Draft Chair’s Summary
Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the UNCSD, 19-20 October 2011, Seoul, ROK
1.
Over three hundred delegates from more than 41 countries of the Asian and Pacific region
met in Seoul to prepare for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
2.
The diversity of the region was noted. The emerging development challenges that wereshared were also highlighted. In this regard, the need to change development and economic
models to respond to these challenges and as a way to improve progress on sustainabledevelopment. This would also require changes in social values and practices in addition totechnical solutions. At the same time, the diversity of the region’s resource endowments, stage ofdevelopment and capacities means that there is no universally applicable model of sustainable
development.
3.
Many countries in the region are already addressing sustainable development challenges
with different national and sub-regional green economy related management policies, strategies,initiatives, and economic instruments. Several are establishing supportive institutional frameworks
such as committees and inter-ministerial working groups. The outcomes of the 5th Ministerial
Conference on Environment and Development (MCED-5, March 2005, Seoul, ROK), which
addressed environmentally sustainable economic growth, or green growth, had been a catalyst for
many of these initiatives.
4.
Some of the regional priorities included: access to basic needs, food security andsovereignty, equitable income distribution, and the provision of opportunities for a better life, in
an inclusive and sustainable way. The challenges of climate change and the need for specificsupport in this regard was noted, including in particular for Small Island Developing States and forfarmers. Among the priority development areas identified were: harmonizing rapid economic
growth with employment generation and environmental sustainability; promoting sustainableurban development and transport; enhancing ecological carrying capacity; improving energy
access resource management for sustainable development; improving water resource
management for sustainable development; provision of quality and enhancing the resilience ofsocio-economic development to climate change.
5.
In this regard, there is need to make provisions for technology, finance and capacity building
for the economic transformation necessary for sustainable development and to support
developing countries efforts. Appropriate technology and technology cooperation and technology
transfer need to be strengthened. Developed countries should take the lead in changing
consumption and production patterns and help developing countries with financial support,
technology transfer, capacity building and market access.
6.
It was acknowledged that to drive the required changes, which will foster and promote adevelopment path towards sustainable development there is a need to engage all stakeholders.
The international community’s support to help create an enabling environment for sustainable1

development, including through a transition to a green economy, would be needed. Support tomember states in GE is currently being provided by the Government of Republic of Korea, GGGI,ESCAP, UNDP and UNEP.
7.
Outcomes of Rio +20 should include practical measures for achieving sustainable
development and for supporting a transition to GE at global and national levels. Among theproposals tabled in this regard were SD Goals that are linked to the MDGs; the adoption of Poverty
Reduction Goals that could be used as GE indicators and the adoption of sustainable development
measures to complement national GDP measures; and the creation of a Sustainable Development
Fund; the creation of a Green Economy Fund, including revenue collected through a tax onfinancial transactions; and the establishment of a Green Economy Clearing House. It was proposedthat knowledge systems and innovations needed to be galvanized.
8.
An effective reform of the Institutional Framework on Sustainable Development would also
support just transition to a green economy. When the establishment of a Sustainable
Development Council is considered, provisions should be made for an advisory body comprised ofmajor groups’ representatives, including women and youth, and the scientific community to allow
better informed decision making on SD. Such structure also needs to be duplicated on national
level to allow effective implementation of sustainable development.
9.
An objective appraisal on the implementation of sustainable development commitments
and action plans was urged, including identification of areas for further progress. Further progress
was urged on: strengthening the holistic integration of the environment, economic and social
dimensions of sustainable development; strengthening national councils for sustainabledevelopment; defining post-Kyoto commitments; implementing the agreed Rio principles, inparticular Rio Principle 10, access to information; gender equality, democracy and human rights;
regulatory frameworks for financial markets; recognizing the importance of peoples’ participation;
addressing the challenges of the least developed countries and small island states; providing
children and youth with education, training and opportunities and addressing child labour.
10. Other areas where the need for further progress was identified included: framework for
promoting sustainable consumption and production, commitments to workers rights and decent
jobs; promoting rights based approaches to development; participation of major group in decision
making - in particular in relation to management of natural resources; gender equality and the useof gender-disaggregated data; partnerships between business and industry, governments and thenatural science, social science and technology community .

Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction
11. A green economy is a means to achieve sustainable development, a vehicle for integrating
the three pillars of sustainable development and a way of reinforcing coherence among economic,
environmental and social policies. A green economy was identified as an essential strategy forachieving sustainable development.

212. While Rio +20 would consider this important theme, several delegations emphasized needfor Rio +20 to secure a renewed and strengthened political commitment to sustainabledevelopment. Potential confusion regarding the introduction of a new term to the international
development agenda was noted. It was noted that green economy measures could not substitutefor Kyoto protocol commitments.
13. Although it was recognized that there is no consensus on the definition of green economy
some common themes were indentified including low carbon growth that delivers affordable andsustainable energy supplies to households, more sustainable consumption and production,
increased resource efficiency, strengthened measures to manage climate change, sustainable
forestry management, sustainable development of mega-cities, and strengthened environmental
health of oceans, inter-linkages between environmental degradation and health of people andecosystems.
14. A transition to a green economy should follow a people-centred approach that recognises
human security issues and in this context there must be a clear link between green economy andpoverty reduction. Comments in this regard included that a people-centred approach should also
address the needs of the disadvantaged and most vulnerable; enhance social justice; and thatpartnerships should promote sustainable development rather than be exploitative andopportunistic.
15. It was emphasized that member states need the flexibility to select those measures toachieve a green economy that are applicable to their own development contexts and that GE
options should be fair, open, inclusive, equitable and rules based. Applying the theme of“Greening Economies” in the “Blue World” context of the Pacific small island states and countries
with significant fisheries sectors and large numbers of coastal communities, requires special focus
and attention at Rio+20. This is important not just for their benefit but for the sake of the globe asa whole, which depends significantly on the state of the Pacific Ocean and its resources.
16. Several interventions emphasized that a transition to a green economy will require common
but differentiated responsibilities among developed and developing countries. Developingcountries should commit to establishing enabling regulatory and market based measures including
thorough addressing the issue of fuel and fisheries subsidies in a way that mitigates any adverse
impacts on the poorest and most vulnerable. Several delegations noted that the provided todeveloping countries must be coordinated to promote aid effectiveness and that a transition to a
GE should not include the imposition of conditionality on overseas development aid. In the contextof aid effectiveness, it was noted that there is a need for the simplification of climate change
financing modalities to allow increased access and reduced transaction costs for developingcountries.
17. It was proposed that developing and developed countries should promote the systematic
exchange of knowledge and best practices of promoting GE through appropriate mechanisms that
could include establishing knowledge exchange platforms and centres of excellence in green
3technologies and global cooperation in priority sectoral areas such as water, energy and marineenvironments.
18. The implementation of a green economy must involve all parts of society down to thecommunity and individual levels. In this regard, there was a call for countries to integrate conceptof SD into national education curricula; public awareness raising campaigns to promote sustainable
development; and for CSOs to be included in decision making and implementation processes. It
was noted that there is a key role for the private sector in research and development,
technological innovation, investment, and support through cooperate social responsibilityprogrammes. The meeting also called for the current and potential role of women in achieving
sustainable development to be addressed at Rio +20.
19. The use of unilateral measures that use a green economy and environmental protection as
an obstacle to trade must be avoided. It was proposed that where there is a conflict between
environmental protection and trade support should be provided in the form of capacity
development and technology transfers to overcome these conflicts. This would allow access to
global markets for countries in the region, which is central to achieving a green economy andsustainable development.
20.
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The interventions of delegations noted that a green economy would need to :Be appropriately adapted to country-specific circumstances and as understood in thecontext of sustainable development;
Be built on sustainable production and consumption patterns and ensuring all people’s
wellbeing
Be implemented in a way that fully engages stakeholders to ensure an inclusive transition tomore sustainable development pathways, including through equitable access to resourcesand opportunities for advancement and providing decent work and ensuring equitable
distribution of benefits;
Ensure that these approaches do not constitute conditionality to economic development ofdeveloping countries, and that no additional trade related barriers to the exports ofdeveloping countries are being imposed;
Ensure that the necessary investments towards sustainable management of ecosystems but
avoid the marginalisation of communities;
Be strengthened through the development and application of an explicit and supportive
programmatic approach for poverty reduction;
Be mobilized via innovative financing from domestic sources, including through reducing or
eliminating environmentally and economically damaging subsidies and internalizing
environmental costs in market prices; andPromote technologies that are critical for increasing access to basic services, in particularwater, sanitation and energy in an integrated manner, in addition to eco-efficient resourceuse.

