A Community of Practice (CoP) is a network of engaged experts and practitioners from a sector or working area who come together as a group to regularly engage in peer -to- peer learning to improve their personal and collective group knowledge. The network offers an alternative to conventional knowledge sharing platforms that usually feature top-down development assistance and policy adoption by providing an inclusive member experience. The activities of each CoP focus on peer learning, expert assistance and knowledge exchange through discussions, workshops, seminars, case studies etc. in topics found to be of relevance to the members. There are five CoPs under the Asia LEDS Partnership (ALP).
The NDC Finance CoP addresses financial, policy and technical challenges to accelerate investment flows into NDC implementation efforts across the Asia-Pacific region. This is done by bringing together key government and private sector decision-makers to:
Identify key barriers to mobilize investments in climate initiatives at the political, regulatory and financial levels on a country-by-country basis
Develop quick response political, regulatory and capital markets interventions, centered on green bonds, blended finance and carbon instruments, to address those barriers
Coordinate with partner country governments, donors, philanthropy and the private sector to implement the identified interventions and solutions in a targeted and cost-efficient manner
Based on feedback from ALP members, the NDC Finance CoP will focus on learning and technical collaboration on 3 key topics which are:
Blended finance uses public and philanthropic sources of capital to accelerate private capital flows into key sectors and instruments. The NDC Finance CoP will focus on design and development of blended capital structures and approaches to scaleup private investment into renewable energy and low carbon infrastructure across Asia
A green bond is a debt instrument that is issued to raise capital specifically to support climate-related or environmental projects, including for mitigation and adaptation and resilience. Issuers of bonds can be private companies, supranational institutions (such as multilateral banks), and public entities (municipal, state, or federal). Bond markets are key to unlocking local and international sources of lower-cost debt to scale investment in low carbon infrastructure. NDC Finance CoP work in this area will focus on targeted capacity building and technical assistance among and between entitiesparticularly national and subnational governments-interested in developing green bond product offerings.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for both public and private sector to work towards a green recovery. Companies and organization in Asia see this as an opportunity to reemphasize their intent to reduce emissions, repair ecosystems and seek naturebased solutions to support long term sustainability strategies. The NDC Finance CoP work in this area will focus on identifying some of these possible solutions and support governments and organizations to come together to actively engage in the carbon market in Asia.
ALP with technical support from Finance Working Group of LEDS Global Partnership (LEDS GP) and knowledge partner Climate Bonds Initiative, organized a workshop for its Asian Member Countries on “Financing NDC Implementation through Blended Finance and Green Bonds” on 19th of December, 2018 with an objective to facilitate enhanced understating on how blended finance and green bonds can innovatively meet the finance gaps that the Asian countries have highlighted in their respective NDCs. Representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia actively participated in the session.
The ALP organised a webinar on the 30th of April 2020, on the roadmap for green bonds readiness framework, green bonds issuance framework and requirements, especially in the Indian context along with examples of municipal green bonds issuance case examples and credit enhancement. The webinar was attended by over 70 participants, who showed interest in exploring application of green bonds in the following sectors, waste to energy, water treatment, urban transport and solid waste management. The session recording can be accessed here.
On the 11th of March 2021 the ALP and ICLEI East Asia hosted a peer learning session with sub-national government representatives from ALP member countries namely, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and China. Representatives from the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau showcased the success of Beijing’s Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). Several of the participants were keen to learn more about the process of implementation, in order to identify elements that can be applied to their respective regions.
This case study was developed Asia LEDS Partnership and ICLEI South Asia as a supporting document to the webinar on Readiness Framework for Green Bonds, held on the 30th of April 2020. The document discusses the growing Green Bonds market in India, that has encouraged and supported the movement of capital flows towards green projects in India, with the private sector playing a significant role. The case study can be access here.
The case study, ‘Beijing’s Pilot Emission Trading System’ was developed by the Asia LEDS Partnership, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, East Asia Secretariat, with inputs and support from the Climate Change Research Center for the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau. The case study summarizes the key points regarding the experience of the Beijing ETS, which was launched in November 2013 as one of the seven pilots in China. The Beijing ETS has successfully triggered regulated entities to take measures and reduce GHG emissions through technological renovation and upgrading, which contributed to reducing the city’s total emissions and expenditure on carbon reduction. The case study can be access here.
Organize intensive trainings on Carbon Markets and Green Bonds for ALP members
Provide advisory support to countries in securing finance for priority projects and low emission investments. here
Organize peer exchanges between members of the Africa LEDS Partnership (AfLP) and ALP.
Join theIndividual members and organizations within the public, private and non-profit sectors working to advance lowemission development in Asia are invited to join the NDC Finance CoP. Membership is voluntary, free of cost, and unlimited in duration. Sign-up form for the NDC Finance CoP.
To know about other Communities of Practice, you can join as an ALP member (as an individual/organization) by completing a cost-free membership sign-up form.
