance to reduce vulnerabilities and make communities resilient,” says Jarvie.
Launched in 2008 and pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation, ACCCRN strengthens capacity of rapidly growing cities in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to better prepare for devastating events and recover faster. Since its founding, more than 50 cities have joined ACCCRN.
The expanded ACCCRN network is a membership-based platform, open to all concerned with building urban climate-change resilience. Practitioners and institutions can join the new ACCCRN network at acccrn.net.