Green growth

5th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific, 2005

From March 23, 2005 there will be an important conference in Korea about sustainable development. This large Ministerial Conference will discuss all aspects of development, incorporating new perspectives on environment and economy in the agenda. The conference is building on the efforts from Rio 1992 and Johannesburg 2002.

The main outcome of the UN conference will be a so-called Seoul Initiative on Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth: "Green Growth".

The conference will also discuss the progress with the Kitakyushu Initiative for a Clean Environment. Other topics include Tsunami relief efforts and development of a Regional Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, 2006-2010.

Before that, there will be a "civil society" event for two days, discussing "the role of the civil society as a positive driver in the development and implementation of demand management and the role of the proactive and well informed consumers in ensuring energy and water conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources."

The civil society event is jointly sponsored by UNEP, UNESCAP, and Korean NGOs including Consumers Korea. It will include plenary and small group discussions on various areas of sustainable consumption related to sustainable water, energy, land use, and aspects of globalization, including positive case studies throughout Asia and the Pacific.

There are also about 8 other side-event, including forums with scientists and private sector representatives.

Click here for information about the Civil Society meeting (Wed 23/3- Thu 24/3)

Click here for the agenda for the Ministerial Conference (Mon 28/3 -Tue 29/3)

Martin Frid will represent Japan Offspring Fund at the conference.