APEIS (Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy Project)

Background

The adoption of Agenda 21 at the Earth Summit in 1992 prompted countries, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders around the world to strengthen actions to address global environmental problems. Nevertheless, as the world prepares ten years later for the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in South Africa, the vicious cycle of environmental degradation and poverty continues to worsen and the ideal of sustainable development seems further out of reach. More than ever, today the world needs tangible answers to the question of how to achieve sustainable development.

Conditions are deteriorating in the Asia-Pacific region, home of about 60 percent of the global population, a region experiencing rapid population and economic growth. Many problems exist simultaneously here, because many countries are at different stages of economic development. Examples include the health impacts of industrial pollution, degradation of natural resources caused by industrial development, increases of pollution caused by urban activities associated with greater use of automobiles and a concentration of the population in cities, and increases in greenhouse gas emissions.

To solve such problems, the world needs a tangible path toward sustainable development and clearer plans for implementation. As one step in this direction, since 1993 the ECO ASIA Long-Term Perspective Project (LTPP) has provided policy-makers in the Asia-Pacific region with a scientific basis for policy formulation to achieve sustainable development. Its outcomes were reported to the Environment Congress for Asia and the Pacific (ECO ASIA) 2001 held in Tokyo, Japan on October 13-14, 2001. The participants endorsed the draft of the final report of LTPP Phase II, and also expressed expectations regarding the follow-up activities of the LTPP, i.e., those to be undertaken via the Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy Project (APEIS).

The launch of APEIS was proposed at the ECO ASIA 2001, with the anticipation that it would further the outcomes of the LTPP for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. The participants in the congress expressed their high expectations for the new initiative and gave suggestions for its better implementation, pointing out the need for action-oriented research, information transparency, and capacity building, and the value of maximizing participation by countries throughout the region-particularly as they undertake to implement Agenda 21. After a comprehensive discussion, the congress endorsed with appreciation the launch of APEIS as well as the establishment of the ECO ASIA Panel for its coordination[HU1].

The basic concept of APEIS is represented in paragraph 94 of the "Draft Plan of Implementation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development" developed at the fourth session of preparatory committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held May and June 2002 in Bali, Indonesia. The relevant part of the paragraph reads:

94. Assist developing countries, through international cooperation, to enhance their capacity in their efforts to address issues pertaining to environmental protection including in their formulation and implementation of policies for environmental management and protection, [including actions at all levels to][with action to]:

(a)		[Agreed] Improve their use of science and technology for environmental monitoring, assessment models, accurate database and integrated information systems;
(b)		[Agreed] Promote and, where appropriate, improve their use of satellite technologies for quality data collection, verification and updating and further improvement of aerial and ground-based observations, in support of their efforts to collect quality, accurate, long-term, consistent and reliable data;