Specialists and policy-makers from Japan, Cambodia, the U.S., ASEAN member countries and Vietnam gathered in Hanoi on March 3 to join the opening ceremony of the 7th High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (ESC).
During the two-day meeting, delegates will discuss and share experience to help member nations launch effective activities in establishing and maintaining a sustainable city network of the region.
They will discuss new orientations for activities to cope with issues, such as environmental pollution, climate change, biodiversity, water supply and health.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan said the seminar, the seventh of its kind, takes place following an array of the world’s important events relating to environmental protection and sustainable development.
He cited the Paris Agreement reached by 195 nations at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris late last year as an example.
Over the past years, a number of Vietnamese cities have joined the ASEAN ESC Model Cities Program and three of them have received the ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable Cities Award, including Ha Long in northern Quang Ninh province, Da Nang and Hue in the central region.
With the support of the Global Environment Fund, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is teaming up with the Asian Development Bank to set up a project on sustainable cities in an effort to strengthen institutional capacity and policies to address challenges regarding environmental pollution and climate change in urban areas.
