KOBE — A two-day environmental conference for the Asia-Pacific region ended late Sept. 8 after an appeal was made to advanced countries to take initiatives in substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The special chairman’s appeal, adopted by the sixth Environment Congress for Asia and the Pacific, also called on advanced countries to transfer climate-friendly technology and provide financial resources to support developing countries’ efforts to mitigate global warming. The environment congress was intended as preparation to help the Kyoto United Nations global warming conference, scheduled for December.
In its appeal, the group requests that developed nations in the Asia-Pacific region cooperate in promoting research, information exchange and public awareness toward sustainable development and climate protection. Forming regional networks and creating regional model projects will facilitate to conduct those activities, it says. Michiko Ishii, director general of the Environment Agency, chaired the Eco Asia ’97 conference, which ended Sept. 8.
Seven environment ministers and 24 other high-level officials from 19 countries, 12 representatives from 11 international organizations and 12 experts participated in the two-day meeting, sponsored by the Environment Agency and the Kobe Municipal Government.
