Environment And Sustainable Development

Lending weight to the importance of Asia-Europe cooperation in environment and sustainable development, ASEF conceived a series of programmes aimed at igniting debate on the global challenges of climate change and other environmental issues. As a result, ASEF and the ENVforum have been singled out by ASEM Environment Ministers in both Lecce and Copenhagen in 2003 and 2007 respectively.

Of particular note, a statement by the Chairman of the 7^th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Beijing in 2007 noted, “Leaders stressed the need to focus on development needs and environmental sustainability in the energy sector. They emphasised the need for Asia-Europe cooperation to ensure the availability of environmentally sound energy at a reasonable price to support economic growth and that the latest technology should be intended to increase energy efficiency. Leaders recognised the need to develop regional and sub-regional projects amongst ASEM partners to promote low-carbon economy. Leaders acknowledged the key message on sustainable energy from the 6^th Asia-Europe Environment Forum.”

6^th Asia-Europe Journalists’ Seminar

4 – 6 June 2011
Szentendre and Budapest, Hungary

Top : Panyasith Thammavongsa (centre) from The Vientiane Times, discusses climate change issues in Laos. Bottom : Per Meilstrup, Climate Director at Danish think tank Monday Morning, outlines the pressing responsibility of journalists to not merely be an objective observer, but to promote change.

The focus of the 6^th Asia-Europe Journalists’ Seminar centred on the role of the media in enhancing awareness on key issues related to climate change. This followed the 15^th and 16^th Conference of Parties climate talks in Copenhagen and Cancun where the issue emerged of drastically diverse notions of impact, responsibility and historical contexts on the climate change debate between Asia and Europe.

Over 30 senior journalists from the regions’ foremost media organisations attended the seminar which saw Per Meilstrup, Climate Director of top Scandinavian think tank, Monday Morning, emphasise the media’s responsibility in society and their power and obligation to promote change. In particular, he noted that it was not anti-journalistic to focus on opportunities and solutions.

The seminar concluded with 10 suggestions by journalists including the need to balance stories about the negative impacts and consequences of climate change and explore presenting solutions and positive opportunities on the subject.

In partnership with the Regional Environmental Centre and sponsored by China Daily.

Asia-Europe Strategies for the Earth Summit 2012

16 – 18 July 2011 and 10 – 12 October 2011
Yogyakarta, Indonesia (1^st workshop) and Uppsala, Sweden (2^nd workshop)

Above : Participants of the workshop in Uppsala, Sweden

The primary objective of the Asia-Europe Strategies for the Earth Summit 2012 was to consolidate an Asia-Europe position on International Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) options for International Environmental Governance (IEG) reform, ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 4 to 6 June 2012.

Two of the three informal consultation workshops comprising stakeholders of the ASEM process have been held. They received valuable contributions from 55 international participants representing governments, regional and international organisations, civil society, academia, thinktanks, the media, the private sector and the youth, with each boasting significant involvement in sustainable development and environmental governance.

The four scenarios conceived at the first Workshop in Yogyakarta, Indonesia were presented at the UN High Level Dialogue on Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development in Solo, Indonesia. The scenarios portraying a distinct IEG future in 2032 – 20 years after Rio+20 – were shared with over 200 delegates from 90 countries, UN bodies and environmental groups.

Further enhanced at the second Workshop in Uppsala, Sweden in October, the scenarios were applied to the four priority areas for sustainable development, namely, public access to environmental information, energy and climate change mitigation, biodiversity and ecosystems, and resource and waste management.

In partnership with The Hanns Seidel Foundation, the Institute of Global Strategies and the Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia, in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme.