Bangkok, January 10, 2001 - Two dozen of the region's leading thinkers will search for fresh perspectives on the issues of environment and development in Bangkok later this week.
The first substantive meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development, an initiative of the Japan Government's Ministry of Environment, begins on Saturday at the United Nations Conference Centre.
Chaired by former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, the forum will involve United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Klaus Toepfer, UN Economic and Social Commission Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su, and leaders drawn from government, academic, legal, policy, trade and activist backgrounds across Asia and the Pacific.
Recognising significant degradation of the environment over the last decade, and the magnitude and diversity of poverty in the region, the forum will look to identify courses of action which harness emerging technology innovations and globalization.
Conceived by Japanese Environment Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, the forum aims to sketch out a new development framework that will lead to greater equitability and sustainability in the region.
Organisers expect several innovative new ideas to emerge as the forum focuses on the key themes of trade, finance, renewable energy and freshwater.
The forum will initially prepare a message for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August and plans to meet a further five times before completing a final report in 2004.
The two-day forum is preceded by meetings of representatives from a broad range of sectors of society, and by environment and development experts, today and tomorrow.
The meetings have been organised by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Thailand, the United Nations Environment Programme, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Thailand Environment Institute and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.
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Note for Editors: All meetings start at 9 am in the United Nations Conference Centre and are open to accredited members of the media: Multi-stakeholder Meeting - Jan 10, Expert Meeting - Jan 11, Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development - Jan 12-13. The meetings will be simultaneously translated in Thai, English and Japanese. To arrange interviews with forum members please contact Mr Kazuaki Hoshino.
For further information contact: Kazuaki Hoshino, Senior Policy Coordinator, Ministry of Environment, Government of Japan, or Yoshihiro Natori, Project Leader, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, phone 281 3088 (Room 212) or fax 280 1314 Tim Higham, Regional Information Officer, United Nations Environment Programme, ph 288 2127, email higham.unescap@un.org David Lazarus, Chief, United Nations Information Service, ph 288 1866, email lazarus.unescap@un.org
UNEP News Release ROAP/2002/01
Members of the Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (as at 4/1/02):
| A.T.Ariyaratne | (Sri Lanka) | Founder and President, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement |
| Neth Barom | (Cambodia) | Vice-Rector, Royal University of Phnom Penh |
| James Cecil Cocker | (Tonga) | Minister of the Environment |
| Cielito F. Habito Former | (Philippines) | Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning |
| Barbara R. Hardy Former | (Australia) | Commissioner of The Australian Heritage Commission |
| Ryutaro Hashimoto | (Japan) | Former Prime Minister |
| Parvez Hassan | (Pakistan) | Former Chairman, IUCN Law Commission |
|
Yolanda Kakabadse Navarro |
(International) | President, IUCN |
| Martin Khor | (Malaysia) | Director,Third World Network |
| Kim Jin-Hyun | (Korea) | Senior Research Advisor, Korea International Trade Association |
| Tommy Koh | (Singapore) | Director, The Institute of Policy Studies |
| Reza Maknoon | (Iran) | Deputy Chairman, National Committee SD |
| Enkhbayar Nambaryn | (Mongolia) | Prime Minister |
| Wadan Lal Narsey | (Fiji) | Associate Professor, Economic Department, University of South Pacific |
| Olga Ponizova | (Russia) | Executive Director of Eco-Accord Center on Environment and Development |
| Qu Geping | (China) | Chairman, Commission for Environment Protection and Resources Conservation, National Peoples Congress |
| Emil Salim | (Indonesia) | Former Chairman, National Economic Council |
| Maurice Strong | (International) | Rector, The University for Peace |
| Tongroj Onchan e | (Thailand) | President of the Mekong Environment and Resource Institut |
| Klaus Toepfer | Executive Director, UNEP | |
| Kim Hak-Su | Executive Secretary, ESCAP | |
| Yoriko Kawaguchi | Minister of the Environment, Japan | |
| Akio Morishima | Chair of the Board of Director, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) | |
| TBD | (Bangladesh) | |
| (India) | ||
| (Kazakhstan) |