Malaysia announces award winners for Low Carbon Cities Framework Awards 2018

Source: MESTECC. MGTC's CEO, Dr. Mohd Azman (centre) with Diamond Recognition recipients.

The Low Carbon Cities Framework (LCCF) Awards were presented to 12 local authorities and a university in Malaysia this month.

LCCF is a national low carbon framework for cities which was developed by the Malaysia Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), formerly known as the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water Malaysia; and the Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (GreenTech Malaysia) under the Smart Sustainable Cities flagship, to facilitate, guide and assess the development of low carbon cities throughout Malaysia and support its goal of becoming a green nation by 2020.

The LCCF also assists local authorities, developers and universities to achieve low carbon status, providing tools to implement strategies that will reduce their carbon emissions in phases.

Three of the local suthorities received the Diamond Recognition Award at IGEM 2018 in acknowledgement of their efforts in reducing their levels of carbon emission based on their action plans.

At the end of 2017, Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA), Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK) and Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Prai (MPSP) successfully reduced a combined 4,268.15 tCO₂* in emissions. This was achieved through building energy efficiency, waste recycling, providing low carbon mobility solutions and substantive tree planting in their cities.

Provisional Certificate recipients were recognised for fulfilling the baseline assessment within their working systems. Under the stipulations of the certificate, a comprehensive action plan must be developed and then implemented in the next couple of years.

LCCF is a performance-based system that measures a city’s environmental impact. It looks at the total carbon emissions of a city across four key elements; urban infrastructure, urban environment, urban transportation and buildings.

Realising the importance of measuring performance of cities and townships vis a vis CO₂ emission levels of the country, LCCF was established to inspire stakeholders and users to participate in the mitigation of climate change through a real time carbon abatement measure.

For this year’s award recipients at IGEM 2018 are:

LCCF Diamond Recognition

• Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA)

• Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK)

• Majlis Perbandaran Seberan Prai (MPSP)

LCCF Provisional Certificate

• Majlis Perbandaran Bentong

• Majlis Perbandaran Kajang

• Majlis Perbandaran Pasir Gudang

• Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya

• Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat

• Majlis Perbandaran Langkawi

• Majlis Perbandaran Selayang

• Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang

• Majlis Perbandaran Jasin

• UNIMAS, Sarawak

From 2011 till 2018, five local authorities and two universities received the Diamond Recognition award and 19 local authorities and three universities received the Provisional Certificate. As of October 2018, 28 other local authorities have also begun the process of LCCF by attending training and working out the proper structures at the local authority level.

Private developers of townships and industrial parks such as Selangor Bio Bay, Malaysia Vision Valley and Iskandar Halal Park are also beginning to adopt LCCF and move towards low carbon developments.

LCCF aims to get the 52 local authorities from the major urban areas to begin the journey towards low-carbon cities by 2020. This effort will drive Malaysia’s commitment towards reducing our CO₂ emissions intensity of up to 45% by 2030.

The latest IPCC Report has outlined the need for immediate and concrete global action towards reducing CO₂ emissions. The time for action is now and through LCCF, Malaysia has a strong foundation to build on to push towards a low carbon nation.

The award presentation was graced by the Honourable Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Azhar Bin Haji Yahaya, Secretary General, MESTECC. Also, present were Asdirhyme Bin Abdul Rasib, Senior Undersecretary for Energy Sector, MESTECC and Dr Mohd Azman Bin Zainul Abidin, CEO, GreenTech Malaysia.

*TCO2 or total CO₂ is a measure of carbon dioxide that includes CO₂ as we know it as well as CO₂ in other forms including bicarbonate (HCO₃), carbonate (CO₃) and carbonic acid (H₂CO₃).

Low Carbon Cities Framework awards handed out at IGEM 2018

The Low Carbon Cities Framework (LCCF) Awards were presented to 12 local authorities and a university in Malaysia this month at International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia (IGEM). A local authority is a county, city or district public sector organisation in Malaysia.

LCCF is a national low carbon framework for cities which was developed by the Malaysia Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC), formerly known as the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water Malaysia; and the Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (MGTC) under the Smart Sustainable Cities flagship, to facilitate, guide and assess the development of low carbon cities throughout Malaysia and support its goal of becoming a green nation by 2020.

The LCCF also assists local authorities, developers and universities to achieve low carbon status, providing tools to implement strategies that will reduce their carbon emissions in phases.

Three of the local suthorities received the Diamond Recognition Award at IGEM 2018 in acknowledgement of their efforts in reducing their levels of carbon emission based on their action plans.

At the end of 2017, Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA), Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK) and Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Prai (MPSP) successfully reduced a combined 4,268.15 tCO₂* in emissions. This was achieved through building energy efficiency, waste recycling, providing low carbon mobility solutions and substantive tree planting in their cities.

Provisional Certificate recipients were recognised for fulfilling the baseline assessment within their working systems. Under the stipulations of the certificate, a comprehensive action plan must be developed and then implemented in the next couple of years.

LCCF is a performance-based system that measures a city’s environmental impact. It looks at the total carbon emissions of a city across four key elements; urban infrastructure, urban environment, urban transportation and buildings.

Realising the importance of measuring performance of cities and townships vis a vis CO₂ emission levels of the country, LCCF was established to inspire stakeholders and users to participate in the mitigation of climate change through a real time carbon abatement measure.

For this year’s award recipients at IGEM 2018 are:

Source: MGTC. MGTC's CEO, Dr Mohd Azman Bin Zainul Abidin (centre) with Diamond Recognition recipients. The award presentation was also graced by the Honourable Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Azhar Bin Haji Yahaya, Secretary General, MESTECC. Asdirhyme Bin Abdul Rasib, Senior Undersecretary for Energy Sector, MESTECC was also in attendance.

LCCF Diamond Recognition

• Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA)

• Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK)

• Majlis Perbandaran Seberan Prai (MPSP)

LCCF Provisional Certificate

• Majlis Perbandaran Bentong

• Majlis Perbandaran Kajang

• Majlis Perbandaran Pasir Gudang

• Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya

• Majlis Perbandaran Batu Pahat

• Majlis Perbandaran Langkawi

• Majlis Perbandaran Selayang

• Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang

• Majlis Perbandaran Jasin

• UNIMAS, Sarawak

From 2011 till 2018, five local authorities and two universities received the Diamond Recognition award and 19 local authorities and three universities received the Provisional Certificate. As of October 2018, 28 other local authorities have also begun the process of LCCF by attending training and working out the proper structures at the local authority level.

Private developers of townships and industrial parks such as Selangor Bio Bay, Malaysia Vision Valley and Iskandar Halal Park are also beginning to adopt LCCF and move towards low carbon developments.

LCCF aims to get the 52 local authorities from the major urban areas to begin the journey towards low-carbon cities by 2020. This effort will drive Malaysia’s commitment towards reducing our CO₂ emissions intensity of up to 45% by 2030.

The latest IPCC Report has outlined the need for immediate and concrete global action towards reducing CO₂ emissions. The time for action is now and through LCCF, Malaysia has a strong foundation to build on to push towards a low carbon nation.

*TCO2 or total CO₂ is a measure of carbon dioxide that includes CO₂ as we know it as well as CO₂ in other forms including bicarbonate (HCO₃), carbonate (CO₃) and carbonic acid (H₂CO₃).

Eight MDBs to accelerate transport emission mitigation efforts

Eight multilateral development banks (MDBs) today issued a joint statement committing to accelerate their efforts to mitigate transport emissions and recognising the need for more action on the resilience of transport to climate change. The sector accounts for about 60% of global oil consumption, 27% of all energy use, and 23% of world energy-related CO² emissions.

In their statement, the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), and the World Bank (WB) pledged to speed up action on:

- MDBs have recently committed to substantially increase financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation over the next few years. Transport is expected to play a key role in that commitment.

- The MDBs will increase their focus on low-carbon transport solutions and will continue to harmonise tools and metrics to assess transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

- Adaptation: The MDBs will jointly develop a systematic approach to mainstream climate resilience in transport policies, plans and investments.

“We, the multilateral development banks, believe that climate change is a defining challenge of our time. Actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stabilise warming at two degrees Celsius will fall short if they do not include the transport sector. We commit to support countries in the implementation of sustainable transport solutions by providing critically needed financial and technical support to assist them in responding to rising aspirations for greater mobility and connectivity, in a sustainable and resilient way,” said Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Moreno presented the statement on behalf of the eight MDBs during the Transport segment of the Lima Paris Action Agenda. Among the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions submitted as of November 12, 2015, about three quarters explicitly identify the transport sector as a mitigation source, and more than two thirds propose transport sector-specific mitigation measures. In 2012, the MDBs pledged US$175 billion by 2022 in financial resources for more sustainable transport.

“Asia’s burgeoning cities and remote communities alike need low-carbon, climate-resilient transport systems to thrive. ADB will prioritise bus and metro systems in cities, pedestrian and cycle pathways, and long distance railways to reduce emissions and congestion while providing safe and efficient transport in Asia,” said Bambang Susantono, ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development.

"Supporting our member countries to develop efficient transport systems that are climate smart and resilient is a major goal for us. We will work together with other MDBs to ensure that we come up with innovative solutions that will help reduce carbon emissions,” said Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of IsDB.

"Transport must be a significant piece of the climate solution. We have the opportunity to transform transportation services so they are low-carbon and resilient to climate impacts. Now is the time to turn our commitments into action and we stand ready to work with countries as they develop low carbon and climate-resilient transport activities,” said Laura Tuck, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development.

posted from Bloggeroid

Identify the greenest hotels in the world with GreenHotelWorld

Source: GreenHotelWorld website.

