Welcome to the new Subnational Integration of LEDS Working Group co-chairs

With the objective of continued network evolution, and to capitalize on the successful growth and increasing connectivity of the Subnational Integration of LEDS Working Group, the regional secretariats of LEDS GP have selected three new cochairs. We are very pleased to announce as co-chairs:

  • Mr. Charles Akurugu, Kumbungu District Assembly, Ghana.
  • Mr. Kinlay Dorjee, Honorable Mayor of Thimphu, Bhutan
  • Mr. Francisco Maciel, Executive Secretary, CIOESTE, Sao Paulo, Brasil
Charles AkuruguMr. Charles Ayuune Akurugu, Assisstant Director, Kumbungu District Assembly, Republic of Ghana, Africa LEDS Partnership
Charles Ayuune Akurugu is a highly esteemed local government official in the Republic of Ghana. Previous to his current position with the subnational government in the Northern Region of Ghana, he worked in various capacities in other subnational government posts with a particular interest in sustainable development.  Charles holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry (First Class Honours) and a Masters degree in Public Administration from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He has eight years of experience in government policy, environment and local government administration.  In his official positions he has coordinated several environmentally related projects like the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) at the subnational level and other donor funded projects. He has been a member of the LEDS GP since 2013 and the focal point for the Subnational Integration of LEDS Working Group on the Africa LEDS Partnership since 2014.

Kinlay DorjeeMr. Kinlay Dorjee, 
Honorable Mayor, Thimphu, Bhutan, Asia LEDS Partnership
Mayor Dorjee holds a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering (1995) from the University of Roorkee in India. He has worked as an assistant engineer with the Department of Power, Royal Government of Bhutan. He was involved in practical field works, project management and gained adequate experience to handle higher responsibilities. From January 1999 to July 2002, he served as a Project Manager, handling implementation of the project for development and construction of 132 kV transmission and substations in eastern Bhutan. The government agency was corporatized in July 2002 for better performance and efficient delivery of services to the people and the nation. The Bhutan Power Corporation Limited (BPC) is now the public enterprise providing services related to power supplies across the nation, where he served as a General Manager for Customer Services Department. He was responsible for improving the service delivery to provide safe and reliable power supply to almost 60% of the population.

He is the first elected Mayor of the capital city of Thimphu and is determined to alleviate the challenges related to land management, providing basic service deliveries, and green initiatives to promote Bhutan as a happy nation. To become a greener city, waste management (through segregation and recycling) and promotion of electrical buses for mass transit have both been identified.

Francisco MacielMr. Francisco Maciel, Chief Executive Officer, CIOESTE, Sao Paulo, Brasil, Regional Platform for Latin America and the Caribbean (LEDS LAC)

Francisco is the Chief Executive Officer of CIOESTE—the Intermunicipal Consortium of the Western Region of Metropolitan Sao Paulo (Consorcio Intermunicipal da Regiao Metropolitana Oeste de São Paulo).  Their mission is to drive local development on a sustainable basis, since the eight municipalities represent 2.5% of the entire Brazilian GDP.  CIOESTE’s leading role in Sao Paulo’s metropolitan area planning and governance is recognized by the adoption of programs and projects that leverage economic development with green national and international opportunities. CIOESTE is working hands on within the LEDS GP network and Subnational Integration of LEDS Working Group to develop studies and implement projects and models; as well as to serve as a reference to other municipal urban associations and metropolitan areas.

CIOESTE identifies their principal challenge as establishing, once and for all, that low emission development strategies and subnational integration are a key principles of development—achieving social, environmental, financial and cultural impacts, along with expanding possibilities and opportunities.  CIOESTE has successfully collaborated with the Subnational Integration of LEDS Working Group and LEDS LAC in addressing these challenges—achieving consistent results and creating new opportunities. In addition, CIOESTE is working to scale up the integrated subnational approach, to the entire Sao Paulo metropolitan area; working to include it as part of the planning tool under development.  Francisco is discussing CIOESTE’s approach with state and federal authorities in order to scale and replicate in other metropolitan areas and municipal associations in Brazil.  Finally, CIOESTE is now starting to assess the integration of LEDS planning (with studies developed under REAL assistance) into the geo-reference tool, in collaboration with the Sao Paulo state government planning division. This will bring accurate measurements and monitoring into coordinated LEDS planning and integrated actions

The Subnational Integration of LEDS Working Group will continue to focus on connecting members and accelerating the flow and access to relevant information. This effort strives to help align and bring together colleagues who are interested and committed to the coordination and vertical integration of climate actions – though they may be separated by levels of government, geography, or social distance. Find out more about the Subnational Integration of LEDS Working Group and join here.

Photo: Esther Gillingham/ CAFOD, June 2015.