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The Seventh Asia Pacific Seminar on Climate Change was held in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan from 7-10 July 1997, organized by the Environment Agency of Japan, Yamanashi Prefecture, Fujiyoshida City and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in cooperation with the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations University (UNU), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan.
1.Attendance
The Seminar was attended by experts from eighteen countries, including China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tuvalu, the United States of America, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The Seminar was also attended by representatives of ESCAP, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)/the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (International Environmental Technology Center and Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific), UNU, and the Secretariat of UNFCCC. All participants appreciated efforts made by organizing agencies for having arranged this timely seminar on climate change.
2.Major objectives of the Seminar
The major objectives of the Seminar were to;
- facilitate the preparation of national communications in the countries of the region, through exchange of experiences and discussions on the preparation of initial communications from non-Annex I Parties;
- exchange information on other topics of regional concern, such as progress on activities implemented jointly (AIJ); and
- discuss a possible regional mechanism to facilitate exchange of information and views on the implementation of UNFCCC among countries of the region, including a regional network to facilitate access to the latest scientific, technological, research-related, and institutional information.
3.Conduct of the Seminar
The Seminar commenced with an opening address by Ms. Michiko Ishii, the Director General of the Environment Agency and State Minister of Japan, followed by welcoming speeches by Messrs. Ken Amano, the Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, Masatomo Kurihara, the Mayor of Fujiyoshida City, and Dr. Rezaul Karim, representative of ESCAP. The keynote address entitled "Recent progress on the implementation of UNFCCC in Indonesia " was delivered by Mr. Aca Sugandhy, Assistant Minister of State for Environment, Indonesia. The Seminar then elected Professor Kazu Kato (Japan) as Chairperson, Messrs. Aca Sugandhy (Indonesia), and Murray Ward (New Zealand) as Vice-chairpersons, and Ms. Christine Zumkeller (UNFCCC Secretariat) as Rapporteur.
4.General views
So far, insufficient progress has been made by many developed countries in meeting their aim to return GHG emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. Participants, thus, urged Annex I Parties to intensify their efforts to fulfill their commitment.
Participants considered it crucial that the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP3) agree on a protocol or another legal instrument in fulfillment of the Berlin Mandate. Considering the outcome of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Environment and Development (UNGASS), participants hoped that Annex I Parties agree upon significant reduction targets of GHG emissions at COP 3. In this connection, they expressed their wish that Japan, as the host country of COP3, take concrete initiatives, as soon as possible, hopefully before the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Group on Berlin Mandate (AGBM 7), which could build the platform for future consensus.
Many participants from non-Annex I Parties reiterated that the effective implementation of their obligations under the Convention, in particular, the preparation of national communications will need continued international support. Recognizing that all Parties should make their utmost efforts to meet the ultimate objective of the Convention, participants stressed the importance of further international cooperation. In this connection, they welcomed steps already taken by Japan and the U.S. in conducting country studies to assist non-Annex I Parties in their efforts to meet their reporting obligations. They also welcomed the Green Initiative proposed by Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto and statement made by the U.S. President Clinton at UNGASS on substantial additional funding to non-Annex I Parties. Both these initiatives were felt to be of significant importance to developing countries. Participants noted that the countries in the region have been steadily advancing the implementation of the Convention, will make further efforts to prepare national communications, and to develop, where appropriate, national plans/strategies containing measures to address climate change issues. To this end, participants believed that the concrete actions suggested in the following paragraphs would be useful, and would lead to enhanced cooperation between Annex I and non-Annex I Parties.
Participants stressed that it is essential to promote public awareness and public campaign for climate protection. All stakeholders should be encouraged to participate in this kind of activities. Media people and environmental NGOs, among others, could play a key role in carrying out such activities in an effective and efficient manner. Sound collaboration should be sought with environmental journalists' forums in respective countries as well as the Asia-Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists.
5.Preparation of national communications
Participants noted with appreciation the information provided by the UNFCCC Secretariat, GEF, UNDP, IPCC/OECD and UNEP/IETC. They welcomed the accelerated process of GEF for considering and approving enabling activity projects through the adoption of the expedited procedures. Further clarification was provided to enhance understanding of this mechanism. It was felt that clear communication about GEF procedures and GEF in general is of great importance to developing country Parties.
Participants noted the considerable progress made in the region on GHG inventories, vulnerability assessments, national communications and the setting up of national institutional mechanisms. In this connection, they expressed appreciation for the multilateral and bilateral support provided to non-Annex I Parties for country studies and national communications. However, it was pointed out that the provision of annual GHG inventory data would not be necessary for non-Annex I Parties. It is recommended that further consultation with appropriate scientific bodies such as IPCC should be encouraged in order to help establish the frequency of provision of GHG inventory data.
Participants recognized the need for capacity building and the need for further assistance to meet the obligations of non-Annex I Parties and recommended that actions be taken to:
- enhance exchange of experiences on national communications through, inter alia, regional workshops; organize training activities;
- initiate and make increased use of regional experts and expertise in project implementation;
- maintain close communication with scientific communities for latest information and promote systematic and comprehensive assessment of possible impacts of climate change; and
- exchange experiences on vulnerability assessments and further develop methodologies appropriate for the region (Participants felt the need for bilateral projects on adaptation measures.).
6.Activities implemented jointly (AIJ)
Participants noted that there are significant opportunities for AIJ projects. Some countries have been active in promoting AIJ. However, only a few countries of the region have approved AIJ projects to date. One of the reasons is the lack of understanding about the concept of AIJ, both in government agencies and the private sector. It was pointed out that at the initial stage, significant efforts are needed to promote the concept of AIJ through national seminars and workshops for various stakeholders such as government agencies, business communities and NGOs. It was felt that, in promoting AIJ projects, COP decisions, particularly Decision 5 of COP1 should be strictly followed.
