The world is now facing a critical question: how can we effectively address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution to achieve a sustainable society?

Recent efforts to answer this question have mainly focused on achieving separate targets in line with the Paris Agreement, the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While there have been increasingly ambitious responses to individual global targets, progress has been too slow and fragmented. In the meantime, a growing body of evidence has shown that one key way to addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution is to identify actions that maximise synergies and minimise trade-offs between the various global targets. Simply stated, we need integrated solutions to deal with climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental pollution and other challenges to sustainable development.

The good news is that this message is being heard. For example, several areas in Japan have adopted the Regional Circulating and Ecological Sphere (Regional-CES) to help localise the SDGs, optimise rural and urban resource flows, and harmonise relationships between nature and humanity. We have seen that the business community has sought to use market-based mechanisms not only to mitigate climate change but also to preserve ecosystems. In addition, young people continue to be agents of change in seeking environmental and socially sustainable solutions to complex problems.

This year's International Forum on Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP), now in its 16th year, will showcase how these and other examples of an integrated approach are addressing the triple planetary crisis. ISAP will also consider how integration can influence a wider range of decisions in the Asia-Pacific and pave the way for transformative change globally.

Registration and programme

This description was excerpted from isap.iges.or.jp