UNDP COMMITS US$30 MLN FOR ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY PROJECTS IN MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 (Bernama) -- The United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) has committed US$30 million worth of funds to assist environment and
energy projects in Malaysia.

Its Assistant Resident Representative, Senior Programme Manager
(Environment and Energy), Asfaazam Kasbani said one of the latest environment
and energy projects in which UNDP is assisting is the implementation of energy
efficiency system in government buildings which will likely start in 2011 and
end by 2015.

Kasbani said UNDP will assist with US$5 million for the energy efficiency
systems in government buildings.

Other environment and energy projects UNDP is helping with include the
building of integrated solar photovoltaic system and in renewable projects such
as biogas and biomass.

"There is still more to be done to encourage renewable energy in Malaysia,"
Kasbani said at the sidelines of a presentation here on "The Economics of
Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review", jointly organised
by the UNDP and Asian Development Bank.

Kasbani said the policy on renewable energy needed to be strengthened to
ecourage the progress of the industry in Malaysia. "There are also not enough
pilot projects on renewable energy," Kasbani added.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Chief Economist of ADB, Dr Juzhong Zhuang said ADB
encouraged development of energy efficiency projects in developing countries
within Asia and it had a target of US$2 billion in financial assistance for such
projects within Asia.

He said climate change will be one significant developmental challenge
Southeast Asia will confront in the 21st century, pointing out that the
frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have increased in recent
decades.

According to Dr Juzhong: "If the world continues with 'business as usual',
the South East Asia region could experience combined damages equivalent to more
than six percent of their countries' annual gross domestic product by the end of
this century, dwarfing the costs of the current financial crisis."

However, there are a series of cost-effective measures that can help
countries protect themselves from the worst effects of climate change, he said.

They include improving water management, enhancing irrigation systems,
introducing new crop varieties, safeguarding forests, and supporting the
construction of protective sea walls.
-- BERNAMA