OVERVIEW
The Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVforum) 7th Roundtable aimed to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue from both Asia and Europe and to provide useful inputs to relevant policy processes in the domain of biodiversity and ecosystem services. It intended to provide a forum to identify opportunities for bi-regional cooperation in the area of biodiversity and ecosystem services. More than 60 participants and international and local observers from the government, industry, civil society and research sectors attended the event, which was comprised of the 2-day roundtable, as well as a scenario-building workshop prior to the roundtable.
The 7th Roundtable was organised in conjunction with the International Forum for Asia and the Pacific and the 4th Asia – Pacific Regional Network of Policy Research Institute for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development meeting organised by IGES, which brought together more than 70 experts from the Asia-Pacific region. There were positive synergies between these meetings, as some of the participants were able to attend all meetings and thereby increase the scope and quality of discussions and input during the scenario-building workshop and the roundtable.
The programme also included a tour of local environment sites, showcasing some examples of biodiversity and ecosystem services management in Hayama. This enabled the participants to have first-hand experience of the issues discussed during the event. Furthermore, an exhibition was organised featuring the works of young Japanese artists dealing with the topic of “people and nature”, which stimulated cross-sectoral exchange and multi-stakeholder discussions.
THE ISSUES
The 7th ENVforum Roundtable addressed the following key questions:
– What are some of the policy and institutional gaps that need to be filled to achieve substantial change?
– What is the significance of key ecosystems for stakeholders and private sectors in Asia and Europe?
– What are potential opportunities for the private sector when it comes to key ecosystems?
