Ecotown Scale-Up Project: Climate Resilient Green Growth Planning at the Provincial Level Assessment of Outcomes, Mainstreaming and Next Steps Ecotown Scale-Up Project: Climate Resilient Green Growth Planning at the Provincial Level: Assessment of Outcomes, Mainstreaming, and Next Steps I. Overview The Ecotown Scale-Up Project, also referred to as the Climate Resilient Green Growth Planning Project (CRGG Project) was implemented by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) in the Provinces of Palawan and Oriental Mindoro from 2016 to 2018 to: a.) Enhance climate change resilience and promote inclusive green growth in participating provinces; and b.) Replicate climate resilient green growth planning and implementation models in other provinces to institutionalize the approach at the national level. The project built-on the lessons of the earlier Demonstration of Ecotown Framework Project implemented at the municipal level and the implementation of the CRGG Project at the provincial level was meant to attain scale in terms of number of LGUs that would be benefited. The Provinces of Oriental Mindoro and Palawan consist of 41 local government units (i.e., 2 Provincial Governments, 2 City Governments, and 37 Municipal Governments) and account for a population of almost 2 million. The two provinces were selected considering their exposure to natural calamities and their strategic importance to the rest of the country. Oriental Mindoro is considered the “Food Basket of the MIMAROPA Region” as it supplies most of the rice, fruits, and high value crops in the region. Agriculture is the main economic driver of the province, supporting 62% of its 840,000 population yet this sector is considered most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Being located along the typhoon belt, Oriental Mindoro farmers contend with annual damages to agriculture caused by flooding, erosion and landslides. Aside from the damages due to extreme weather events, this sector also has the poorest Filipinos who derive their livelihood from farming and fishing and considered most vulnerable given their lack of economic coping capacity. The Province of Palawan, touted as the Philippine’s “Last Ecological Frontier” and considered among the best tourism destinations in the world, supports the economy of the MIMAROPA Region as it accounts for almost 50% of the Gross Regional Domestic Product. Palawan is the largest province in the country in terms of land area and home to a population of almost 1 million people. Nature based tourism is a significant economic driver for the province as the number of tourists that visit Palawan averages at around 1.7 million per year. However, natural calamities present a broad range of risks to various sectors of the province. Among 1 others, climate change impacts on the natural environment have significant effects on tourism; the agriculture sector contends with drought and flooding that affect food security; and sea temperature rise decreases fish production. Human activities compound the impacts of natural calamities as denudation of forest resources destroys watersheds and exacerbates soil erosion and flooding in low lying areas while unplanned urbanization leads to un-met demand for fossil-based energy and over concentration of population beyond the carrying capacity of concerned areas. At the same time, the province also contends with pockets of poverty given that almost half of the provincial population are indigenous people. II. Objective of the Report The perennial challenge in implementing technical assistance projects for local governments is ensuring that project outputs and results are mainstreamed in governance processes and implemented by the concerned LGUs to help realize outcomes and eventually lead to the envisioned impacts. Often, the relevance of completed outputs is determined based on how these have led to outcomes that are implementable and cause concrete positive effects on the lives of people. To support the achievement of project outcomes, the CRGG Project cooperated with the Provincial CRGG Project Teams of Palawan and Oriental Mindoro in setting- up “entry points for mainstreaming results and achieving outcomes”, by way of local policies and projects that were formulated and initiated during project implementation. This report assesses the key outcomes from the CRGG Project; presents how the project results have been mainstreamed; and discusses possible next steps to support the further implementation and scaling-up of these results. III. Organization of the Report The report is prepared on a “case study format” where each project outcome is presented and analyzed in terms of supporting the development objectives of the project; contribution to the National Climate Change Action Plan; and mainstreaming status and next steps. Individual reports are prepared for each outcome and presented in the succeeding sections. 2 Project ImplementationOperation of Electricof Electric Tricycles Tricycles for for Outcome: SustainableSustainable and Green Transportation Transportation Initial Investment: Around USD1M • 100 Units of E-Trikes deployed in the Cooperators: Municipality of San Municipality of San Vicente and Vicente, Municipality of Brooke’s Municipality of Brooke’s Point Point, Palawan Provincial Government, Department of Energy • Ongoing operation of E-Trikes to demonstrate green and sustainable Impact Area: 2 Municipalities; 97, 606 municipal population transportation for eventual scale-up and replication PROJECT OPERATION OF ELECTRIC TRICYCLES FOR SUSTAINABLE OUTCOME AND GREEN TRANSPORTATION IN PALAWAN I. Background The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) collaborated with the Provincial Government of Palawan, the Municipality of San Vicente and the Municipality of Brooke’s Point in structuring the proposal to secure Electric Tricycles grants for the said municipalities. The grant was provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) under its “Market Transformation through the Introduction of Energy Efficient Electric Vehicles Project” funded by the Asian Development Bank. Through this initiative the 2 municipalities were able to receive 100 Units of E-Trikes (i.e. 50 units per LGU) with an estimated value of almost USD1 Million. II. Primary Features of the Electric Tricycles (E-Trikes) Initiative The E-Trikes initiative is designed mainly to promote the use of electric vehicles as a viable market alternative to fossil-fuel based transportation, hence demonstration through actual deployment by LGUs is required. It also aims to contribute to socio- economic development as it creates income opportunities for poor but qualified constituents in the beneficiary LGUs. The program is intended to be self-sustaining through the establishment by LGUs of an E-Trikes Revolving Fund, where repayments of E-Trike Drivers accumulate to cover the cost of maintenance. The 100 Units of E-Trikes are considered “seed capital” because the vision is that through these, the LGUs will be able to generate income that will allow them to procure and deploy additional E-Trikes to phase-in this technology and ultimately reduce the dependence of the local transport sector on fossil-based fuel. III. Alignment of the E-Trikes Initiative with the NCCAP NCCAP E-Trikes Initiative Strategic Priority The operations of E-trikes in these 2 municipalities will reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions coming from Environmental the public transportation hence improving air quality. The and Ecological initial fleet of 100 units is envisioned to increase as the Stability repayments collected by the LGUs from E-Trike Drivers are used to acquire additional E-Trikes units. 1 Aside from reducing dependence on fossil-based fuel, the deployment of the E-trikes is also an income generating initiative as it provides livelihood for the selected drivers, who have been chosen from among the poorest, yet Human Security qualified constituents of the 2 municipalities. Women drivers were also considered. As a livelihood initiative, the E-trikes allow marginalized people to earn and provide for their families, hence giving them an opportunity to move out of poverty. Sustainable The E-Trikes initiative specifically contributes to sustainable Energy energy use since the units are battery operated and therefore does not use fossil-based fuel to run. Capacity development activities are provided by the DOE to ensure that the recipient Municipalities and the E-Trike Knowledge and drivers are able to operate the units and address any need Capacity for repair and maintenance. The training activities also Development include the sustainability aspect to help the LGUs recover re-payments that will constitute a revolving fund for repair of current units and the acquisition of additional stocks. IV. Contribution to Project Development Objectives and Outcomes The operation of the E-Trikes in the municipalities of San Vicente and Brooke’s Point concretely contributes to the development objectives of enhancing climate resilience and promotion of green growth as these reduce GHG emissions while creating employment opportunities for marginalized constituents. The deployment of E-Trikes in other municipalities is envisioned based on the result of implementation in these 2 LGUs although this will require the availability of funds that may be sourced from internal LGU funds or external sources such as grants and credit. The E-Trikes initiative contributes to outcomes mapped under NCCAP Strategic Priorities of Environmental and Ecological Stability;