4Institutional Framework on Sustainable Development
21. The core of sustainable development lies in the coordinated development of the three pillarsof economic development, social progress and environmental protection. Any institutionalframework for sustainable development must be centred on these three pillars in a balancedmanner.
22. The international community need to commit to meaningful steps to strengthen thegovernance in all three pillars, as well as to improve integration among the three pillars ofsustainable development in policymaking as a priority. Any reforms would need to focus on
improving the functioning of governance structures in this regard on all levels – local and subnational, national, sub-regional and regional, and global. Furthermore this reforms would need toensure open and inclusive mechanisms for engaging the civil society and all stakeholders, inparticular the most disadvantaged, women and youth in the decision making process to ensure
people-centred development.
23. The UN should continue to play a key leading role in advancing the progress of sustainable
development and to provide technical and capacity development support to developing countries.
In this regard, a better coordination between the UN agencies, programmes, funds and institutions
need to be ensured following the principle of “Delivering as One”, which will increase effective
field and country implementation. The role of Regional Commissions, which can be the regional
institutional framework for integration of the three pillars sustainable development as perprovisions of Agenda 21 needs to be further strengthened to effectively support implementationof sub-regional sustainable development strategies and plans.
24. The International Financial Institutions would also need to review their programmatic
strategies to ensure provision of better support to developing countries for the implementation ofsustainable development. Establishing a global Green Economy Fund/Sustainable Development
Fund would also greatly facilitate countries efforts for financing national efforts for
implementation of sustainable development. Such fund will also support development of cleaner
and greener technologies and North-South and South-South technology.
25. The Rio+20 would need to consider establishing reforming the current global governance forsustainable development. A step by step approach is desirable with short term and medium termactions. In this regard, review of existing institutional architecture would need to examine theoptions of either strengthening ECOSOC and/or establishing a Sustainable Development Council.
The SDC key role would be to enhance monitoring of the progress of implementation ofsustainable development. Furthermore, the to make SDC more effective and inclusive, an advisory
body comprised of major groups representatives, including women and youth, and the scientificcommunity could be established to allow better informed decision making on SD. Such structure

5need to be duplicated on national level to allow effective implementation of sustainable
development.
26. Any institutional reform need to ensure that that the environmental governance is also
strengthened to eliminate the segregation of the environment pillar from the economic and social
pillars and to cater for the proliferation of the multilateral environmental agreements. In thisregard, universal membership and predictable funding for UNEP would be important on the shortrun. In the long run, the international community need to review the options for further
strengthening and elevating UNEP status to a global environment organization.

Partnerships for Sustainable Development
27. Global, regional and sub-regional partnerships have proven to be successful mechanisms fora more inclusive approach to implementation of sustainable development after the World Summit
for Sustainable Development, 2002. Forming regional and inter-regional partnerships to provide
support for developing capacity, enhancing policy and decision making, and increasing awarenesswere underlined as creating more effective means of implementation, financing and technology
transfer.
28. There was a proposal for a “Global Partnership for Green Economy in the Context ofSustainable Development and Poverty Reduction”, outlining new political commitment, areas ofaction and identifying support needed for developing countries.
29. Delegates proposed partnerships for sustainable development as regional contributions toRio +20 outcomes:
Astana Green Bridge Initiative: Europe-Asia-Pacific Partnership for Implementationof Green Growth (Kazakhstan): The Green Bridge Partnership Program developed
under this initiative requires a multilateral, long-term partnership and more stablebasis for green investments, a technology transfer mechanism for green
technologies and innovations. The programme will be able to ensure free assistanceand advice to countries and intuitions on new technologies or innovation but also touse other countries’ experiences in reforming policies to attract green investment.
For this programme, Kazakhstan welcomes strong partners with experience;Eco-city development (Japan) - the future mega-cities in Asia need to be designed
and developed in a sustainable manner to maximise benefit of low carbon
technologies and waste management; and

Initiative to Nurture Sustainable Citizens (Japan) – development of human resourcesin Asia and pacific is the key in implementation of sustainable development

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