GEF to develop smart city projects in India

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) will launch pilot projects in four Indian cities aimed at promoting green project development in urban areas.

An agreement was reached on Friday during a meeting between the visiting CEO and Chairperson of GEF, Naoko Ishii (pictured) and Indian Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu.

High on the agenda was regional initiatives in the urban including the 100 Smart Cities project and proposed infrastructure development in 500 cities.

The GEF is also looking to partner governments in the region to support sustainable urban management practices.

Naidu detailed a range of schemes and objectives which include enabling inclusive and sustainable urban development.

Naidu proposed that the GEF could develop pilot projects for demonstrating comprehensive and sustainable urban practices including conservation and energy efficiency, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The four selected cities for the pilot projects will be identified after further consultations between GEF and the Ministry.

The GEF is a financial mechanism to support countries in efforts to achieve various environmental targets of the United Nations covering climate change, biodiversity, Ozone layer depletion and land degradation.

The GEF is also working on an Integrated Programme on sustainable cities to develop conceptual models on integrated urban design, planning and management for resilient and sustainable development.

The Global Environment Facility was established in October 1991 as a US$1 billion pilot programme in the World Bank to assist in the protection of the global environment and to promote environmental sustainable development.

Since 1991, the GEF has provided $13.5 billion in grants and leveraged $65 billion in co-financing for 3,900 projects in more than 165 developing countries.

The GEF is a partnership for international cooperation where 183 countries work together with international institutions, civil society organisations and the private sector, to address global environmental issues.