..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date: 19 June 2009
Press Release No: G/43.2009

Low-carbon development models can lead future economic growth in Asia-Pacific region

UN-sponsored forum brought policymakers, experts and mayors together

Bangkok (UN/ESCAP Information Services) -- Development models emphasizing low carbon emissions, saving energy and greater investment in energy infrastructures are gaining acceptance around the Asia-Pacific region and may lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, according to a meeting co-organized by the United Nations.

The Asia-Pacific Forum on Low Carbon Economy wrapped its deliberations today in Beijing after more than 300 participants examined the trends and potential of low-carbon development in China and other parts of the region.

"We believe that low-carbon development is an effective way to tackle the seeming impasse between energy security and climate change, and could be the only way to decouple economic growth and environmental degradation and to pursue long-term sustainable development,” Shaoyi Li, Chief of the Energy Security Section at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), told the forum.

Although industrialization has created considerable material wealth – lifting more than 600 million people out of poverty in the Asia-Pacific region – it has come at the expense of a drastic consumption of natural resources.

Yu Qun, the mayor of Baoding, China, told the meeting that despite gains over the years from rapid economic growth, “We have had to shut over 700 small businesses due to the pollution that has killed all the fish in the city’s main lake, [causing] us to rethink our development plans."

The forum follows the G20 Summit on the global financial crisis earlier this year where world leaders acknowledged the importance and urgency of dealing with climate change, and stressed the strategic significance of low-carbon economic development as the path toward an ecologic civilization.

Participants at the forum considered steps such as research on the low carbon economy concept, setting or amending targets to promote the development of renewable energy, and intensifying cooperation on energy savings and emissions reduction.

They also encouraged wider adaptation of energy-saving products in industry, transportation and buildings through economic and fiscal incentives, and called for focus on constructing a sustainable energy supply system in the region, increased investment in energy infrastructure, support for a regional energy partnership, a reduction in the population with no access to electricity, and improvement in the region’s energy services.

The forum was organized by ESCAP in partnership with the National Development and Reform Commission of China and WWF.

For more information please contact:

Mr. Shaoyi Li
Chief, Energy Security Section, Environment and Development Division
ESCAP
+66 (0)2 288 1546
Lis@un.org

Mr. Bentley Jensen
Public Information Officer
ESCAP
+66 (0)2 288 1869
jenson@un.org or unisbkk.unescap@un.org

Mr. Eric Roeder
Communication Officer
UNAPCAEM
eric@unapcaem.org