International Mayors’ Summit on Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Growth in Cities held at Russian Energy Week
Participants in the event included more than ten city leaders, as well as energy company representatives. Moderating the event was Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Anton Inyutsyn.
In his welcome address, Anton Inyutsyn focused on the theme of international initiatives, and talked about the ministerial meeting on the subject of clean energy that had taken place as part of Russian Energy Week. “During the meeting, Russia launched an initiative on energy efficiency and sustainable development in cities, which all parties supported, as has traditionally been the case”, he noted.
Over the course of the Summit, participants discussed international initiatives in the areas of energy-efficient lighting and increasing energy efficiency in buildings and transport, shared their experiences of applying renewable energy solutions, and also discussed large-scale joint projects led by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.
Head of the City of Astrakhan Oleg Polumordvinov spoke to participants about the latest developments in the ongoing project ‘Astrakhan – a Sustainable City’, underlining the importance of international cooperation in this connection.
“At the conclusion of the Summit, we plan to sign a cooperation agreement with the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, with which we have been working successfully for some time”, he said. Head of the Centre Mark Lister added: “We are helping cities and countries to achieve their energy efficiency goals.”
Head of the City of Lipetsk Sergey Ivanov talked about his city’s heating supply system and about implementing new technologies. “Every city is different in its own way, but one thing they all have in common is that, before you can make the transition to new technologies, you have to minimize the costs and expenses of the old ones”, he remarked.
Sales Manager for the Traffic Control Systems Division at Kyosan Electric Manufacturing Yasuhiko Honma spoke to participants about an innovative project to implement modern traffic control systems in Moscow. He announced that the project would be completed in the near future.
At the conclusion of the Summit, Deputy Director of the Kazan Municipality Executive Committee Iskander Giniyatullin addressed the audience, describing a project to modernize the city’s hot water supply system that was completed this year.