Through a recent partnership with TripAdvisor, GreenHotelWorld has integrated green hotels included in the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders Program to claim the largest collection of certified, verified green hotels on one hotel platform.

GreenHotelWorld filters more than 8,000 green hotels worldwide based on their certified and verified green practices. GreenHotelWorld has systemised the standards introduced by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) to determine its green practices categorisation. The GSTC serves as the international body for establishing and managing standards for sustainable tourism and is recognised as the accreditation body for green hotel certification labels.

“There are many green hotel certification labels with different focus, quality and credibility out there,” said Robert Boer, founder of GreenHotelWorld. “Our Green Rating algorithm helps.. to search and filter through these labels and select hotels based on their certified and verified green practices.”

In addition, the platform proposes 124,000+ low cost guarantee non-green hotels that are rendered carbon neutral for travellers through a free integrated service that offsets CO2 emissions created by hotel stays*. GreenHotelWorld commits to offsetting 26.6kg of C02 emissions for overnight hotel stays.

GreenHotelWorld has partnered with myclimate, one of the world’s leading providers of voluntary carbon offsetting measures, to calculate and offset the CO2 emissions of user bookings. “At the end of each year, myclimate will audit our bookings and determine if we have compensated sufficiently based on our estimated average of 26.6 kg per overnight stay,” said Boer. “We are really happy with the projects myclimate has selected for us in India, Kenya and Nicaragua because they combine CO2 offset with poverty alleviation.”

At GreenHotelWorld.com, companies can filter search results by a hotel’s verified green practices such as the protection of the environment, social responsibility, support for local economy and/or preservation of cultural heritage. Free CSR reporting for businesses is provided along with customised pages online for special events and conferences for attendees, in which carbon neutral hotels are proposed and tracked for CSR reporting.

“We aim to educate and empower our customers to be part of the transition to a sustainable economic model. Why should the consumer pay to offset the carbon emissions of a service sold to them by a travel company?” said Willem Blom, co-founder and Head, Business Development and Partnerships, GreenHotelWorld.

“Our goal is to make green travelling the new status quo and that next to location, price and availability, the hotel’s green practices become as important,” added Jonas Casanova, who leads the technology team at GreenHotelWorld. “We want to appeal to all eco-conscious business and private travellers in the world to become our ambassadors, fans, followers and customers to make this green impact together.”

*One overnight hotel stay produces an estimated 20.6kg of CO2 emissions in “non-green” hotels. This is called a CO2 footprint (United Nations World Tourism Organization). 

Environmentally friendly GROHE smart water system growing in popularity in Asia

Source: GROHE. The GROHE Blue system in action.

The GROHE Blue smart water system has seen significant takeup in Asia since a May 2014 study* which found that its carbon footprint is smaller than that of bottled mineral water. 

Estimated greenhouse gas emissions were 17.96 g CO2-eq/litre for the GROHE Blue system against emissions of 70 to 600 g CO2-eq/litre for bottled mineral water, depending on the type of packaging and the place of origin. The values achieved by GROHE Blue are also lower than those of conventional water dispensers, which range from about 35 to 50 g CO2-eq/litre. This means that GROHE Blue allows users to save greenhouse gas emissions of at least 25 to 50% over other alternatives. 

The system supplies filtered and chilled water in three different variants - sparkling, medium and still - directly from the same custom kitchen faucet, allowing different users in an organisation to enjoy their preferred type of water at any time. Unlike typical office potable water arrangements, no bottles have to be filled, transported or recycled in order to obtain the three types of water from a GROHE Blue system, which adds to its environmental friendliness.

Dorit Grueber, GROHE’s Vice President (Marketing), Asia, noted that Asian businesses are becoming more green and are attracted to GROHE Blue especially in matured markets, where their employees are more time-strapped.

There is definitely an increasing trend as consumers become more environmentally conscious," she said, naming Vodafone and Miele as customers of the product. "Since the publication of the study, we’ve seen a significant increase in orders that have been recorded, especially in the B2B sector. The main attraction for GROHE Blue for businesses would be the convenience of getting filtered water straight from the faucet, and an outstanding design which combines pure drinking water and washing water in a single faucet."

*The May 2014 study was carried out by the Production and Logistics Chair of GeorgAugust University in Göttingen in cooperation with Grohe. Between July and November 2013, the scientists of Göttingen University compared the carbon footprint of one litre of water tapped from the GROHE Blue system with the footprint of one litre of bottled water. The scenario was based on the assumption of 30 users per day who drink one litre of bottled water on 220 days of the year over a period of five years. The calculation of the carbon footprint covered all five lifecycles of GROHE Blue and of bottled mineral water, which range from production and transport of the raw materials as well as transport of the finished product to consumption and disposal.