The two-day conference on Green Cities – ‘Leveraging Regional Cooperation & Integration for a Green Growth Cities Network in Asean’ was held in Melaka, Malaysia on the 5th and 6th of September, 2017.
The event, organised by ICLEI and Asian Development Bank (ADB), focused on sharing experiences from the development and implementation of Green City Action Plans, and on the need for ensuring green growth and sustainable development in the ASEAN region.
The conference was supported by the State Government of Melaka, Melaka Green Technology Corporation and Center for IMT-GT Regional Cooperation.
Mr. Emani Kumar, Deputy Secretary General, ICLEI, indicated that several cities and programs have paved the path to resilient development from the South and South East Asia region. He further said that it is now the responsibility of partners to showcase these success stories and work towards furthering green growth in the region.
In the session on Sustainable Transportation, the case was made for enhancing the livability of cities through adoption of sustainable transport principles – pedestrianisation, enhancing public transport, providing alternate modes of transit are some of the concepts discussed in the context of Melaka’s potential to transform into a people-friendly city.
The importance of energy efficiency initiatives in ensuring low emission development in the region was showcased through several initiatives undertaken and supported by the Melaka State Government.
The role of private sector engagement in scaling-up energy efficiency initiatives was discussed through the example of building energy efficiency initiatives undertaken by the State through Energy Performance Contracting.
The key-note speakers and plenary discussions reiterated the need for encouraging and supporting the implementation of Green Cities Action Plan in the ASEAN region, focusing specifically on the BIMP-EAGA countries.
Representatives of Green Growth Asia and ICLEI pledged their technical support to the development of such a network. The Asia Development bank also expressed their interest in supporting such an initiative.
