- The Urban-Act project revealed progress at the 2/2569 (2026) Steering Committee meeting, accelerating delivery plans in the final phase before project completion.
- Latest global achievement: Supported three Thai pilot cities in securing the Youth Climate Action Fund, whilst advancing five policy tools covering urban planning, transport and climate data.
- The meeting jointly established five sustainability mechanisms to embed knowledge and policy instruments into government operations mandated over the long term.
Bangkok, 4 August 2026 – The Integrated Urban Climate Action for Low-Carbon and Resilient Cities (Urban-Act) project convened its Steering Committee Meeting No. 2/2026 at the Ministry of Interior, City Hall. The meeting was chaired by Chaiwat Chuenkosum, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, together with representatives from eight implementing partner agencies across government and academia in Thailand. The session aimed to summarise progress in the final phase and establish pathways for delivering policy instruments and sustainability mechanisms into regular government workflows for long-term impact.
Translating policy into action: From global stages to local pilot sites
Throughout 2026, the Urban-Act project has collaborated with partner networks to drive local climate action, achieving tangible success. A key highlight includes supporting three Thai pilot cities, namely Chiang Mai City Municipality, Khon Kaen City Municipality, and Wichit Subdistrict Municipality in Phuket province, to be selected among 300 cities worldwide for the Youth Climate Action Fund funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies in the amount of US$ 50,000 per city, empowering youth to actively address climate challenges in their communities.
Furthermore, the project collaborated with pilot cities and academic partners to conduct risk assessments and formulate concrete local project proposals, such as:
- Chiang Mai: A feasibility study on converting local ‘Songthaew’ (red trucks) into an electric feeder system to connect low-carbon mobility and enhance urban disaster prevention planning.
- Khon Kaen: Developing climate risk maps and driving the ‘Sponge City’ concept, alongside public awareness activities at the ISAN Creative Festival, last July.
- Phuket: Formulating urban planning and transport policy recommendations for climate resilience, including a water retention tunnel proposal.
Achievements across four key focus areas this year
To establish a foundation for sustainable urban development, the Urban-Act project collaborated with implementing partners to deliver outputs across four focus areas:
- Policy: Advanced five national policy instruments, covering: (1) guidelines for Integrated Approaches for Low-Carbon and Resilient Transport Planning; (2) recommendations for Climate-Integrated Ecological Spatial Planning (ESP); (3) guidance for mainstreaming climate change into spatial planning; (4) a National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) for the human settlements and security sector; and (5) guidance for cross sector collaboration: Climate-Integrated Urban & Spatial Planning.
(Right) Ongoing consultative meetings with the working group of the DPT.
- Data & Spatial Development: Developed the Urban Climate Information Services (IUS) and the Climatological Database (CLDB) in partnership with the TMD to support climate-informed urban planning across three pilot provinces (Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Phuket), conducting risk analyses that led to concrete proposals such as Phuket’s water retention tunnel and Khon Kaen’s Sponge City concept.
- Climate Finance: Supported pilot cities in developing project proposals for funding, resulting in eight submitted projects, including securing the aforementioned Youth Climate Action Fund for pilot cities.
- Knowledge exchange and regional network development: Since the beginning of the year, over 70 knowledge-sharing activities have been organised, including training sessions, seminars, study visits and City Pairing learning exchanges, with further activities ongoing until project completion.
Anchoring five key deliverables and five sustainability mechanisms
To ensure climate action continues beyond project completion, the Steering Committee reaffirmed five key deliverables, which emerged from joint consolidation during the project’s Sustainability and Exit Strategy Workshop by consensus among all implementing partners across national government, local authorities and academia, aiming for completion by the end of 2026: (1) Guidelines for climate-integrated urban planning; (2) Guidelines for inter-agency integration; (3) A handbook for planning climate-sensitive transport systems; (4) Risk assessment results for pilot areas; and (5) The National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS).
Additionally, five sustainability mechanisms were established to embed knowledge into public administration: (1) Integrating outputs into the regular policies and mandates of government agencies; (2) Connecting agencies’ work through joint working groups; (3) Elevating outputs into standard practice, not limited to pilot areas only; (4) Utilising data to support decision-making and to scale up nationally; and (5) Developing personnel and establishing long-term monitoring systems.
Next steps before project closure
By the end of 2026, the Urban-Act project will prepare to hand over all five policy reports, handbooks and guidelines; officially launch and install the CLDB at the TMD; deliver adaptation reports and proposals to pilot cities; support further funding applications; and conduct in-depth training for civil servants to ensure these tools become part of standard operations, promoting sustainable climate resilience for Thai cities in the long run.
The Integrated Urban Climate Action for Low-Carbon and Resilient Cities (Urban-Act) is a regional project, implemented on behalf of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), which is anchored in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN). The project aims to support the transformation towards low-carbon and resilient urban development in Asia-Pacific while also contributing to countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Urban-Act is implemented in China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. To promote and ensure the sustainable integration of climate-friendly urban development, Urban-Act implements 14 pilot cities across the five countries. Furthermore, the project engages in partnership with the Centre for IMT-GT (Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle) to support six IMT-GT cities in transboundary climate project preparation.
In Thailand, the project operates in three pilot cities, namely Chiang Mai City Municipality, Khon Kaen City Municipality, and Wichit Subdistrict Municipality in Phuket province, whilst supporting IMT-GT cities including Nakhon Si Thammarat City Municipality and Hat Yai City Municipality.
Regional project partners include: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC), the TU Dortmund and the University of Stuttgart, as well as national implementing partners in each of the five partner countries.
