The Tenth Environmental Congress for Asia and the Pacific (ECO ASIA 2001) in October 2001 approved the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (APFED), an independent body of eminent persons mainly from Asia and the Pacific region. The aim of the forum is to deliberate on and present a new development model for the 21st century. Under the leadership of the Chair of the Forum, Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister of Japan, APFED concluded and presented its Message to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to the world. In the drafting process of the Message, multi-stakeholder and expert meetings were held so that the forum could incorporate the perspectives of all stakeholders and scientific knowledge.

After the WSSD, APFED began to prepare its Final Report to be finalized by the end of 2004. The next meeting, the Fourth Substantive Meeting of APFED will be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in August 2003, where members will discuss the zero-draft of the Final Report.

For the details on the APFED, please visit the following site of Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) served as the APFED Secretariat: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/ltp/activity_apfed.html