The 11th International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific “Inclusive Transformation: Multi-stakeholder Collaboration Driving the World towards a Circulating and Ecological Economy”

The eleventh International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific, ISAP 2019, will be held by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and the United Nations University – Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) at Pacifico Yokohama on 30 and 31 July, 2019.

Every year, prominent researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders in business and local government, coming from more than ten international organisations, and representing both developed and developing nations, are invited to ISAP for interactive discussions on a variety of environmental themes. The forum is a valuable opportunity to understand the latest trends in international negotiations, progress on possible countermeasures to carbon emissions, and future directions for the creation of a sustainable society.

Time is ticking away. It has been over three years since the international community agreed to adopt and collectively act to implement the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The world has mobilised; actions are being taken. But there are still major challenges ahead, and the question now is how we can overcome them.

The Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C was published by the IPCC in October 2018, stressing the urgent need to make a transition to a decarbonised society, and for rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in social, economic and energy systems to drastically reduce GHG emissions. In the closing remarks of COP24, Dr. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), stated that “Science has clearly shown that we need enhanced ambition to defeat climate change”. So where do we stand now? We are at a crossroads and more importantly, we are at the point of no return. The world has to accelerate its actions for decarbonisation, and at the same time, we have to make sure the transition proceeds smoothly.

ISAP2019 will be an opportunity to introduce the research and activities of IGES and UNU-IAS, as well as to gain insights from participants at the forum, and consider how both organisations can function as “change agents” in an ever-changing world.

Theme of ISAP2019

“Inclusive Transformation: Multi-stakeholder Collaboration Driving the World towards a Circulating and Ecological Economy”

1. ISAP2019 will focus on inclusive transition, taking account of linkages between climate and the SDGs, in particular social and environmental goals, deepening the main messages from the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C and the 2019 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which will focus on climate change and other social goals.

2. ISAP2019 will address both action-oriented and scientific approaches to the issue. Such approaches include:

• Advancing transformative actions at the regional and local levels by multiple-stakeholders through a cross-sectoral approach including “Regional Circular Ecological Sphere” in Japan
• Scientific justification for managing synergies and tradeoffs between climate change and the SDGs in a more inclusive and effective manner