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The 5th Northeast Asian Conference on Environmental Cooperation (NEAC)
7-8 October 1996, Beijing, CHINA
- The 5th Northeast Asian Conference on Environmental Cooperation (NEAC) was held on 7-8 October, 1996 in Beijing, the people's Republic of China.The Conference was organized by the National Environmental Protection Agency.Participation includes senior officials and experts from the environmental agencies of central and local governments and research organizations of the people's Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and the Russian Federation as well as representative from UNDP, WHO and WB.
- The objective of this Conference is to review the role of the Northeast Asian Conference and further employ this occasion to serve the goal of sustainable development of the region based on the experiences of last four conferences.The participants agreed that the Northeast Asian Conference on Environmental Cooperation has become an important occasion for the environmental institutions of Northeast Asian countries to be timely informed of each other's latest development on environmental policies and management.It has also played an active role in exploring possible areas and ways of environmental cooperation to push forward the cooperative activities through the existing cooperation channel, and coordinating the positions on relevant environmental issues among countries of the region.
- The subjects being discussed at the 5th NEAC were as follows:
- The recent development of environmental
policies, legislation and management in each participating
country in the context of pursuing sustainable development.
Since the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, the concept of sustainable development has stricken root in the hearts of the people, and gradually become part of the basis of policy-making with regard to economic and social development all over the world.The participants reported to the conference the latest development of environmental policies, legislation and enforcement, and management, the efforts made in pursing sustainable development in their respective country.The participants emphasized that environmental protection as the core of sustainable development should be integrated with overall economic and social development process.In the past year, great efforts were made by Northeast Asian countries in implementing Agenda 21, and their respective country's Agenda 21.The participants noticed that the special Session of UN General Assembly will be held in June, 1997.In this context, the intensified communication is needed to exchange views on the progress on implementing Agenda 21 and other decisions made in UNCED. - Solid waste management and the
prevention of illegal transboundary movement of wastes
Mongolian delegation proposed to develop technical guidelines for waste management under specific condition of each country by using already tested and implemented case studies, and advanced experiences of the participating countries of the region.
The Conference has concluded that the strengthening information exchange of waste management is important in the framework of implementing principles of Basel Convention at national and regional levels.Capacity building on this issue should be further discussed in the next meeting. - Cleaner production technologies
and integrated pollution control
The participants exchanged their information and experiences on the importance of cleaner production technologies in promoting environmental protection.
Past experiences showed that problems confronted in promoting cleaner production technologies included lack of financial resources, technical expertise, and institutional arrangements.
The participants agreed to continue the discussions on this topic at the next meeting of NEAC by presenting case studies in the member countries, identifying major difficulties and barriers to facilitate the process, and working out an effective modality as the next step, including a possibility of establishing a partnership information exchange network, and exploring a project on this topic. - UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
The participants also reported respectively their activities of implementing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).Recognizing that they had very diversified interest on climate change, the participants agreed to continue to exchange information and views to identify the areas of common interest. - Bio-diversity protection
The participants agreed that it is very important to develop a comprehensive regional bio-diversity conservation programme and coordinate the actions among member countries towards a common goal.The increase of regional cooperation, better information and specialists exchange, integrated planning and avoidance of duplication of efforts would be more efficient and effective.
- The recent development of environmental
policies, legislation and management in each participating
country in the context of pursuing sustainable development.
- Republic of Korea
proposed that Northeast Asian Ministerial Conference on
Environmental Cooperation be held concurrently with NEAC
in principle on the biennial basis.
The participants agreed to further consider this proposal at future meetings of the NEAC. - Acknowledgements
The participants and representatives expressed their deep appreciation to the National Environmental Protection Agency of the People's Republic of China for its warm hospitality and successful organization of the 5th NEAC. - Next Meeting
The participants unanimously accepted that the 6th Northeast Asian Conference on Environmental Cooperation will be held in Niigata Prefecture, Japan in 1997, with the exact dates and city to be decided later by Japanese side.
