Asian-Pacific countries discuss responses to climate change at UN-backed meeting

A United Nations-backed meeting on how Asian-Pacific countries can mitigate the impacts of climate change began today in Seoul, where participants called for action to foster sustainable growth.

“Asia and the Pacific region has to urgently identify an effective strategy to pursue economic growth while controlling its carbon dioxide emissions,” Han Seung-soo, one of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s three Special Envoys for Climate Change, told participants.

The two-day conference brings together government policymakers, private sector leaders, academics and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from across the region, and focuses on developing business and financial frameworks promoting clean energy and reducing the impact of global warming.

“Large investment is required for the mitigation and adaptation to climate change, which could provide us with an opportunity to promote new technologies and to create new market in return,” Mr. Han noted. “The challenge of climate change could be transformed into an opportunity for cleaner and ecologically efficient economic growth.”

Issues to be discusses include the need for a shirt towards a low-carbon society and how to bolster responses to changes in climate.

The meeting was organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP); the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Development of the Government of the United Kingdom; the Korean Environment Institute; and 136 Environment CEO Forum.

Running parallel to this conference is a civil society dialogue running parallel organized by Chatham House and Energeia Institute.