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VN to hosts 12th Inter-gov Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum

VGP – The 12th Intergovernmental Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia themed "Achieving Smart and Resilient City through Low Carbon and Intelligent Transport System" will take place in Ha Noi from October 28-31.

October 03, 2019 1:37 PM GMT+7

The event will be co-organized by the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Construction, Ha Noi Municipal People's Committee of Viet Nam; Ministry of the Environment of the Government of Japan (MOE-Japan); the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP); and the United Nations Centre for Regional Development of Division for Sustainable Development Goals/ UN DESA.

The Form will be supported by Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation, Asia Pacific Natural Gas Vehicles Association, Bus World Academy, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Eco-Mo Foundation, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), International Union of Railways (UIC), Liechtenstein Institute for Strategic Development, Research for Community Access Partnership (ReCAP), 100 Resilient Cities, SAFER-Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre, Wuppertal Institute, United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC), University of Gothenburg, Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Walk21, WRI India, the World Bank (WB), among others.

In an era of unprecedented urbanization, many Asian cities are facing a range of socioeconomic and environmental problems, such as traffic congestion, air pollution and related health impacts, traffic accidents and fatalities, rising GHG emissions, and the growing impact of climate change and noise pollution, among others, which are often attributed to unsustainable urban planning, design and development.

The major challenge for Asian cities has been how to manage the enormous growth in demand for urban passenger and freight transport within the constraints of current infrastructure and city development.

There is a global consensus that the way the towns and cities are designed and how they function needs to be reconsidered in the context of achieving the SDGs, in particular SDG 11 -- make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

It will also be important to integrate transport and land development planning to unlock new opportunities for funding.

Efforts to achieve smart and resilient cities would not only improve the urban mobility but also could significantly contribute to the objectives of the inter-linked and mutually-reinforcing 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement, the New Urban Agenda, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Nairobi Mandate and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA).

At the same time, the Paris Agreement on climate change calls for intensifying actions and investments in a sustainable and low-carbon future to limit the average global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.

The aim of the Forum is to provide policy, technological, and institutional insights into how Asian EST member countries and cities can advance low carbon and intelligent transport system development in achieving the international agendas and agreements by bringing transformational changes in urban development./.

By Kim Anh