On 3 May 2024, Philippines’ City of Paranaque and Clean Air Asia (CAI-Asia) organised a ‘Planning Workshop for Clean Air Transport Measures’ in Manila. The Workshop was attended by about 35 participants, including representatives from Paranaque City’s multiple agencies, such as the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), the Mayor’s Office, the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO), Business Processing and Licensing Office (BPLO), Engineering Department, Traffic and Parking Management Office (TPMO), Barangay Operations Office (BOO). There were also representatives from IGES and Manila City.
The Workshop had a broad objective of raising Paranaque City’s capacity and knowledge to adequately plan for as well as implement air quality improvement measures. Another objective was to promote knowledge exchange and networking with Manila City through a peer-to-peer approach. This was part of a series of activities towards developing Paranaque City’s inaugural Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), targeting emissions from the transportation sector.
This activity built on Paranaque City’s most recent achievement of having established an Emissions Inventory (EI) with the base year of 2019. With this, the city was able to identify that the transportation sector is the top contributor, which is about 40%.
During the Workshop, experts from CAI-Asia provided an overview of the Sustainable Urban Transport principles and measures. Participants learnt about the recommended best practices in terms of planning, regulatory, economic, information and investment instruments based on the ‘Avoid-Shift-Improve (ASI)’ framework.
To illustrate the principles, the participants learnt about Manila City’s primary strategies and measures for addressing emissions from mobile sources. These include: i) strengthening fleet management and vehicle maintenance systems for city-owned vehicles; ii) capacity-building initiatives for relevant departments; and iii) prioritising the promotion of electric mobility solutions within the city government; and iv) technical support and capacity building based on assessments of electric vehicle (EV) fleet management needs, supported by a Last Mile Transport Study.
Then a group exercise was conducted to collect inputs from participants on their priority sustainable transportation principles and measures. This was followed by another exercise to conceptualise the actions which correspond with the identified priorities. It was designed to consolidate the city’s relevant ongoing programmes, projects, and activities, as well as proposed new initiatives.
The Workshop stimulated new ideas and ended with a lively discussion on the financial viability and regulatory matters of providing free e-tricycles/e-vehicles and the implementation of ‘low-emission zones. Participants also identified socially critical areas like schools and hospitals with high populations as potential low emission zones to promote walkability and reduce motorised vehicle presence. There was also discussion on implementing time-bound vehicle-free zones such as car-free Sundays, a practice observed in various parts of Metro Manila and other ASEAN cities.
The results and insights from this Workshop shall be integrated into the draft CAAP, and continue to be validated through further detailed stakeholder consultations.
Under Phase 2 of the ASEAN SDGs Frontrunner Cities Programme (SDGs-FC 2), funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), Paranaque City – one of the 16 highly urbanised cities of the Manila Capital Region – is recognised as Philippines’ SDGs Frontrunner City. The city received grants to implement a project entitled ‘2024 – 2026 Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) of the City of Parañaque’. The CAAP represents a more comprehensive approach to mainstream air quality concerns in urban development and shall provide an overarching document that sets clear air quality objectives or goals for all sectors and stakeholders.
Most of the larger cities in the Philippines, as well as in the ASEAN region, recognise the importance and benefits of air quality management, but its leaders and officials lack sufficient technical knowledge and political will to pursue a CAAP. It is hoped that this project, which has been implemented under the SDGs-FC 2 by IGES, will bring Paranaque City one step closer to its health and environmental goals, as well as serve as a good example of outstanding commitment to air quality management to other cities.
Event Details
Bayview Park Hotel Manila
