June 7, 2003
The Eleventh Environment Congress for Asia and the Pacific (ECO ASIA 2003) was held on June 7 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The themes were "Efforts toward the Establishment of a Sound Material-Cycle Society" and "Implementation of the Outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development." There were lively discussions on initiatives for achieving sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific. It was agreed that ECO ASIA would serve as a venue for the exchange of views at a ministerial level on matters related to the Johannesburg Summit and that the outcome of ECO ASIA would input to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in its next meeting.
The main outcomes of deliberation were summarized in the Chair's Summary of the Eleventh Environment Congress for Asia and the Pacific.
he meeting was organized by the Ministry of the Environment, co-hosted by Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokosuka City, Hayama-machi, and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting had 88 participants from *20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region including five environment ministers and representatives from **international organizations.
*Participating countries (20) to ECO ASIA 2003
**Participating international organizations (12) to ECO ASIA 2003
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