Kuching North Datuk Bandar shares climate change initiatives at forum in Seoul

KUCHING (Sept 27): Kuching North Datuk Bandar Hilmy Othman presented Kuching city’s actions on climate change during the Global Health Leaders’ Forum at the 10th Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, held in Seoul.

Hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan government, the international event with the theme ‘Smarter and Healthier Cities for a Better Future’ attracted more than 1,000 delegates from around 200 communities worldwide, according to a press release.

The conference, taking place from Sept 25 to 27, serves as a platform for cities committed to promoting urban health and sustainable development.

The Alliance for Healthy Cities has 189 member cities across nine countries and 51 affiliate organisations.

Additionally, the conference facilitates the exchange of experiences in healthy city projects, promotes the implementation and innovation of such initiatives, and provides technical advice on fostering healthy city environments.

During the conference, Hilmy highlighted North Kuching’s efforts in combating climate change and promoting sustainable urban development.

“The Sarawak government is committed to introducing hydrogen-powered Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) to reduce air pollution caused by fossil-fuel vehicles,” he said.

Hilmy also spoke about the city’s Low Carbon City Masterplan 2025-2030 and the city’s focus on community engagement through Friendly Neighbourhoods initiatives, encouraging residents to adopt and practice low-carbon lifestyles.

Additionally, he emphasised the city’s adoption of ISO 14001: Environmental Management System (EMS) and ISO 50001: Energy Management System (EnMS) standards, along with its Zero Waste strategy, which promotes 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) initiatives.

This year’s conference focused on three key sub-themes: creating a roadmap for smart, healthy cities through true connectivity and collaboration; building sustainable and resilient healthy cities for the future; as well as individuals’ commitment and initiatives for promoting health equity in cities.

The Global Conference is held every two years, with the next host city selected by member votes. The previous conference in 2021, held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was hosted by Hong Kong.