I.          ORGANIZATION OF THE MEETING

1.                   The Intergovernmental Meeting for North-East Asia in Preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002 was held at Beijing on 28 July 2001.  It was organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in collaboration with UNEP, UNDP and ADB and was hosted by the Government of China.

2.                   The Meeting was attended by representatives of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation.  It was also attended by representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).  Representatives of stakeholders were invited to attend as observers and to inform the Meeting of the outcome of the Stakeholders’ Meeting held on 26 July.

II.     Opening SESSION

3.                   In his welcome statement, the Chief of the Environment and Natural Resources Development Division of ESCAP briefed the Meeting on the road map of the regional preparatory process for the World Summit, including subregional consultation meetings with the participation of stakeholders and Governments, and regional round tables, the outcomes of which would be integrated into the discussion at the final regional preparatory committee meeting, to be held at Phnom Penh from 27 to 29 November 2001.  He informed the meeting that ADB, UNEP, UNDP and ESCAP had formed a Task Force to organize the regional preparatory process in the Asia-Pacific region.

4.                   The Director of the UNEP Regional Resource Centre elaborated on the role of the Task Force in the preparatory process in each subregion.  He pointed out that the subregional papers were being formulated to ensure constructive contributions to the preparatory process with a focus on implementation and concrete action.

5.                   The Meeting elected Mr. Wu Hailong (China) as Chairperson.

6.                   The Meeting adopted the agenda as proposed in ENRD/WSSD/IMNEA/L.1/Rev.1.

7.                   The Meeting considered the draft report on “Sustainable development in North-East Asia: assessment and challenges of Agenda 21”, which had been prepared with the assistance of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). It appreciated the quality and usefulness of the report.

III.   ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AGENDA 21 IN NORTH-EAST
ASIA AND ISSUES FOR STRENGTHENING THE GLOBAL
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

(Item 4 of the agenda)

8.                   The Meeting acknowledged that the report was still in preliminary form.  The countries would supply IGES with further information on their national assessments.  Assessments related to the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea would be included in the report based on additional inputs and the report would be supplemented by additional information on the other countries.  The report would be used in preparing the regional synthesis report and serve as a reference document for the Asia-Pacific preparatory committee meeting, to be held in Cambodia in November 2001.

9.                   The Meeting emphasized that the report should address all aspects of sustainable development, i.e., social, environmental and economic issues.

10.               The Meeting stressed that there had been some significant achievements in terms of national implementation and regional cooperation in implementing Agenda 21 in the subregion, but also acknowledged that major challenges still lay ahead for North-East Asia.  Technological and industrial achievements as well as scientific knowledge should be used to address some of the challenges of implementing Agenda 21.  It was emphasized that the subregional assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21 should be made through scientific analysis, including the use of indicators for sustainable development as appropriate.  The Meeting further suggested that the issue of natural disasters, which had a major impact on sustainable development, should be addressed. Gender issues in sustainable development should also be addressed.  Furthermore, the assessment and review of environmental governance and the cooperation mechanism in the subregion was emphasized.

IV.      FORMULATION OF INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS THE PRIORITY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS OF THE SUBREGION,
IN LINE WITH THE REGIONAL ACTION PROGRAMME FOR
ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, 2001-2005

(Item 5 of the agenda)

11.               Based on the introduction made by IGES, representatives of participating countries provided substantive comments on the outlines, together with information on ongoing initiatives taken by the Governments.

12.               The Meeting acknowledged the draft report to be a good basis for the further development of subregional priorities and projects.  Specific suggestions for further development of the study were as follows:

(a)          The paper could be better structured if the issues were clustered into poverty-related issues, natural resources management issues, and governance and legal instruments issues;

(b)          The paper might also cover broader issues of sustainable development rather than concentrating mainly on environmental issues.  In that regard, challenges and initiatives related to issues of sustainable transport, sustainable agriculture, food security and safety, sustainable urban planning, social services, investment and trade, sustainable management of water resources, desertification and land degradation, and sustainable production and consumption patterns should be given more attention.  At the same time, a balanced approach to conservation and development should be adopted, for example, food security and conservation of natural resources;

(c)          Issues of financing for sustainable development, capacity-building and transfer of environmentally-sound technologies should also be accorded priority;

(d)          In the promotion of cooperation, emphasis should be placed on using existing institutions as well as networking.  Enhancement of scientific cooperation was important in dealing with common problems and challenges.

13.               The representatives of the Stakeholders’ Meeting for North-East Asia in Preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002, presented the outcome of their Meeting in a document entitled “Issues and priorities for reporting to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002, and proposals for initiatives to address the priority environmental and sustainable development problems of the North-East Asian subregion”.  They identified eight issues of priority: (a) participation by major groups, (b) education and awareness, (c) freshwater, (d) nuclear energy, (e) air pollution and climate change, (f) consumption patterns, (g) poverty eradication and (h) desertification and land degradation.

14.               The Meeting appreciated the stakeholders’ active participation in the preparatory process and took note of their document and the recommendations it contained.

V.      Formulation of a platform of issues and priorities for reporting to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002

(Item 6 of the agenda)

15.               While upholding the spirit and principles of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21, and acknowledging the achievements of the past 10 years in policy formulation and stakeholder involvement, especially through the establishment of national councils for sustainable development, the Meeting emphasized the importance of a favourable external environment with support from the developed countries to assist developing countries in pursuing the agenda for sustainable development, in particular, poverty eradication. It also emphasized the need for networking among the national councils.

16.               While the importance of stakeholder participation and effective use of market mechanisms was acknowledged, the Meeting observed that Governments also had a major responsibility for sustainable development as role models for sustainable consumption patterns.