Making cities sustainable is imperative: Aus high commissioner

Making cities sustainable is imperative and the government and community collaboration is essential to make that happen, Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu said in a statement.

Speaking at a summit organised by the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council, Sidhu said the government had an important role, but it needs the combined effort of the private sector and the academia.

"Research institutions, such as UNSW and GRIHA Council, help in connecting and incentivising government to make the enormous contribution to this goal of sustainable urban future," she was quoted by a statement of GRIHA as saying.

"Making cities sustainable is imperative, and government and community collaboration is essential to make that happen," she said.

During his welcome speech, Ajay Mathur, DG, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), said, "India and Australia are the two countries which share the same climate. But Australia is the only country with the similar climate that has an active energy-efficiency programme.

"This, therefore, provides a huge amount of potential for collaborative learning as India moves to a future where we see a lot more planned habitats and air-conditioned buildings," Mathur said.

Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council is an independent, not-for-profit society jointly set up by TERI and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to promote and administer green buildings in India.