Asia-Pacific Ministerial Dialogue: From the Millennium Development Goals to the United Nations Development Agenda beyond 2015 was held in Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand, on 26-28 August 2013. The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) co-hosted a Side Event, “A Quest for Sustainable Development: Goals for Asia and Europe” on the last day of this Dialogue at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.
Earlier in 2013, the Asia Europe Environment Foundation (ENVforum) launched a research project to identify best practices and knowledge-sharing for sustainable development programs. This was in connection with a far-reaching and global effort to reshape the Millennium Development Goals into a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At this Side Event, ASEF and IGES presented a set of possible SDGs for the post-2015 global development agenda based on its research findings. Expert Commentators had been invited to join the panel discussion focusing on several key issues including: means of implementation; possible capacity gaps; and the role of the media in covering SDGs news. The Side Event took place from 9.00 to 10.30 on 28 August 2013, at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok (ROOM G).
As the Millennium Development goals are about to expire in 2015, UN Member States agreed at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals.
This upcoming Asia-Pacific Ministerial Dialogue would be the first regional Ministerial-level event to discuss the United Nations development agenda beyond 2015 following the release of the High-level Panel’s report in May 2013. The Side Event provided the attendees with concrete insights on potential directions for countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The side event was made possible via a collaborative effort and partnership. The research to be presented at this Side Event is a joint collaboration by IISD-Europe, Earth Council Asia-Pacific and Public Strategy for Sustainable Development, in association with the institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). It is a part of ENVforum’s 3-year programme “Sustainable Future: Goals for Asia and Europe”.