2015 saw the emergence of two major international aspirations related to the environment - the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formally adopted by the UN General Assembly in September as the new global development agenda and; the Paris Agreement at UNFCCC COP21 as global commitment to limit the temperature increase below 2° Celsius. These landmark accomplishments do not only provide impetus to national level action plans on fulfilling the commitments but also underscore the need for further actions at regional and local levels. These historic turning points unearth the imperative questions on what institutional architectures and policy frameworks can help mankind leapfrog towards the sustainable future. Nonetheless, these historic steps taken in unison calls for policy-relevant researches, highlight the exigency of knowledge networks and institutional mechanisms to support cross-boundary thinking for integrated policymaking, and signifies the demand for policies that inspire action from key stakeholders.
The "International Forum on Sustainable Future in Asia: Converting Aspirations to Actions" will explore the four pressing environmental issues in the region in order to elucidate the current efforts of researchers and policy-makers in the Asian countries, and understand the momentum in congruence with the targets under the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. The four sustainability challenges are:
The Paris Agreement calls for global transition to a low-carbon future by cutting emissions through innovation. In this front, Asian Governments are gearing towards making progress in developing low carbon societies and have made proposals for monitoring industry, business, transport and individual households sectors. Earlier efforts by governments have also defined progress in realizing this transition, nonetheless, challenges still remain in the way governments and citizens perceive the process. This in fact has led to heterogeneous approaches by (or within) a state making it difficult to strategies or recommend any particular measure for a country or a region. One way to bring uniformity to the process is by developing a common framework of action at an international, regional or national level. Such measures are already recommended by the United Nations and regional bodies such as ASEAN. The recent sustainable development goals also seek for low carbon measures and particularly on monitoring low carbon scenarios. Considering all the current needs, it is important to bring together the various developments that have taken place in monitoring and implementing low carbon measures in Asia and then define new ways that can meet the commitments made at Paris Agreement and at the SDG meeting in New York.
Though environmental problems are considered a global issue, the impact of environmental problems is faced more at a local scale. Hence addressing such problems require monitoring multi-scale environmental issues and we should see how it effects national and international scenarios. In order to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data at different spatial scales, both technological development and international framework for cooperation are important. The Paris Agreement provides significant impetus to Monitoring Reporting and Verification processes. The SDG - Goal 9 calls for innovation and infrastructural development as a means to provide good structured data compilation process. Considering all these, the symposium will thus look into the environmental monitoring from a local to a global level whereby, both the national and international commitments are met and adhered.
Asian region is rich in biodiversity and is also a hub for ecosystem services. However, rapid development, industrial growth and illegal harvesting have led to depletion of biodiversity. In order to address this complexity, spatial and temporal information on biodiversity is fundamental. Such information is also required for assessing the various transformation exercises carried out by governments and local bodies in Asia for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The Paris Agreement also calls to Parties to take action to conserve and enhance, as appropriate, sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases as referred to in Article 4, paragraph 1(d), of the UNFCCC, including forests. In the same vain, there exists multiple research projects to monitor biodiversity loss and management. Integration of such projects are also essential to identify key measures for addressing the challenges faced to the Asian biodiversity ecosystem. Within the SDG framework, Goal 15 especially highlights the need for conservation of biodiversity. Hence monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem services provides a key commitment to both the SDG framework and Paris Agreement.
Waste management is one of the major issues that pose challenges to the growth of Asian cities. Although advanced technologies and intensive measures associated with waste management are available and practiced in some countries such as Japan and Singapore, other developing countries in Asia are still facing severe problems in managing waste. The key question is how scientists, researchers and policy makers can address the challenges related to waste management to meet the growing needs of the developing Asia. It is also important to review the existing laws, regulations and policies on waste management in developing countries and assess their effectiveness. As such, efforts is necessary to bridge the gaps between policy and technology through sharing an overall picture of the behavioral pattern of the society and socio-economic situation at the local level. SDG 11 (11.6) particularly refers to paying attention to waste management issues.
The objective of this forum is to understand the efforts made by scientists, policy-makers and enterprises to secure a sound environment in Asia, determine the shift in policy and institutional transformations and identify the gaps that threaten sustainable development in the region. Based on the assessments, the forum will seek new ways of building bridges between science and policy through stimulating discussions among key stakeholders, catalyzing coherent researches on relevant policy issues through knowledge networks and institutional mechanisms to support trans-boundary thinking and problem-solving, and determining feasible paths towards truly sustainable societies through converting aspirations into actions at local, national and regional levels.
The expected participants are researchers from universities and governmental institutes, experts from governments and industries, and graduate and post-graduate students with interests in discourses on sustainable development in Asia.
This symposium intends to lay foundation for a consortium of relevant institutions in the region that, through periodic assembly of researchers and decision-makers, will facilitate exchange of knowledge gained through researches and catalyze dialogues at the policy-research interface in the spheres of environmental management and sustainable development in Asia.
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) promotes technological change and sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region through higher education, research and development (R&D), and outreach. Established in Bangkok, Thailand in 1959, AIT has become a leading regional postgraduate institution and is actively working with public and private sector partners throughout the region."
The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), established in 1974, is Japan's leading institute for comprehensive research in environmental science and technology. Experts in diverse fields ranging from pure sciences, engineering, agriculture sciences, medical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, and fishery sciences, to law and economics, cooperate to pioneer new methodologies and foster pioneering research that will facilitate improvements in environmental circumstances.
Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S) was founded with a vision of building a sustainable society through linking global, social and human systems. While maintaining and developing research centers of transdisciplinary sustainability science of the highest global standards, it also aims to build an international meta-network that links research and educational institutions in developed and developing countries.
Built upon the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS), which is a unique consortium of some of the world’s leading academic and research institutions and industries dedicated to achieving sustainability for the planet. AGS-Asia, operationalized in 2014, aims to be the nexus for the coordination of all nationally-focused arrangements aligned at a pan-Asian level and tap the region’s academic and research institutions, governments and industry committed to supporting sustainability utilizing AIT’s extensive global network.
