China-ROK-Japan tripartite environment ministers meeting held to discuss climate change, biodiversity

JEJU, South Korea, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The 25th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (TEMM25) took place here on Saturday and Sunday to discuss environmental issues of common concern including climate change, marine and biodiversity protection.

The annual meeting was attended by delegations led respectively by Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu, South Korean Minister of Environment Kim Wan-sup, and Japanese Minister of Environment Shintaro Ito. The three ministers introduced their environmental policies and the latest developments, and exchanged views on regional and global environmental issues.

In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Huang noted that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of China-South Korea-Japan cooperation. At the Ninth Trilateral Summit Meeting held in Seoul in May, a series of consensuses were reached including cooperation on sustainable development and coping with climate change, which has offered direction and injected new impetus for the three countries to further deepen environmental cooperation.

The South Korean side introduced its policies and measures on addressing climate change, circular economy, air pollution control, and natural ecosystem protection, while the Japanese minister elaborated on Japan's progress and measures in addressing climate change, biodiversity protection, circular economy, marine litter control, and air pollution control.

During the conference, the ministers presented the TEMM environment awards to three winners from China, South Korea, and Japan for their outstanding contributions to trilateral environmental cooperation. The three countries also reviewed the implementation of the Tripartite Joint Action Plan on Environment Cooperation 2021-202), adopted new priority areas, and signed a joint communiqué.

The annual meeting has been held in rotation among China, South Korea and Japan as the highest level environmental cooperation platform in Northeast Asia since its launch in 1999.■