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| 2nd High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities |
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 The 2nd High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (HLS ESC), organised by the Governments of Japan, Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand, was held in Kitakyushu City, Japan on 15 - 16 March 2011 under the framework of the East Asia Environment Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM). The Seminar was chaired by Prof. Hironori Hamanaka, Chair, Board of Directors, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Japan.
The Seminar brought together about 140 participants consisting of representatives from 12 national governments, 19 local governments and 18 organisations for information exchange, knowledge sharing and frank discussion on the agenda of sustainable city development.
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15 - 16 March, 2011 |
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Kitakyushu International Conference Centre, Kitakyushu City, Japan |
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East Asia Summit Environment Ministers Meeting (EAS EMM) |
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Ministry of the Environment of Japan; Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Australia; Ministry of Environment, Cambodia; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Malaysia; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand |
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United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Kitakyushu City, Japan |
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Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Institute(CSIRO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA);, Promotion Council for the Low-Carbon Cities(PCLCC), Japan |
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Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) |
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Japanese & English (Simultaneous interpretation provided on Day 1) |
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 For documents and materials, please visit the 2nd HLS ESC website |
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Summary
After observing one minute of silence for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region in Japan, Mr. Hikaru Kobayashi, Senior Counsellor (former Vice Minister) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, Deputy Director General of the Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Thailand, as well as Mr. Kenji Kitahashi, the Mayor of Kitakyushu City, delivered opening remarks at the Opening Session. Participants also witnessed the signing of an agreement to build a Strategic Environmental Partnership between City of Kitakyushu, Japan and City of Surabaya, Indonesia.
The highlights of the Seminar included a keynote presentation by Mr. Kobayashi on Japan's actions towards the creation of low-carbon societies and reports of progress made by national governments on developing ESC, as well as environmental commitments presented by local governments.
As a follow-up of the recommendations made by the Chair's Summary of the previous HLS ESC, which was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, the secretariat of the seminar, IGES, and the ASEAN Working Group on ESC jointly presented a proposed ESC Model Cities Programme in ASEAN countries, which is anticipated to be initiated in April 2011. Subsequently, organisations from the global development community responded with expressions of support for the reported initiatives and efforts. In addition, four Thematic Sessions were held to discuss critical issues of sustainable urban development.
The Seminar concluded with the adoption of a Chair's Summary which renewed participants' commitment to fostering ESC in the region. It also reaffirmed the benefits provided by an occasion like the HLS ESC as a broad platform for knowledge sharing, networking and mutual learning among all relevant stakeholders, with the anticipation of the organising of the 3rd HLS ESC in 2012, and noted the offer of Cambodia to host the event, subject to national clearance.
IGES plans to report the outputs of the 2nd HLS ESC to the upcoming Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on ESC which is planned to be held in May 2011 in Yangon, Myanmar, as well as the 3rd EAS EMM.
For documents and materials of the 2nd HLS ESC, please visit http://www.hls-esc.org |
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