WT/GC/255  
 
29 November 2022  
(22-8894) Page: 1/4 
General Council  Original: English  
 
 
BANGKOK GOALS  ON BIO -CIRCULAR -GREEN (BCG) ECONOMY  
The following communication, dated 28 November 2022, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Thailand.  
 
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1.  Recalling the Putrajaya Vision 2040, APEC reiterates our commitment to pursuing strong, 
balanced, secure, sustainable and inclusive growth in the Asia -Pacific region.  
2.  APEC is determined to continue advancing its sustainability objectives in a bold, responsive, and 
comprehensive manner to address t he heightened economic and environmental challenges and 
disruptions facing the region, building on our commitments in the Putrajaya Vision 2040 and the 
actions set out in the Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA), for the prosperity of all our people and future 
generations.  
3.  By adopting the Bangkok Goals, APEC moves forward with outlining how to achieve its 
comprehensive and ambitious sustainability and inclusion objectives, while reinforcing and 
contributing to ongoing global actions. APEC explored approaches such as the bio -circular -green 
(BCG) economy model that integrates three economic approaches, where technology and innovation 
are used to create value, reduce waste, advance resource efficiency, and promote sustainable 
business models. It also calls for more ho listic efforts to achieve more balanced, inclusive and 
sustainable growth. Such efforts should build on APEC 's existing commitments and workstreams as 
well as consider new aspirational ones to further APEC 's sustainability objectives.  
4.  APEC will marshal exi sting targets and workstreams in conjunction with the following goals, key 
areas and aspirational targets:  
a. Supporting  global efforts to comprehensively address all environmental challenges, 
including climate change, extreme weather and natural disasters, f or a sustainable planet, 
particularly in terms of climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience by:  
i. Contributing  practical, ambitious and concrete initiatives to transition to a climate -
resilient future global economy which align with global efforts, such as the achievement 
of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals of the Paris Agreement, 
as well as appreciating and supporting APEC members ' respective net zero / carbon 
neutrality commitments, recogni zing the urgent need to collectively ad dress climate 
change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the need to provide international 
support including capacity building, technological and financial support, which are key 
enablers in this regard;  
ii. Enhancing  adaptive capacity, strengthening resil ience and reducing vulnerability to the 
adverse effects of climate change and associated risks, including through 
mainstreaming adaptation measures into policies, strategies and planning, as well as 
disaster and emergency preparedness and management;  
iii. Strengthening  cooperation to develop and exchange policies and best practices, and 
promote capacity building and awareness -raising programmes that address all 
environmental and climate challenges, and support sustainable growth;  WT/GC/255  
 
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  iv. Ensuring  diversity and incl usion in our collective efforts to address climate change;  
v. Advancing  the transition to clean and low -carbon energy through various pathways 
reflecting the different circumstances in each economy, strengthening energy 
resilience, promoting energy security, and ensuring affordable and reliable energy 
access, including by fostering technical collaboration and exchange of best practices 
and experiences. We acknowledge the importance of stable energy markets and clean 
energy transitions. Noting the progress made  to date, APEC economies are discussing 
goals for further strengthening the region 's capacity to adopt renewable energy and 
other clean and low -emissions energy technologies;  
vi. Recalling  our commitment to rationalize  and phase out inefficient fossil fuel sub sidies 
that encourage wasteful consumption while recognizing  the importance of providing 
those in need with essential energy services, and, to reach this goal, continuing efforts 
in an accelerated manner;  
vii. Promoting  sustainable, resilient, productive, and inclusive food systems and 
agricultural practices, achieving food security and nutrition, reducing food loss and 
waste, including through encouraging environmentally -friendly policies and minimizing  
environmentally -harmful ones, conserving agrobiodiversity, and enhancing the use of 
agricultural biotechnology, digita lization  and other innovative approaches;  
viii. Promoting  research, development and deployment of cost -effective low and zero 
emissions technologies, acknowledging that there are a variety of technologies and 
approaches available;  
ix. Supporting  finance and investme nts in sustainability and climate action, including 
disaster risk finance insurance, and, if appropriate, carbon pricing and non -pricing 
mechanisms and international carbon credit markets, as well as exploring options to 
support the alignment of financial flows towards a greener and cleaner global economy, 
for example taxonomies and other alignment approaches.  
b. Progressing  sustainable and inclusive trade and investment and ensuring that they are 
mutually supportive with our environmental policies by:  
i. Intensi fying work that enhances stability, resilience and sustainability of supply chains, 
as well as improves connectivity, including through the implementation of the APEC 
Connectivity Blueprint and advancing cooperation and sharing best practices on green 
public procurement;  
ii. Advancing  work on the facilitation of trade in environmental goods and services, 
building on discussion about the APEC List of Environmental Goods and the Reference 
List of Environmental and Environmentally Related Services and further disc ussing the 
impact of non -tariff measures on trade in environmental goods;  
iii. Advancing  concrete initiatives on responsible business conduct, environment, social 
and governance (ESG) industry practices, for example through the development of 
sustainable touris m, manufacturing, agriculture, transport and logistics sectors, as well 
as the green and low -carbon digital and technology sectors;  
iv. Advancing  gender equality and economic integration, inclusion and empowerment of 
women;  
v. Strengthening  the roles of micro, sm all, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including 
encouraging the formulation of an updated APEC Strategy for Green, Sustainable and 
Innovative MSMEs, building capabilities for MSMEs in sustainability practices such as 
the ESG and BCG approaches, and collabor ating to improve opportunities for MSMEs 
to be competitive, specialized , innovative and expand into international markets.  
c. Promoting  environmental conservation, sustainable use and management of natural 
resources, as well as halting and reversing biodivers ity loss by:  WT/GC/255  
 
