1. The 20th Senior Officials’ Meeting of the North-East Asian Sub-Regional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) will take place in Tokyo, Japan, from February 1 to 2. NEASPEC is a consultative mechanism to comprehensively discuss environmental cooperation in North-East Asia.

o The ROK delegation, led by Deputy Director-General for Climate Change and Environmental Affairs Lee Hyung-jong of the Foreign Ministry and composed of officials from relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, will discuss ways to strengthen environmental cooperation in North-East Asia with delegations from China, Japan, Mongolia and Russia. The meeting will also bring together representatives from international organizations, including the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the UN Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), the Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP), and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).

2. The upcoming meeting is expected to serve as an opportunity to set the way forward for NEASPEC for the next five years and strengthen environmental cooperation between countries in North-East Asia by adopting the “2016-2020 Strategic Plan,” which contains NEASPEC’s mid-term goals and implementation strategies.

3. Participants of the meeting will also discuss progress and future plans regarding cooperation on “emitter-receiver relationship modelling” in the area of transboundary air pollution; “establishing partnership for Amur tiger and leopard conservation” and “establishing North-East Asian ecology network to preserve and restore habitats for cranes and other major birds” in the area of nature preservation; and “Marine Protected Area (MPA) network” in the area of marine preservation.

4. NEASPEC is the only comprehensive consultative mechanism on the environment in North-East Asia, which was launched in 1993 at the initiative of the ROK. The ROK government will take an active part in NEASPEC’s activities to make sure that NEASPEC continues to develop into a forum where transboundary environmental issues are discussed to promote sustainable development.


* unofficial translation