STUDY: WHICH IS THE GREENEST CITY IN ASIA?

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, June 30 (Bernama) -– Which is the greenest city in Asia? The answer to this question will only be known by the end of this year when the Asian Green City Index is out.

Siemens and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) announced Wednesday that
they
are conducting an environmental performance study on 20 leading Asian cities
from 11 countries.

The countries are China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the
Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

In a statement released in conjunction with the on-going World Cities Summit
here, Siemens said the cities would be compared in terms of their environmental
sustainability.

The cities will be assessed in eight environmental categories: energy supply
and CO2 emissions, transportation, buildings and land use, water, sanitation,
waste, air quality and green governance.


“With the Asian Green City Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit and
Siemens are covering new ground. So far, no other study of this scope has been
done for Asia,” said Stefan Denig, who is leading this project at Siemens.

The study will be part of the Green City Index series, which sets out
to compare the environmental performance of cities in different regions of the
world.

Following the success of the European Green City Index, a study comparing
the environmental performance of 30 major cities from 30 European countries,
Siemens is now sponsoring similar studies for Asia, Africa and Latin America.

“The results of the study will help the cities to better understand and
tackle their specific environmental challenges,” said Lothar Herrmann, chief
executive officer, Asean Cluster, Siemens.

It would enable city stakeholders to make more informed decisions about how
to reduce their environmental impact by for example, making their power
supplies, traffic systems and buildings more energy-efficient and eco-friendly,
he added.

-– BERNAMA