Indonesia envisions its new capital to be the first city in the country to achieve net zero, said Nusantara National Capital Authority Chairman Bambang Susantono at the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Southeast Asia Development Symposium (SEADS).

He said the government is developing Nusantara to be green, smart, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable and that building the new capital is not a standalone project but a critical component of Indonesia 2045, which envisions the country becoming high-income on its centennial. “The development of a new city in the middle of Indonesia is expected to be the catalyst for greater economic distribution particularly in the eastern part of Indonesia and this in turn, will boost the country's economic and social growth.”

With the theme, "Imagining a Net-Zero ASEAN," SEADS 2023 explored measures governments, communities, and the private sector could take to progress toward carbon neutrality.