Back to MeetingsNEASPEC 16th Senior Officials Meeting
The 16th Senior Officials Meeting was organized by ESCAP Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia (SRO-ENEA) on 1-2 September 2011 in Seoul, Republic of Korea, as the first meeting after the relocation of the secretariat from ESCAP Headquarters in Bangkok to ESCAP SRO-ENEA in Incheon, Republic of Korea. SOM-16 reviewed the progress of the programmes:
- Noted the importance of the Project on Nature Conservation in Transboundary Areas as a flagship project of NEASPEC, requesting the Secretariat to include the protected areas of Mongolia as well as considering expansion of the target species by including water birds and marine mammals
- Noted the contribution of the Project on Mitigation of Transboundary Air Pollution in improving local air quality and highlighted the significance of the continuation of knowledge transfer activities, wide dissemination of project results and collaboration with other relevant mechanisms
- Noted the contribution of the Project on Mitigation on Dust and Sandstorms and welcomed the planned future activities, namely, training programme for Mongolian experts in China and a NEASPEC side event during the 10th session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Combating Desertification
- Requested the Secretariat to develop knowledge sharing activities for the Eco-efficiency Partnership and prepare a concept paper regarding the proposed “Green University Award” programme for decision by member states.
In addition to the review of programmes, SOM-16 reflected on the global, regional and national preparatory processes for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and hold discussions on its principal themes.
Moreover, SOM-16 considered the new NEASPEC project proposals by member states, including Russia Federation’s proposal on Transboundary Air Pollution in North-East Asia and ROK’s proposals on Transboundary Marine Pollution and conservation of endangered migratory bird species.
Welcome address and opening speech
- Mr. Kilaparti Ramakrishna, Director, UNESCAP Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia
- Mr. Dongman Han, Director-General, International Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea
Election of officers and adoption of agenda
Statements by the delegations of the member States and international organizations
- Nature Conservation in Transboundary Areas
- Mitigation of Transboundary Air Pollution from Coal-fired Power Plants
- Mitigation of Dust and Sandstorms
- Eco-efficiency Partnership in North-East Asia
Secretariat will make short presentations for each thematic area followed by interventions from delegations of member States
Setting the scene: Introduction to the themes of Rio+20 and short overview of Rio+20 preparatory processes
- Overview of the global and regional preparatory processes for UNCSD, Mr. Rae Kwon Chung, Director, Environment and Development Division, UNESCAP
- Asia-Pacific multi-stakeholder dialogue on Rio+20: brief report of the 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP2011), Mr. Takashi Otsuka, Deputy Director, Programme Management Office, IGES
Review of national preparatory processes for Rio+20 (Statements of national delegations followed by discussions)
- Green economy: review of national initiatives in North-East Asia and opportunities for joint actions, Ms. Wanhua Yang, Legal Officer, Division of Environmental Law and Conventions, Regional Office for Asia Pacific, UNEP
- Potential subregional activities in North-East Asia in support of the two themes of UNCSD, Mr. Ryokichi Hirono, Professor Emeritus, Seikei University
- CSOs towards Rio+20: regional and global roles and modalities of participation, Ms. Chee Yoke Ling, Director of Programmes, Third World Network
- nterventions from national delegations and CSO representatives
Subregional inputs for the regional preparatory process (Discussion on possible modality of subregional inputs to regional and global preparatory processes and possible role of NEASPEC)
Member States, secretariat and partner organizations will present proposals for new activities within NEASPEC (each proposal will be introduced with a power point presentation followed by discussions)
Secretariat will present the update regarding institutional and financial arrangements of NEASPEC and provide some possible options for further strengthening of the Programme followed by statements from the member States.
Plan for the next SOM and other matters
