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Promote low-carbon/low-pollution society

Project Name Regional EST Forum in Asia (498KB)
Location Asian region
Project Background The Asian region has witnessed extraordinarily rapid urbanization in recent years. Without major efforts to address air pollution and green house gases (GHGs) from the transportation sector, growing vehicle ownership and usage in developing countries, growing accidents, and the trend of urbanization would undermine human health, urban environmental quality, economic productivity, social equity, and all other aspects of sustainability. With an understanding that efforts to promote environmentally sustainable transport (EST) will result not only in the improvement of human health through the reduction of urban air pollution but will also have important complimentary benefits, including the reduction of GHG emissions, deaths and injuries from road accidents, harmful noise levels, and traffic congestion levels, the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) and the Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, has jointly organized the "Regional EST Forum in Asia" since 2005. The Regional EST Forum comprises: (1) high-level government representatives (from the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Health); and (2) a subsidiary group of experts in various thematic areas related to EST.
Objectives The objectives of the Regional EST Forum in Asia are as follows:
  • Facilitate policy dialogues and provide a strategy for sharing best practices, policy instruments, tools, technologies, in relations to various aspects of EST among Asian countries
  • In consultation with the subsidiary expert groups, facilitate and provide necessary advisory support for the formulation of national EST strategies and action plans on EST for selected countries
  • Support the implementation of the action plans into practice through the participation of international organizations and international development and donor agencies
  • Help establish linkages with other ongoing regional and international activities/initiatives in promoting EST
Intergrated EST Strategy
Member Countries 10 ASEAN Countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam), 8 SACEP Countries (South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme) (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), China, Japan, Republic of Korea, and Mongolia (alphabetical order)
Project Achievements The Regional EST Forum in Asia has been held five times, since the first forum held in Nagoya, Japan, in August 2005. As major outcomes of the past Forums, the Aichi Statement (2005), the Kyoto Declaration (2007) and the Seoul Statement (2009) have been adopted for the promotion of EST in Asia. At the Fifth Regional EST Forum in Asia, recently held in Bangkok, Thailand from 23 to 25 August 2010, around 200 participants including senior government officials (mostly from Environment and Transport Ministries) from 22 Asian countries, representatives from international organizations, bilateral and multilateral agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and research organizations, and sustainable transport experts were in attendance. The major achievements of the Forum are as follows:
  • The high-level representatives from 22 Asian countries participated in the Forum shared and discussed the progress and achievement on EST in their countries including best practices and successful policy instruments in promoting environmentally sustainable transport.
  • The participants discussed innovative approaches and best practices at local and national level in the areas of partnerships, urban and regional rail, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), fuel efficiency, and freight transport.
  • The participating countries of the Forum discussed and agreed on a voluntary declaration, "Bangkok Declaration for 2020 - Sustainable Transport Goals for 2010-2020", in order to demonstrate the renewed interest and commitment of Asian countries towards realizing a promising decade (2010-2020) of environmentally sustainable transport. This good-will Declaration is expected to influence the decisions of governments and various transport stakeholders in the region over the next decade.

The Fifth Regional EST Forum in Asia
The Fifth Regional EST Forum in Asia
Efforts towards EST in Asia
Efforts towards EST in Asia
Progress of the Regional EST Forum in Asia
Progress of the Regional EST Forum in Asia
Planned Activities The Sixth Regional EST Forum will be held in India in the second half of 2011.
Project Partners United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)
United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP)
World Health Organization (WHO)
German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Center
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)
International Association of Public Transport (UITP)
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
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