Skip to main content

Bangkok - 03 Jul 2015

News Number: G/30/2015

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Kazakhstan today signed an agreement to support sustainable development through programmes that promote low-carbon green growth in both Europe and throughout Asia and the Pacific.

Through implementation of the Astana Green Bridge Initiative (AGBI) and the Green Bridge Partnership Programme (GBPP), ESCAP will leverage its experience in regional capacity building, promotion of low-carbon green growth, and collaboration with other UN agencies and regional organizations to assist member States. The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan will engage with ministries of other country partners in mobilizing resources from the public and private sectors.

Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, noted that the commitments by the Government of Kazakhstan through the AGBI and GBPP re-affirmed the importance of regional action to achieve sustainable development.

With the signing of the agreement, ESCAP and Kazakhstan committed to develop a three-year action plan of joint activities and programmes to promote technology transfer, knowledge sharing and investments towards development of green economies. Additional activities include replication of best practices among member States.

The Astana Green Bridge Initiative, the only partnership of its kind welcomed in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) outcome document ‘The Future We Want, seeks to promote green economic development by linking the European and Asia-Pacific regions in partnership and leveraging green economic growth. This approach was welcomed by the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific in 2010. To operationalize and implement AGBI the Green Bridge Partnership Programme was endorsed in 2011 by the Seventh Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference.

Print this article

Media Enquiries

Communications and Knowledge Management Section +66 2288 1869 [email protected]