Northeast Asian Conference on
Environmental Cooperation

This conference has been held annually since 1992 to exchange views and policy dialogue among environment experts from Japan, China, Mongolia and Russia and the Republic of Korea, and for deeper discussions on environmental cooperation in the region. This conference aims to contribute to the promotion of environmental policy in respective countries and bilateral and multilateral official cooperation through sharing environmental information and strengthening mutual understanding among them, rather than to make decisions.

The Conference has drawn the participation of experts from national environmental authorities, local governments, and research institutes from the five countries, as well as observers from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

[Background]

Initiated by a proposal from Republic of Korea in 1988, Japan and Korea have been holding environment symposia. Through the cooperation of UNEP, the scope of participation was widened to include China and later Mongolia and USSR as observers. This led to a study on the possibility of expanding the meeting to an exchange of information and regional cooperation among Northeast Asian nations. Since 1992 until 2007, the meeting was reorganized and held as the Northeast Asian Conference on Environmental Cooperation.

[Past meetings]