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In his opening statement, Hak-Su Kim, Executive Secretary of ESCAP, said that the region's fast economic growth has imposed increasing pressure on the environment and underscored the importance of shifting the paradigm to green growth. Noting that the region has 60% of the world's population with 1/5 living in extreme poverty, Kyul-Ho Kwak, Korean Minister of Environment, called upon delegates to consider the Seoul Initiative for Green Growth that is designed to balance environment and economic growth. |
Delegates elected by acclamation the officers
of the meeting: Park Young Woo (above right)
(Republic of Korea) as Chairperson, Liana Bratasida (Indonesia),
Sudhir Mita (India), Luo Delong (China), Tu'u'u
Ieti Taule'alo (Samoa), and Sergey Samoylov
(Uzbekistan) as Vice Chairpersons, and Muhammad Zahir
Shah (Pakistan) as Rapporteur.
Delegates also adopted the provisional agenda (E/ESCAP/SO/MCED(05)/L.1
and L.2) without amendments.
Briefing
on the Recent Tsunami and Regional Response
Strategy:
Hak-Su Kim outlined ESCAP's approaches to
disaster mitigation, including: network building;
technical cooperation; and partnership among UN
and other organizations. He said that the regional
disaster reduction strategy should be based on the
"Living with Risks" concept. Stanley Goosby,
Pacific Disaster Center, US, demonstrated use of
computer simulation and modeling for tsunami
prediction, preparedness and response. Kenji
Suzuki, Japan Water Forum, spoke on reducing
impacts of natural disasters through early
warning. INDONESIA, INDIA, and THAILAND briefed participants on national efforts for relief and rehabilitation of tsunami stricken areas, as well as for raising awareness on disaster preparedness. REPUBLIC OF KOREA noted its aid to tsunami-stricken countries and offered more technical assistance. ASIAN AND PACIFIC COCONUT COMMUNITY (APCC) stressed tsunami impacts on the livelihoods of coconut farmers. |
Above photos L-R: Ponniah Rethinam, APCC; Kenji Suzuki, Japan Water Forum, Stanley Goosby, Pacific Disaster Center, US |
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Review
of the State of the Environment in Asia and the
Pacific:
The Secretariat presented the review of the state
of the environment in Asia and the Pacific, 2005
(E/ESCAP/SO/MCED/(05)/1). INDIA said that poverty reduction could only be pursued with environmental sustainability. CHINA said that achieving economic growth and poverty reduction while increasing production efficiency is a great challenge to the region. INDONESIA stressed capacity building for developing countries to achieve green growth. UZBEKISTAN suggested a multi-sectoral approach to environmental problems and called for regional cooperation. Citing a North Eastern Asia project on sandstorms, REPUBLIC OF KOREA highlighted sharing know-how and learning lessons from each other. THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION stressed the need to take into account all environmental considerations in developing new strategies for sustainable development. ASIAN AND PACIFIC COCONUT COMMUNITY stressed economic and environmental benefits of coconut products. |
Above photos L-R: Liana Bratasida, Indonesia; David U. Poihega, Niue; and Juan E. Dayang, the Philippines |
Assessment
of Progress in the Promotion of Sustainable
Development in Asia and the Pacific: The
Secretariat introduced the following documents: Review
of the Implementation
of the Outcomes
of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development and the Phnom
Penh Regional Platform on Sustainable Development
for Asia and the Pacific and the
Recommendations of MCED-4 (E/ESCAP/SO/MCED(05)/2),
and
Review
of the Implementation
of the Kitakyushu Initiative for a Clean
Environment (E/ESCAP/SO/MCED(05)/3). |
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The
Forum continued discussion in a series of
sessions. Green Growth and Energy Efficiency: Mika Ohbayashi, Japan, cited policies, technology and transparency as key elements for renewable energy development. Yunmook Nah, Republic of Korea introduced the energy efficiency promotion program of the Citizens Consumers Korea. Yang Bin, China, outlined efforts and plans for the development of renewable energy in China. |
Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT): N.H.Choudhury,
Bangladesh, said that growth of ICT is affecting
the environment, and that any successful ICT
project should ensure ecological sustainability. Jong-Chun
Roh, Republic of Korea, recommended that ICT
should be used for environmental education. |
Strategies
for Sustainable Consumption and Production: Roopa
Vajpeyi, India, recommended using culture and
tradition for achieving sustainable consumption and
production. Jeong Hee Park, Republic of Korea,
urged the Government to enact laws and regulations on
environment education in schools. J.V. Garganera,
the Philippines, advocated localizing sustainable
development and talked about methods and tools in
mobilizing CSOs in local development planning. Afifa
Raihana, Bangladesh, stressed education and
experience sharing among youth. Participants adopted the Seoul Statement of the Civil Society Forum, which will be reported to the ministerial segment of MCED 2005. |
Above photos L-R: Hyo-Shin Park, Republic of Korea; Hoo-Seo Park, Republic of Korea; Ken-ichi Yamazaki, Japan; Oh-Song Kwon, Republic of Korea; Affa Raihana, Bangladesh; Eung-Hwi Chun, Republic of Korea; N. H. Choudhury, Bangladesh; In-Sook Yoon, Republic of Korea; Roopa Vajpeyi, India; Jeong-Hee Park, Republic of Korea; Jung-Gil Ryoo, Republic of Korea; and J. V. Garganera, the Philippines. |
Science, the Earth and Its Climate: Participants heard presentations by: Kevin Noone (above left), on earth science in support of sustainable development; Hoe-Sung Lee, on anthropogenic interference with the climate system; Jan van der Leun (third from left), on interactions between ozone depletion and climate change; David Carson (second from left), on Coordinated Observation and Prediction of Earth System; and Honglie Sun (above right), on development and science in China. |
Sustainable
Development: Participants heard presentations by: Shashi
Kant, on the dominant economic paradigm and
sustainable development; Chin-Seung Chung,
on dispute resolution for sustainable development;
Anoja Wickramasinghe, on poverty and
environmental degradation; Wen Gang, on country
self-assessment of China; and Monowar Hossain,
on environment, development and poverty. National
and Regional Perspectives: This session heard presentations
by: Adyasuren Tsokhio (above left) ,
on impacts of global climate on Mongolia; Asylbek
Aidaraliev, on sustainable development of
mountain territories in Central Asia; John Hay (above
right), on global change and the Pacific; Kwi-Gon
Kim (third photo from left) , on
mitigating global change; Nguyen Huu Ninh (second
photo from left), on the Indochina Global Change
Network; and Bindu N. Lohani, on
environmental trends, challenges and future
directions in Asia and the Pacific. Water
Resources and Sanitation: This session heard featured
presentations by: Mi Mi Kyi, on the dry
zone in Myanmar; Vladimir Smakhtin, on
water resources in South Asia; Saburo Matsui,
on global sanitation and nutrient control; and Eui-So
Choi, on nitrogen as an indicator toward
sustainable water. |
The Forum was organized by Environmental Management Corporation, Republic of Korea, and Korea Institute of Environment Science & Technology. Participants heard keynote speeches on the policy for development and propagation of environmental technology, the trend of new environmental technologies, and legislation conditions on water resources management in Viet Nam. Above photo: Yeon Soon Ahn |
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