Asia-Pacific environmental cooperation steps up to tackle 'triple planetary crisis'

South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy said Park Yeon-jae, head of the National Institute of Environmental Research, will attend the 9th session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific's Committee on Environment and Development as chief delegate to discuss ways to address regional environmental challenges. The meeting runs Tuesday through Thursday in Bangkok, Thailand.

The ministerial-level committee brings together governments, international organizations, academics and experts — about 200 participants in total — to advance sustainable development across the Asia-Pacific region.

This year's session centers on "policy coordination and implementation to address the triple planetary crisis" — climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification, and pollution. Delegates will seek integrated approaches to environmental policy that can move sustainable development forward.

The South Korean delegation plans to present the country's 2035 national greenhouse gas reduction target and its goal of deploying 100 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030. It will also stress that designing robust evaluation indicators is essential to effectively introducing nature-based solutions.

The delegation will further highlight the need for joint action on air quality using AI technology and satellite data, arguing that science-based cooperation is the cornerstone of an integrated response to the triple planetary crisis and of effective collaboration among nations.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Environmental Research will co-host a side event during the committee session with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, the Northeast Asia Clean Air Partnership and UN ESCAP. The event is titled "Advancing Clean Air in Asia and the Pacific: Lessons from Northeast Asia for Regional Cooperation."

The side event will give South Korea an opportunity to share its domestic air quality improvement experience with the broader Asia-Pacific region, introduce to the international community the joint air quality management achievements reached through Korea-China cooperation, and explore ways to strengthen regional air quality governance across Asia and the Pacific.

"Carbon neutrality is the path the entire world must take to overcome the climate crisis and achieve sustainable economic growth," Park said. "We will expand cooperation with the international community to accelerate the green transition across the Asia-Pacific region."