New projects launched to develop green industry policy

The authorities have launched new projects to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices across the industry sector in Laos.
The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is supporting the ‘Laos Green Industry Policy’ project to develop this policy and enable work to be carried out in the field of industrial energy efficiency by government officials and the private sector.
In parallel, the Green Climate Fund has provided a readiness grant for ‘Market Preparation for Industrial Energy Efficiency in Laos’, an 18-month programme with GGGI as the delivery partner.
Under the project, policy gaps for a greener and more efficient energy industrial sector will be addressed, an action plan for private investments in the industrial energy sector will be developed, sectoral expertise will be improved, and stakeholders including the private sector will be engaged and effectively coordinated.
In the medium term, the project will scale-up private sector investments in industrial energy efficiency. Longer-term impacts include lower energy intensity of industries, reduced emissions from industries, and a shift of the industry sector to a low emission sustainable development pathway.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Global Green Growth Institute signed an agreement to officially launch the project on Tuesday.
It was inked by GGGI Laos Deputy Country Representative, Mr Christophe Assicot, and the Deputy Director General of the ministry’s Industry and Handicraft Department, Mr Somphong Soulivanh.
The first Steering Committee Meeting of the project for the planning and programming of energy efficiency investments in the industrial sector also took place. Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Mr Somchit Inthamit, co-chaired the meeting.
Mr Assicot said “These projects will accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices across the industry sector in Laos and, as such, they are also important steps towards a green and resilient recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The industrial sector is the largest consumer of electricity in Laos and the only consumer of coal. Coal consumption grew at an average rate of 9.8 percent per year during the past 20 years.
The sector also generates increasing amounts of liquid and solid waste, a trend that is not environmentally sustainable, Mr Assicot said.
Through ambitious policies, innovative business models and financial mechanisms combined with existing cost-effective technologies, the International Energy Agency believes that energy intensity could be improved globally at a rate of 3 percent per year, which will generate cost savings.
The Global Green Growth Institute is thus glad to support the Lao government in the design of the National Green Industry Policy and to have helped the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to secure a grant from the Green Climate Fund, to prepare the domestic market for investments in industrial energy efficiency.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update March 17, 2021)