Mr. Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, Chairman of the Asian Council on Water, Energy and Environment (ACWEE) from Nepal, who chaired and moderated the session, reported that the program kicked off with his opening remarks and brief acknowledgment of the participants. This was followed by theme paper presentation by Mr. Pradhan. […]
History of the Asian Council on Water, Energy and Environment (ACWEE)
With the region’s rapid development and economic growth in recent years, coupled with the continuing expansion of its population, CACCI believes that effective management and maximum utilization of limited resources have become all the more important. Numerous challenges are faced by countries in the region in the sustainable extraction of such resources as water, arable land, forests, fish population, and deposits of oil, gas and minerals.
CACCI has therefore organized the Asian Council on Water, Energy and Environment (ACWEE) to provide members a forum for examining collaborative approaches to effective resource allocation and management which minimize environmental costs and provide incentives to businesses and local communities to achieve sustainable use of resources
Activities
The establishment of the ACWEE was endorsed by the 79th CACCI Council Meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey on March 7, 2011. Mr. Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, Executive Chairman of Hydro Solutions from Nepal, was subsequently designated as Chairman of ACCC.
The ACWEE held its first breakout session on October 3, 2012 in Kathmandu, Nepal in conjunction with the 26th CACCI Conference. The second breakout session of the ACWEE was held on March 15, 2013 in Cebu, Philippines in conjunction with the 27th CACCI Conference. The third breakout session was held on 19 September 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in conjunction with the 28th CACCI Conference.
During these breakout sessions, members discussed and shared information on the current state of the water, energy and environment sector in Asia and in their respective countries, as well as explored possible areas of cooperation in the sector among CACCI member countries. They also exchanged views on activities that the ACWEE can undertake in the area of training, membership expansion, and networking activities.
This is the list of past ACWEE meetings:
* Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Meeting, September 19, 2014 * Cebu, the Philippines Meeting, March 15, 2013 * Kathmandu, Nepal Meeting, October 3, 2012
Mr. Pradhan in his theme paper presentation provided a snapshot of the energy scenario in the Asia Pacific countries. Appraising Asia Pacific as a rich region in natural resources, he pointed out the region’s vulnerability to the negative effects of climate change and environmental calamities. He emphasized the need to recognize the fact that most of the environmental issues of the Asia Pacific region are inextricably linked, and working to ameliorate one will often have added benefits for the others. He advocated for collaborative approaches to effective resource allocation and management in order to minimize environmental costs and reiterated the need to provide incentives to businesses and local communities to achieve sustainable use of resources.
Mr. Pradhan’s presentation was followed by presentations on topics covering environmental sustainability in the region by selected key speakers from CACCI member countries. The key speakers included Mr. Albert Poon, Rotary Water Project from Hong Kong and Mr. Jesus G. Reyes, Assistant Vice President, Nestle Philippines Inc. and Co-Chair, PCCI Environment Committee.
Mr. Poon shared his experiences on a number of water service projects in China and presented on how techniques such as rain water harvesting can help provide an independent water supply to supplement the main supply during water restrictions or in areas of water deficiencies. He emphasized on the application of rainwater harvesting in urban water system to provide a substantial benefit for both water supply and waste water subsystems by reducing the need for clean water in water distribution system. He emphasized on the need to explore water resources for communities citing examples of rotary projects that have provided clean drinking water to schools.
Mr. Reyes presented the issues of environmental sustainability drawing experiences of Philippine businesses. He also presented his views on the experience and policies of the Philippines with respect to climate change and mitigating its impacts on the environment and on business.
