Muntinlupa City won at the 2nd CityNet-ESCAP SDG City Awards, which will be held during the 8th Asia Pacific Urban Forum that is being held from Oct. 23 to 25 in Suwon, South Korea.
Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon is in Suwon for the 43rd Executive Committee Meeting of CityNet together with Deputy City Administrator RJ Smith, and Public Information Office officer-in-charge Noemi Gonzales. Muntinlupa has been a member of CityNet for more than two decades.
Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon with Deputy City Administrator RJ Smith and Public Information Office officer-in-charge Noemi Gonzales in Suwon, South Korea (Photos from Mayor Ruffy Biazon)
Muntinlupa's e-tricycles (CityNet)
CityNet announced that Muntinlupa won the City Climate Action Award for its “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program.”
“The City of Government of Muntinlupa pioneered the institutionalization of Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) among local government units in the Philippines by enacting its Local Energy Code and developing a Local Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan. Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program aims to reduce electricity and fuel consumption of the City through the use of energy efficient technologies, practice of energy conservation measures, and tapping on renewable energy,” according to the Urban SDG Knowledge Platform.
“CityNet is the largest association of urban stakeholders committed to sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region,” said Biazon.
ESCAP is the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific while SDG means Sustainable Development Goals were “adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.”
According to the CityNet website, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Urban SDG Knowledge Platform, it created the SDG City Awards Program.
“The 2023 contest challenged cities and stakeholding organizations to submit case studies related to the four themes of the 8th Asia Pacific Urban Forum, which will be organized by ESCAP with support from CityNet in Suwon, ROK from 23-25 October. Cities competed on their innovative Urban Planning Policies, their action-oriented Climate Programs, the inclusiveness of their Digital Transformation strategies, and their creative solutions for improving Urban Financing,” according to CityNet.
Judges evaluated the cases based on seven criteria: innovation, leadership/governance, clear implementation, standard of quality, positive outcomes, long-term sustainability, and replicability.
The judges were Vijay Jagannathan, secretary general of CityNet; Sangmin Nam, director of the Environment & Development Division, UN ESCAP; and Luis Noda, vice president of the Asia Pacific, Habitat for Humanity International.
“Given the quality of the submitted best practices, ranking them was not an easy feat. In the end, it turned out to be quite a close race,” CityNet added.
The winning case studies in the 2nd CityNet-ESCAP SDG City Awards are:
Inclusive Low Carbon City Award
Suwon, Republic of Korea
“Carbon Neutrality Policy with Citizen Participation”
Urban Planning Award
Colombo Municipal Council, Sri Lanka
“Sustainable Solid Waste Management in the City of Colombo”
City Climate Action Award
Muntinlupa, Philippines
“Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program”
Inclusive Urban Digital Transformation Award
Songpa District (Seoul), Republic of Korea
“Smart Doctor for Successful Urban Healthcare”
Urban Finance Award
Yokohama, Japan
“Y-SDGs”
Notable shortlisted cases
Baguio - “Baguio Streets for Children”
Balanga - “Barangay Learning Hub”
Bandung - “Black and Gray Wastewater Management to Create Clean and Useful Water”
CarbonCare InnoLab (Hong Kong) - “SolarCare Programme”
Jakarta - “Jakarta SATU Smart Spatial Planning through Geodatabase”
Kuala Lumpur - “C40 Climate Finance Center”
Lalitpur - “Robotics and Programming Education for Students in Public Schools”
Makati - “Department of Environmental Services Webinar Program”
Quezon City - “QCBPLD Digital Transformation”
Subang Jaya - “Subang Jaya Community Empowerment Program”