The PBC was among the 42 countries and 122 institutions which was given
an official seat and special consultative status during the 4th
Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development for Asia and the
Pacific held last August 31 - September 2, 2000 in Kitakyushu, Japan. The
meeting was organized by UN-ESCAP and sponsored by UNEP, ADB and the
Fukuoka Prefecture of Japan.
The meeting is convened every 5 years and this particular one is
a preparatory meeting prior to the Rio + 10 review in 2002 which was
proposed to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Among those present during the meeting were the director-general of
UNEP Dr. Klaus Töpfer, ADB President Mr. Tadao Chino, Executive Secretary
of UN-ESCAP Dr. Kim Hak-Su, Ministers of Environment of 39 countries, and
representatives of other UN agencies and its specialized agencies and
non-governmental organizations. Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister of State
and Director General of Environment Agency of Japan, was elected
chairperson.
The Rio + 10 conference aims to review the global achievements of
Agenda 21 on sustainable development adopted in 1992 during the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, was then the head of the World
Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) which published the book
“Our Common Future” in 1987. She is currently the director-general of
WHO.
PBC’s official representative to the meeting was its Executive
Secretary, Dr. Gene Peralta, who also prepared the background paper for
the World Health Organization (WHO) on Environmental Health and
Sustainable Development in the Asia and the Pacific, 1996-2000. That
meeting generated potential collaborative activities for PBC with several
participants and agencies in strengthening hazardous waste management in
the region. A complete list of participants and papers can be requested
from the PBC secretariat. More information about this meeting can be found
at ESCAP’s website