APEC Ministers issue Khabarovsk Statement on environment
APEC Ministers and Senior Officials concluded the APEC Ministers Responsible for Environment Meeting in Khabarovsk, Russia today by issuing the Khabarovsk Statement of the 2012 APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for the Environment.
The Khabarovsk Statement, which was unanimously endorsed by APEC economies, provides a stocktake of key environmental issues and an updated framework for APEC and outside stakeholders to cooperatively address them.
Under the shared conviction that environmental protection and the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, ecosystems and biodiversity are essential foundations for achieving sustainable economic and social results for the APEC region, the Khabarovsk Statement spotlights the focus of APEC economies’ related efforts and expresses a variety of views on the following five areas:
- Conservation of biological diversity
- Sustainable use of natural resources
- Sustainable water management and trans-boundary watercourses
- Addressing trans-boundary air pollution and climate change
- Support for green growth
APEC Ministers and Senior Officials agreed that the environmental situation has not significantly improved over the last decades and that there are new environmental challenges which need to be addressed.
“We have seen a deterioration of our global and regional environmental conditions because of the huge manmade impact on ecosystems, said Sergey Donskoy, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation who chaired today’s closing session.
“At this stage of development, we are facing new challenges: global climate change, the deterioration of the environment and lack of fresh water.”
The consensus among APEC Ministers and Senior Officials was that further efforts are needed to conserve nature, sustainably use natural resources and protect the environment, as one of the pillars for sustainable development.
“The adoption of the Khabarovsk Statement is particularly important in light of the recent Rio+20 sustainable development conference where the principles of sustainable development for the next 20 years were announced,” Donskoy noted. “APEC economies should take actions in this regard.”
Donskoy noted the importance of cooperation in the APEC region to improving environmental protection.
“We need to set high standards for ourselves and do our best to achieve high practical results,” he offered.
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For more information, please contact David Hendrickson (in Russia) +65 9371 8901 at [email protected] or Michael Chapnick +65 9647 4847 at [email protected].
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