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  i. Enhancing  conservation and sustainable use and management of coastal and marine 
resources and ecosystems as well as sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, including 
preventing, combatting and working towards ending illegal, unreported, and 
unregulated (IUU) fishing and implementing the APEC Roadmap on Combatting IUU 
Fishing;  
ii. Continuing  work to prevent and reduce marine debris and plastic pollution, including 
through the implementation of the APEC Roadmap on Marine Debris;  
iii. Strengthening  efforts to combat illegal logging and associated trade, stop the 
degradation of forest ecosystems, and promote trade and consumption in sustainably 
managed and legally harvested forest products;  
iv. Striving  to ensure diversity and inclusion to improve our efforts in maintaining, 
conserving, managing and protecting the environment and natural resources.  
d. Advancing  resource efficiency and sustainable waste management towards zero waste by:  
i. Increasing  cooperation to advance circular economy approaches, including through 
promoting circular business models as well as exchange policies and best practices, 
and sustainable production and consumption patterns.  
5.  To achieve the above and the three economic drivers of the Putrajaya Vision 2040 requires the 
adoption of an inclusive approach that improves the quality of life for all members of society and 
advances gender equality as well as economic inclusion and empowerment of MSMEs, women, and 
other groups with untapped economic potential, such as Indigenous Peoples as app ropriate, people 
with disabilities, and those from remote and rural communities, while also promoting the role of 
youth. Further, there is a need for stronger whole -of-society partnerships and whole -of-system 
approaches within APEC, particularly across all  fora and sub -fora in order to deliver comprehensive, 
coherent and mutually -reinforcing outcomes.  
6.  The following enablers should be accelerated through relevant APEC mechanisms:  
a. Conducive and agile regulatory frameworks and enabling business environment, in cluding 
through structural reform, good regulatory practices and international regulatory 
cooperation, particularly advancing the implementation of the Enhanced APEC Agenda for 
Structural Reform (EAASR) and taking into account the findings and recommendati ons of 
the 2022 APEC Economic Policy Report (AEPR) on Structural Reform and a Green Recovery 
from Economic Shocks and other relevant AEPRs to inform policies and approaches.  
b. Capacity building by deepening economic and technical cooperation, exchange of 
experiences and best practices to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, voluntary 
technology transfer on mutually agreed terms, as well as inclusive human resource 
development, especially reskilling and upskilling to boost recruitment, retention and 
promo tion of a diverse workforce.  
c. Enabling environment for the development of quality infrastructure, financing and 
investment, as well as further leveraging science, technology, innovation and 
digitalization . 
d. Networks for collaboration among public sector, pri vate sector, financial sector, academia, 
other international and regional organizations , other relevant stakeholders, as well as 
mechanisms within and related to APEC, including ABAC, the APEC Study Centers 
Consortium, and APEC permanent observers namely A SEAN, PECC, and PIF.  
7.  The APEC Committees and relevant sub -fora will integrate and advance the above agenda in their 
respective strategies and work plans, where appropriate, as well as to deepen cross -fora 
collaboration. The APEC Secretariat will maintain a n evergreen compendium of the actions and 
initiatives taken and to provide regular updates to Senior Officials as the means to review our 
progress to contribute to and in accordance with the APA review process. Senior Officials will have 
the overall respon sibility for monitoring and evaluating progress under the Bangkok Goals on BCG WT/GC/255  
 
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  Economy. The furtherance of the sustainability agenda in a comprehensive and ambitious manner 
will support APEC 's growth trajectory towards a strong, balanced, secure, sustainab le and inclusive 
future.  
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