Implications of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment: towards a resource-efficient and pollution-free Asia-Pacific
This briefing note examines the implications of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment (the Summit) held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 5-8 September 2017 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), air pollution, and resource efficiency. The Summit represented a notable first-time effort to bring together the Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MCED-7) (organised for the seventh time by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)) and the Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities of Asia Pacific (organised for the second time by UN Environment). While MCED-7 aimed to discuss environment trends in the region, review implementation of the outcomes of the sixth MCED, and provide guidance on the ESCAP programme of work on environment and development, the UNEP Forum sought to consolidate regional inputs into the third United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-3) scheduled for Nairobi, Kenya in December 2017. The Summit was organised under the broad theme of “Towards a Resource-efficient and Pollution-free Asia-Pacific.” Resource efficiency was the main concern of ESCAP; pollution control was the chief interest of UN Environment.