The Asia LEDS Partnership held its third annual regional forum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia during November 11-13, 2014. The Asia Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) Forum, themed Development through LEDS and Green Growth, brought together over 250 policymakers, practitioners, and experts from across Asia and the world to learn about and discuss the latest low-carbon, green growth policies and actions that contribute to economic growth, job creation, and other national development goals. Forum participants studied the linkages between green growth and broader development objectives that are priorities for developing countries in Asia. The forum featured panel discussions with national planners and international experts, case study presentations, structured discussions on high-interest topics, and in-depth trainings.
Participants in the Asia LEDS Forum also identified new regional priorities for action and collaboration, based on common needs and challenges expressed by countries represented. Several activitites served to identify the most critical demand-led work for the Asia LEDS Partnership in the coming year in order to help prioritize assistance and ensure the Partnership’s activities provide value to governments and other stakeholders in the region.
USAID sponsored the Asia LEDS Forum 2014, in cooperation with the Indonesia National Council on Climate Change, Indonesia’s State Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS), Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Bank, and numerous other collaborating organizations.
Theme
Development through LEDS and Green Growth was the theme of this year’s forum.Given the importance for many Asian countries of broader development goals (e.g., economic growth and jobs), LEDS should be articulated to emphasize the existing linkages, particularly concrete ways that LEDS and green growth facilitate and enable priority development objectives.
This theme builds on the focus of the two previous forums. The inaugural Asia LEDS Forum, held in September 2012, was themed “Catalyzing an Era of Green Growth”. There, the Asia LEDS Partnership was launched to enhance regional coordination on LEDS and green growth and to promote regional capacity building and knowledge-sharing towards advancing low-carbon, climate-resilient development in Asia. The Asia LEDS Forum 2013 focused on practical aspects of LEDS and green growth. Under the theme “Putting LEDS into Practice”, emphasis was given to sharing examples of implementation of LEDS in Asia, and early lessons learned.
Objectives
The Asia LEDS Forum 2014 enabled participants to:
Background
The objectives of the first Asia LEDS Forum held in September 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand were to enhance regional coordination on LEDS and green growth, identify priorities for promoting regional capacity building and knowledge-sharing, and establish an Asia regional LEDS network, the Asia LEDS Partnership (ALP). With support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Thailand Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and a variety of other international and regional organizations, the event brought together more than 170 representatives of governments, civil society groups, businesses, and international partners from 17 Asian countries. The Asia LEDS Partnership was launched at the forum under the LEDS Global Partnership, and participants identified priorities for future Asia LEDS Partnership activities (see http://lowemissionsasia.org/forum2012/asia-leds-forum and http://ledsgp.org).
The Asia LEDS Partnership is now firmly established as a voluntary regional network comprised of organizations and individuals working to advance and implement low-carbon, climate-resilient development in Asia. To date, the Asia LEDS Partnership has responded to priorities identified during the first Asia LEDS Forum by organizing a regional workshop on access to climate financing, initiating a regional mapping of LEDS expertise and creation of a LEDS knowledge-base, developing a new regional LEDS training platform, and initiating plans for workshops on specific LEDS topics.
