Potential climate/ disaster impacts addressed by approach & Justification for approach:
Around the world, cities are fighting the pandemic against a backdrop of multiple existing shocks and stresses, and emerging vulnerabilities, while striving to put equity, economy, and climate action at the centre of their recovery approaches. Declining revenues create budgetary shortfalls for cities around the world, forcing local governments to defer infrastructure projects and capital investments. This stifles job growth and local economic activity and impacts cities’ abilities to deliver essential services. On the other hand, the compounding impacts of COVID- 19 and climate change are shining a new light on the deep inequities confronting cities around the world, revealing immense problems, and highlighting opportunities for new approaches. As cities plan for recovery and investment in key services and infrastructure, they must also address the underlying stresses exposed by the pandemic. Smart, green investments and interventions with resilience principles in mind can create a triple dividend: helping cities boost their economies; improving equity; and preparing communities for inevitable climate and health threats.
Process of Implementation:
ReCAP21 was implemented in 5 cities in Bangladesh, Mauritania and Rwanda. The measures were built on previous work of ICLEI and R-Cities (Climate & Vulnerability Assessments) and GIZ Mauritania (Development Plan of Sebkha). In Bangladesh ICLEI built Water ATM to increase the cities access to water and hygiene at highly frequented areas in Rajshahi. In Rwanda, ICLEI built solar powered streetlights at health facilities to decrease the city's spending on energy and to promote green jobs. In Rwanda, previous identified resilience measures were financed and implemented through ReCAP21 (biodiversity garden in schools, greening of one of the main streets, better coordination in case of disasters). On the national scale, 2 dialogues between national level and the cities as well as Resilience trainings for 4 cities were organised. In the process, all 4 cooperation partners aligned their approaches towards recovery and resilience and crafted the resilient recovery guide as a major output of ReCAP21