ADB, Beijing university set up climate change knowledge hub

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday October 26, 2006

Manila- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Friday it has tied up with Beijing's Tsinghua University to establish a regional knowledge hub on climate change. The Manila-based ADB said the knowledge hub aims "to support and strengthen research and disseminate new and emerging concepts and technologies."

The hub was launched on the sidelines of the opening day of the Carbon Expo Asia, an ADB-supported trade fair and conference, in Beijing, the bank said in a statement.

Bindu Lohani, director general of ADB's Regional and Sustainable Development Department, said the hub was set up to address the threat posed by climate change to the world.

He said the ADB was working with its members "to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and identify new approaches to energy efficiency and renewable energy, through both financial assistance and knowledge dissemination."

"Tsinghua was chosen to host the regional knowledge hub because it has developed an integrated award-winning approach to addressing energy, environment, and economy, which provides it with a platform for international cooperation on the issue," Lohani added.

The ADB said the climate change knowledge hub would undertake research and disseminate new concepts on climate change to ADB's development member countries and other stake holders in the region.

It would also build research capacity to create knowledge on climate change and liaise with academic, research and relevant scientific and technical institutions, private sector and civil society.

The hub is also envisioned to design specific products and events that disseminate knowledge, such as a web site, workshops and training courses.

The climate change knowledge hub is one of four to be set up with the backing of the ADB. In August, a hub on reduce, reuse and recycle was jointly established by the ADB and other international organizations in Bangkok.

Earlier this year, a hub on clean energy was set up in India's Energy and Resources Institute and one on public finance at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency