Overview

1. Date and Venue | 2. Organizers | 3. Objectives | 4. Participants

1. Date and Venue

Date: 24-26 February 2009
Venue: Grand Hyatt Seoul (Add: 747-7 Hannam 2-Dong, Yongsan-Ku, Seoul, South Korea, Tel: +82-2-797-1234, Fax: +82-2-798-6953, Website:  http://seoul.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp)

2. Organizers and Supporting Organizations

Organizers:

• United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD)

• Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs (MLTM)-Republic of Korea

• The Ministry of the Environment-Japan

Supporting Organizations (Tentative):

• World Health Organization (WHO)

• German Technical Cooperation (GTZ)

• Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)

• Global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP)

• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) Center

• World Bank

• The Korean Transport Institute (KOTI)

3. Objectives

The primary objectives of the Fourth Regional EST Forum are:

1. To conduct policy dialogue and share best practices, policy instruments, tools and technologies in the areas of urban environment and transport in line with the philosophy of EST;

2. To follow-up on the implementation of the Aichi Statement, adopted in the First Regional EST Forum held on 1-2 August 2005 in Nagoya, Japan through sharing government initiatives and policies in relation to the ten thematic areas of EST;

3. To discuss and explore linkages with other on-going national, regional and international activities / initiatives in promoting environmentally sustainable transport.

4. To focus on how Asian countries can take a more active role in climate change mitigation by adopting a co-benefit approach which integrates urban air quality management, energy efficiency measures, and climate change mitigation through EST measures.

5. To adopt the Seoul Statement, which highlights the contribution of EST measures in the context of low carbon green growth.

4. Participants (Full participants list)

A total of approximately 200 participants attended the Fourth Regional EST Forum including:

1. National Government representatives from both the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Transport from 22 Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, P. R. China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam). In addition, representatives from the Ministry of Health attended the Second Regional EST Forum with the support of World Health Organization (WHO).

2. International Experts selected for different thematic areas of EST

3. International organizations and research institutions working in the fields related to EST.