MINSK, 18 February (BelTA) – The United Nations Development Program will keep promoting more economically efficient and environmentally friendly use of unique features of Belarus' small and medium-sized towns, UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus Alexandra Solovieva told reporters reviewing the results of the Tenth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF10) that took place in Abu Dhabi in February, BelTA has learned.
“The UNDP helps highlight the unique features of Belarusian provincial towns and make the most of their economic and environmental potential in the interests of local communities. We are promoting instruments to converge urban heritage, culture, local economic needs, environmental priorities and low-carbon development and to adapt them to the climate change with a view to achieving sustainable development and prosperity of urban communities,” Alexandra Solovieva said.
She noted that the World Urban Forum discussed the paths to sustainable urban development, including the need for coherent implementation of the New Urban Agenda and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement. Top on the agenda were innovative solutions in urban planning, management and infrastructure development, financing mechanisms for sustainable cities, building capacities of cities as open investment Empowering cities as open investment platforms to harness enabling business and regulatory environments.
“The UNDP is actively involved in these areas of activity and supports governments, municipal authorities and other stakeholders in their efforts to improve governance, protect environment, promote social equality and develop financial instruments to facilitate sustainable urban development. The concept of smart, green cities seeks to address a variety of issues. Thus, the instruments suggested by the UNDP in Belarus are based on comprehensive approaches. They provide for reducing carbon emissions, increasing energy efficiency and improving the quality of life,” she said.
As part of the GEF-UNDP program “Improving energy efficiency in residential buildings in the Republic of Belarus”, Belarus' first energy-efficient houses were built for 433 families in Minsk, Mogilev and Grodno. “Innovative engineering systems allow cutting energy consumption for heating purposes 3-3.5 times, and energy consumption for hot water provision 2.5-3 times. The transition to the construction of such buildings will save money spent on imported fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions in the housing sector by more than 130,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents annually. The EU-UNDP project “Energy efficiency in schools” helped introduce innovative technology at four educational institutions of Belarus. This technology allows cutting energy consumption nearly two times. The project “Supporting Green Urban Development in Small and Medium-Sized Cities in Belarus” (Green Cities) is implemented in several pilot towns. The project generates lifetime direct and indirect carbon emission reductions of more than 91,000 tonnes.
According to Alexandra Solovieva, the UNDP experts help a number of towns, including Baranovichi, Pruzhany, Liozno, Mstislavl and Slavgorod, develop action plans as part of the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
