The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal Frans Timmermans has recently announced the start of a new EU-funded “Smart Green ASEAN Cities” programme, following his meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi, at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

The programme will support 10 ASEAN cities to exchange best practices among them and with European cities as part of a stronger EU-ASEAN green partnership.

It is important that cities, which face huge challenges, get the opportunity to also find solutions, Frans Timmermans stated.

“The sustainability of our cities is based on the possibility to change the energy mix, to change the way public transport is organised, and to improve rapidly waste treatment and waste management,” he added.

ASEAN cities are currently home to over 300 million people, and in the next 15 years, another 100 million people are expected to live in urban areas. To improve the quality of life for citizens, Smart Green ASEAN Cities will promote more sustainable urbanisation while reducing environmental and carbon footprints. It will support ASEAN member states to anticipate the substantial pressure from the high urbanisation rates by focusing on green and smart solutions through digitalisation and the use of technologies.

The approximately 5 million EUR (5.8 million USD) grant under Smart Green ASEAN Cities is part of the EU-ASEAN green partnership, which also addresses forest governance, biodiversity conservation and management of protected areas, sustainable use of peat lands, support to farmers’ organisations, haze mitigation and emergency response mechanisms.

Source: VNA