Bhutan - thimphu

The Urban Pathways Implementation Tracker
is tracking the Projects Progress and delivers information on its four main outputs:

​INFORM, INSPIRE, INITIATE & IMPLEMENTATION

city profile: thimphu

Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan which is located within an area space of 1,794.87 km2,. A population of 116,012 lives in Thimphu Dzongkhag in 2015 with an estimated population density of 64.6 per km2 (National Statistics Bureau, 2017a) and future projection foresee the city to grow. Thimphu’s households are 100% electrified. 64.3% of Thimphu’s land is covered by the forest (in 2016) (National Statistics Bureau, 2017a), which contributes in net carbon sink. Some of Thimphu’s initiatives on energy generation/conservation, sustainable transport and waste management are discussed below:

Energy
In response to an increasing energy demand in the city, Thimphu is initiating measures to implement renewable energy (e.g. Solar and Wind) and improve energy efficiency. Thimphu is replacing street lamps with LED lighting which could save 2 to 3 million units of electricity each year (Tshomo, 2015; ICLEI, 2016).
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Transport
Vehicle density is high in urban areas of Bhutan, including Thimphu. The city public transport services (buses) are inadequate so that use of taxis and private modes of transport (private cars and two wheelers) are increasing. Metropolitan areas have typical characteristics of higher incomes, shorter travel times, and more incentives to improve air quality or reduce CO2 emissions, making them more suitable for EV programs. Thimphu has these characteristics, which, along with its mild climate, make it a good pilot area for testing the new EVs and building a foundation for a cost-effective countrywide roll-out (Zhu, Patella, Steinmetz, & 
Peamsilpakulchorn, 2016). Bhutan plans to make Thimphu - a clean Green Electric city (Tshering, 2014). As of March 2016, 52 Nissan Leaf EVs had been introduced in Bhutan, including 13 for government officials and 39 for general users, most of which in Thimphu (Gross National Happiness Commission, 2016). A quick charging stations on the road between Paro and Thimphu, the two main cities of Bhutan, are available (Tijhuis, n.d.). Moreover, Thimphu municipality plans to build dedicated cycle lanes and tracks around the city, and transforming Thimphu into a bicycle-friendly city (Sundas, 2016).

Waste management
The main challenges in waste management in urban areas in Bhutan (including Thimphu) are illegal dumping of waste (although waste collection services are available) and lack of cooperation in segregation and disposal of waste. Thimphu has piloted evening waste collection services and CCTV surveillance to monitor illegal dumping (Ghalley, 2017). The availability of not enough waste compost plants and landfill sites are also an issue in Thimphu. To tackle this, the city is planning to explore technology either to make composting faster or to establish a bio-gas plant (which requires waste segregation at the source) (Bhutan Times, 2017). Greener Way and Clean City are private companies (outsourced by Thimphu municipality) to manage waste in Thimphu.

factsheets on energy, transport and waste management

The factsheets provide a basic introduction to specific measures in the areas of energy, mobility and waste management, which aims to provide a basket of possible solutions to partner cities.

UP Factsheets

e-learning programme

E-learning programme builds on the toolbox and factsheets and aims to provide a better understanding of possible actions, highlighting the experiences from the implementation of measures in other cities building on the wealth of knowledge of international experts. ​

UP E-Learning

Action Tracker

The Urban Pathways Action Tracker provides an overview of the project’s activities in the cities and reflects on the various action areas. The main objective of this is to share learnings with other cities and identify opportunities for synergies with other projects and initiatives.

UP Action Tracker

capacity building 

The Urban Pathways Conference took place from 16 to 20 October in Berlin, Germany, with the objective to discuss concrete low-carbon energy, mobility and waste-management solutions to deliver on the New Urban Agenda. This event showcased activities of cities working together on sustainable urban development and helped taking this further into a joint program of action. ​

capacity building

change maker programme

The Urban Change Maker Programme actively trains and involves motivated junior and senior experts to contribute our joint effort of delivering on the New Urban Agenda with concepts for low-carbon urban energy, mobility and waste management systems.

