Asia-Pacific nations agree to promote low-carbon economic growth – UN

Government officials and policymakers from Asia and the Pacific have concluded a United Nations-organized meeting by adopting a course of action for environmentally sustainable economic growth, ahead of a key ministerial conference to be held in September in Kazakhstan.

At the two-day regional preparatory meeting in Muju, Republic of Korea, participants underlined that a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region had responded to the global food, financial and fuel crises with “green” stimulus packages and strategies, which have helped to spur job creation and economic growth.

They also emphasized that while many initiatives were underway, there was no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, and that countries were tailoring green growth to national priorities.

The meeting, organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), produced three draft regional environment and sustainable development initiatives for endorsement by the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MCED-6) to be held from 27 September to 2 October in Astana, Kazakhstan.

These are the draft Regional Implementation Plan for Asia and the Pacific, the draft Ministerial Declaration and the draft Astana “Green Bridge” Initiative to be endorsed at the Astana forum.

“This preparatory meeting has done the homework necessary to lead to a consensus at the MCED-6 on the structural changes needed in the current invisible and physical infrastructure of the economy to foster and promote low-carbon sustainable economic growth model,” said Rae Kwon Chung, the top UN official responsible for coordinating environment and development policies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Participants at the meeting also agreed to work towards formulating a common regional platform for green growth in preparation for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2012.