Capacity building in both investor and host countries is crucial for promoting AIJ. Institutional mechanisms, such as inter-agency committees to approve AIJ projects, need to be established. Transparent procedures for approving AIJ projects are also essential for promoting AIJ. Training at national and regional levels is important to ensure appropriate development, monitoring, verification, reporting and review of AIJ projects.
A clearing house mechanism needs to be developed to facilitate communication among investor and host countries and potential project proponents. Such communication could also be promoted through multinational corporations and NGOs.
The process to develop AIJ projects should be clearly identified. In this connection, participants noted with appreciation the steps proposed by Indonesia and the project development and evaluation process presented by the United States Initiative for Joint Implementation (USIJI). Many participants pointed out the need to conduct feasibility studies before proceeding to AIJ projects. It was emphasized that technical support is required for developing AIJ project proposals in host countries.
Methodological issues such as baseline emissions calculations, monitoring, verification and evaluation of AIJ projects require further definition and clarification. Participants welcomed the initiatives taken by the UNFCCC Secretariat for resolving such problems.
7.Regional cooperation on climate change in Asia and the Pacific
Participants welcomed information on activities concerning climate change in the region provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ESCAP, UNEP/ROAP and UNDP. They particularly noted the project on Regional Network on Climate Change, which was undertaken jointly by ESCAP, the Environment Agency of Japan and UNU, and welcomed ESCAP's plan to organize an expert group meeting.
Participants noted a draft questionnaire distributed by the Environment Agency of Japan, which was aimed at preparing a consolidated report on the status of implementation of the Convention by countries in the region. They agreed to comment on and cooperate with this questionnaire survey.
Regional information network on climate change
Participants strongly expressed the need for a coordinated approach to enhance the access to and usefulness of information.
There are many existing information networks which are or could potentially be related to climate change, such as ECO-ASIA NET, AIT's database, maESTro, APEC Virtual Center for Environmental Technology Exchange, the United States Country Studies Program (USCSP) etc. It is necessary to make the best use of existing networks and therefore new institution may not be required for the purpose.
The respective roles and functions of global and regional information networks on climate change should be further elaborated, with particular attention to CC:INFO/Web, so that they would be compatible with and complementary to each other.
Various activities related to climate change have been and are planned to be undertaken in this region. Any gaps and duplications in existing programs and activities should be further addressed. As a step in developing a regional information network on climate change suited to the needs of the Asian and Pacific region, a directory (inventory) of such activities should be prepared to clarify who is doing what. It was hoped that a progress report of the directory would be submitted to the next Asia Pacific Seminar. Participants appreciated the willingness of the Environment Agency of Japan and UNU, through the Global Environmental Information Center (GEIC), to take the lead on this matter.
Possible objectives of the regional information network are to facilitate (i) information exchange concerning, inter alia, programmes and projects, (ii) policy dialogue and consultations, (iii) public awareness raising and education, and (iv) access to opportunity for environmentally sound technologies (EST). A single database may not be sufficient to meet these objectives.
It was suggested that the regional information network should (i)provide information on national focal points, national GHG inventories, national communications, AIJ, public campaigns and education, possible funding sources, etc., and (ii) serve as a clearinghouse to enable easy access to scientific and technical information relating to, for instance, environmentally sound mitigation and adaptation technologies.
Target groups for the regional information network should be clearly defined. A major target group would be policy makers, but other groups such as scientific and business communities, NGOs may also be included in the scope.
Various means of information exchange and communication, such as Internet, CD and FD, other traditional means such as newsletters and seminars/workshops may be used for the regional information network. The possibility of creating regional focal point(s) could also be explored.
International cooperation by local governments
Participants noted with appreciation the presentations made by Yamanashi Prefecture and Fujiyoshida City on their activities and campaigns to address climate change issues. These exemplary activities should be replicated at all levels of government. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI: Asia and Pacific Secretariat, Japan Office) briefed the participants on their recent initiatives to promote climate protection measures which could be taken by local governments. ICLEI's local initiatives include Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Asia and Pacific Campaign and Guidelines for Local Action Plans for Climate Protection in the region. Participants welcomed these local level actions in view of a crucial role the local governments could play in initiating and sustaining community-based actions concerning climate change. Participants expressed their wish to be kept informed of future progress on this front.
In view of the very encouraging developments reported to the Seminar and great potential such local actions may have in advancing climate protection measures in a country, participants in general agreed that:
- Experience gained by some leading local governments through implementing locally based campaigns related to climate change should be shared with other local governments in the region as much as possible, for example, through the proposed regional information network;
- Direct cooperation and collaboration among local authorities in the region to address climate change issues should be further promoted. In this respect, the role of leading local governments and ICLEI is essential; and
- National governments should encourage and support local governments to initiate appropriate local level actions.
8.Future modality and functions of the Seminar
Participants considered the positive roles and functions which the Seminar has been playing since the first meeting in 1991, prior to the Convention, and noted with satisfaction that the Seminar should generally keep its present arrangements, but could be reinforced after COP3. It was suggested that, in future meetings, broader participation be considered to involve more stakeholders, including representatives from business communities, environmental NGOs, local governments, and other forums.
It was recommended that the outcome of this Seminar be disseminated as widely as possible.
Participants welcomed a proposal to hold the Eighth Asia Pacific Seminar on Climate Change sometime in late 1998 in Thailand, in cooperation with the Royal Thai Government and ESCAP.
Kazu Kato
Chairperson
the Seventh Asia-Pacific Seminar on Climate Change
Professor, Nagoya University