Urban Change Maker

City-to-city partnerships

The partner cities will be supported by exchanging ideas with their peers in other cities who have developed successful urban mobility, energy and resource management solutions. This will focus on the story behind the success on governance, finance and regulatory issues. ​

regional replication

Implementation is the main focus of the project. As result of the structured process of the project we will identify feasible urban energy, mobility and resources management options in our partner cities. We work closely with development bank partners and financing sources, such as the Green Climate Fund towards assessments of the feasibility of concrete implementation projects.

policy environment assessment on bhutan

Bhutan is a landlocked developing country, located in South Asia. A population of about 779,666 lives in a total area of 38,394 km2, which makes Bhutan’s population density of 20.3 person per km2 (National Statistics Bureau, 2017). Of the total population, urban population comprises of 39% with annual growth rate of 3.2% recorded in 2016 (World bank, 2018). Thimphu is the country’s capital and accounts for over 30% of its urban population. Other larger cities with above 20,000 people are Phuntsholing, Samdrup Jongkhar and Punakha. 
Bhutan’s economy is based on hydropower, agriculture, and forestry. The country’s GDP per Capita is US$ 2,879.07 and has a GDP growth rate of 7.99% (2016) (National Statistics Bureau, 2017). Gross National Happiness (GNH) is the guiding philosophy of Bhutan’s socio-economic development for the prosperity and happiness of the people in Bhutan, whose main four pillars are: 1. Good governance; 2. Sustainable socio-economic development; 3. Cultural preservation, and 4. Environmental conservation. 

Bhutan intents to maintain its carbon neutrality in 2030. It is constitutional mandate to protect 60% of the land as forest area, which currently covers 70% of the country´s land and provides ecological services.
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• Population: 797.765 (2016) 
• GDP: 2237 billion USD 
• Total Area: 38.394 km2
• CO2 emissions 1.289  (metric tonnes per capita, 2014) 
• Urban population growth of 3.2% (2016) ​

policy development

Policy measures at the local and national level can be critical to the transformation of urban energy, mobility and resource sectors, for example they regulate systems, provide technological standards, generate funding, impose taxes and set policy objectives. As part of the cooperation with the partner cities, Urban Pathways provides on-demand policy advice. 

project development

One of the core objectives is the development and implementation of projects that help decarbonising urban energy, mobility and resource sectors. The projects concepts that are considered to be viable will be later developed into bankable projects for which funding will be sought. ​

funding solutions

An overview of funding solutions is provided in the toolbox. This section includes updates on the specific funding options that are considered for the partner city.  

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Green Climate Fund
The GCF is a global fund that support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change, limiting or reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change. GCF has a multi layered approach to mobilize climate finance, working directly with the public and private sectors. It is important to note that developing countries are in the driving seat of GCF’s targeting and disbursement of climate finance. National Designated Authorities (NDAs) for each developing country act as the country’s interface with the Fund, and are involved closely in all of GCF’s funding processes.

implementation facility

The Implementation Facility coordinates the delivery of the project and creates synergies with other initiatives working in the Urban Pathways areas and regions. The facility focuses on knowledge exchange, co-creation and collaboration with partner projects working in the Urban Pathways cities.  

UP Facility

action plans

The Action Plans summarise key on-going initiatives and identify opportunities for further action with a focus on cross-sectoral synergies and policy interactions between the local and national level. 

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bankable projects

Urban Pathways develops scalable pilot projects in cooperation with the partner cities at a neighbourhood level with an aim to provide a proof of concept of urban energy, mobility and waste management solutions. 
Based on the pilot project demonstrators, larger-scale projects will be developed to utilise the CO2mitigation potential of an integrated urban energy, mobility and resource management approach and seize the opportunities for contributions the Sustainable Development Goals. This will be done in close cooperation with finance partners and will be geared towards the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and similar sources of funding and financing.         

implementation support

The Urban Pathways team actively support partner cities in the implementation of urban energy, mobility and waste management solutions. This support includes activities jointly initiated under this project and other relevant actions currently on-going in the partner cities.