Gender Into Urban Climate Change Initiative

Gender into Urban Climate Change Initiatives (GUCCI) in Indonesia
Status Quo Report on Jakarta and Makassar
August 2017

Indonesia’s response to various agreements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has led to the passing of a number of mitigation and adaptation policies and actions, both at national and regional levels, such as National Action Plan for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emission (RAN GRK) and National Action Plan for Climate Change Adaptation (RAN API). Prior to the UNFCCC’s Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 in Paris, the government of Indonesia had publicly expressed its commitment to adaptation and mitigation, i.e. Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), which calls for 29% emission reduction based on a Business as Usual (BAU) scenario, and 41% with international support.

Indonesia’s actions for climate change mitigation and adaptation are to be done through a number of programs, both at national and regional levels, such as in Jakarta: (a) Program Kampung Iklim (Climate Village Program), (b) Transportation and Energy Sectors, and (c) the Giant Sea Wall, part of Jakarta Coastal Development Strategy (JCDS)/ National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD); and in Makassar: Mitigation Planning for Small Islands and Coastal Areas, Community Empowerment in Marine Resource Management, Improved Mitigation of Marine-Related Hazards and Marine Climate Prediction, Green Open Space, and Lorong Garden.

A number of national climate change policies also integrate gender aspects, among others:

(a) Presidential Instruction No. 9 Year 2000 on Gender Mainstreaming In Development, (b) National Action Plan for Climate Change Adaptation (RAN API) 2014, (c) the National Development and Planning Ministry (PPN)/BAPPENAS’s Paper Policy on Gender Mainstreaming In Responses To Climate Change, (d) Regulation of the Head of the National Disaster Management Agency No. 13 Year 2014 on Gender Mainstreaming in Disaster Management, and (e) Decree of the Minister of Forestry and Environment No. 19/ 2012 on Proklim (Climate Village Program).

In Makassar City, some of the urban policies aim to mainstream gender, and a number of city agencies have been created to mainstream gender in GHG emission reduction programs. Among the activities/programs in the policies are tree planting, monitoring of green open space, and Development of Climate Village (ProKlim), the RAN API program and Disaster Risk Mitigation.

As seen above, the government of Indonesia has two general policies relating to climate change and gender mainstreaming. How far these urban climate policies, which integrate gender considerations, would be effective, however, needs further analysis!

The importance of urban gender-responsive climate policies is to improve the resilience of women in particular and the general public, especially the urban poor and marginalized groups, in responding to the situations and threats posed by climate change. The urban poor are extremely vulnerable to climate change as they lack tools/means to respond to or avoid climate threats and hazards. Very often, they live in locations with limited or poor social, water and sanitation infrastructure which are vulnerable to floods and sea level rise. However, local communities, in particular women, are often excluded in developing ideas and initiatives to build economic and social resilience towards climate change and in decision- making processes, both at local and national levels. The involvement of community elements, including women, should then be underpinned.

Increasing involvement of local communities, especially the urban poor, in decisions relating to climate change has led to an initiative called Gender into Urban Climate Change Initiatives (GUCCI). The initiative aims to pursue options to integrate gender into Indonesia’s climate change policies. GUCCI has then become part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Natural Conservation, Buildings and Nuclear Safety, which was launched in 2015. This project is implemented through an international collaboration of women groups in Indonesia, India, South Africa and Germany. Aksi! for Gender, Social and Ecological Justice as well as Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights) are GUCCI’s partners in Indonesia.

This Status Quo Report is the first step of a series of GUCCI’s activities in Indonesia. It contains information on urban policy situations in two cities: Jakarta and Makassar, both being GUCCI’s pilot cities. It provides a basis for conducting gender assessment and developing strategies to build gender-sound climate change policies in cities.

The Urban Policy Status Quo Report is prepared in the format set by GenderCC, which is GUCCI’s partner in Germany and plays a role as the GUCCI Coordinator. It is divided into several chapters: Chapter One outlines the methodology used, and the data collection and writing processes; Chapter Two provides a big picture of national-level policies; Chapter Three elaborates climate change policies in Jakarta and Makassar with considerations being given on the local climate change situations and the associated issues, GHGs emission produced, the city government’s actions to address the issues, and how far gender considerations have been integrated into the policies; and Chapter Four provides feedback about the policy situations in both cities in the form of conclusions, questions and recommendations concerning what should be taken into consideration in the next phase of the project, i.e. performing gender analyses of the cities’ climate change policies.

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