About us

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (iCSC) is a Philippine-based non-government, non-profit organization working on sustainable energy solutions and fair climate policy. It is supported primarily by Stichting Doen.

The iCSC is the proponent of the pioneering Climate-Friendly Cities (CFC) initiative, which integrates waste management, energy generation and sustainable transport programs for sustainable, climate-resilient city and community development. The organization also leads the campaign to establish direct-access driven, just, long-term adaptation finance for the most vulnerable in the Philippines.

The popular electric jeepneys, or eJeepneys, is a central part of the CFC initiative. The iCSC has widened the deployment of electric public utility vehicle transport alternatives in the country through the development of eTrike, eQuad and eCoach applications as well as different eJeepney models. The iCSC believes pedestrian-led development should be a focal point of transport and city planning, along with cycling. The iCSC is a supporter of the Firefly Brigade.

The iCSC is led by a team with at least three decades of combined experience working on climate, development and energy policies, programs and projects in national and international arenas, with particular focus on the global climate treaty negotiations. The organization provides project and policy advisory and consultancy services.

Sustainable energy solutions

Currently enrolled in iCSC's CFC initiative is the financial center of the Philippines, Makati City, and
the country's premier environmental center, Puerto Princesa City. There are more cities in the queue.

Launched in July 2007, the CFC initiative introduced the reality of electric public utility vehicle transport to the country in a series of events that captured domestic and global media attention. A year later, the iCSC unveiled the country's first domestically-made eJeepney and the potential of sustainable transport to generate green jobs and boost the fledgling local vehicle manufacturing industry. In 2009, the iCSC again pioneered the first electric public utility vehicle routes in the Philippines when it launched the Makati Green Routes (MGR) in Salcedo Village and Legaspi Village, which together form the central business district of Makati City. A fleet of eJeepneys have been plying the two routes regularly since November 2009. A third MGR is set to be launched in July and preparations involving the launch of two to three more MGRs within a year's time are ongoing.

iCSC promotes regulatory and fiscal policy development that can scale-up sustainable transport initiatives. It's advocacy agenda has helped pull in a variety of electric vehicle-driven businesses and ancilliary commercial enterprises involved in motor, controller, battery and charging station applications.

Towards Fair Climate Policy

The iCSC currently leads the campaign for fair and effective climate finance. The group launched the report "Financing Adaptation or Funding Chaos? Adaptation, Finance and Philippine Climate Policy" in July 2010, with an action agenda that has received strong support by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Liberal Party/ruling party spokesperson Rep. Lorenzo R. Tañada III of the 4th District of Quezon. The two have committed to lead iCSC's climate finance action agenda in both houses of the Philippine legislature under the new administration.

The iCSC believes a mix of sustainable energy options linked to local economies and livelihood generation will demonstrate that better sustainable energy pathways are not only available but are more viable compared to fossil-fired power plants and conventional, centralized large scale power systems. The iCSC was formed as a result of campaigns against a proposed circulating fluidized bed coal-fired power plant in Negros Occidental and two coal-fueled power station proposals in Prachuab Kiri Khan, Thailand in the late 90s.

The iCSC was formerly known as the Green Renewable Independent Power Producer, Inc. (GRIPP) and has been registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission since 2005.

Climate-Friendly Cities initiative

The Climate Friendly Cities (CFC) initiative aims to contribute to climate change mitigation and at the same time promote climate-resilient communities. The CFC is anchored on the integration of sustainable transport, energy generation and waste management initiatives.

In close partnership with DOEN Foundation, the program aims to use energy from organic wastes from wet markets, business establishments and households of partner cities to power an environmentally-friendly public transport system composed of eJeepneys and other electric public utility vehicles.

The project consists of 3 components:

1. A fleet of electric jeepneys or eJeepneys, each with a capacity of twelve (12) passengers;
2. A depot serves as charging station; and
3. A power plant consisting of a generator, an anaerobic digester or biodigester (an industrial system that promo tes th e decomposition of organic waste to produce biogas that can be used to power electricity generators), and a gas engine.

Biogas technologies harness biogas or methane from liquid or wet organic wastes from the livestock, food processing and beverage industries, as well as municipal solid waste and sewage treatment plants, to run a generator to produce electricity.

In the Climate Friendly Cities program, the biodigester will break down organic waste collected from municipal solid waste and sewage treatment plants, as well as the livestock, food processing and beverage industries of partner cities. The process is as follows:

First, both the wet market and commercial food waste streams will be thoroughly cleaned of material such as metals and plastics. The waste will then be shred and mixed, and fed into digesters where their total solid content will be reduced through the introduction of an effluent such as pig manure or abattoir waste. The resulting slurry will be heated to accelerate the activity of bacteria decomposing the solids, thereby producing gas. The gas will, in turn, be fed to a gas engine that will produce electricity and power a city's electric utility vehicle fleet.

The Climate Friendly Cities is supported by DOEN Foundation, an organization that strives towards the achievement of a liveable world in which everyone has a place. DOEN supports organizations and projects in the fields of Sustainable Development, Culture, Welfare, and Social Cohesion.