GCP URCM Seminar Series: Regional Approach to Climate Change Issues: Two Cases in Asia-Pacific

Though the climate change issue is a global challenge, and it requires efforts in concert, there are several initiatives at different levels, including regional ones. Especially in Asia and the Pacific, the recent trend is that governments, academia, and other stakeholders are accelerating regional efforts according to their respective interests. In this session, two cases of on-going regional efforts are introduced, the Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Inventories in Asia Region (WGIA) and the Asia-Pacific Seminar on Climate Change (AP Seminar). With certain track records of success, the speakers will suggest elements of regional efforts, which may complement other types of efforts, and further effective actions to address climate change. To facilitate interactions among participants, the speakers also wish to pose the following preliminary questions;

1. What are the benefits/strengths of a regional approach?
2. What kind of success do we have?
3. What are the opportunity areas for action?
4. How can we increase the effectiveness of a regional approach?

Ms. Chisa Umemiya
Ms. Umemiya is an assistant fellow of the Greenhouse Gas Inventory Office (GIO) at the National Institute for Environmental Studies. Since joining GIO in 2004, she has been involved in planning and coordinating a regional annual workshop for greenhouse gas inventory-related experts in the Asia region. She has also participated in the capacity building research project in Cambodia and Thailand with the focus on the improvement of quality of their inventories. Her current research interest is a network approach to enhance the capacity of countries to prepare inventories under the UNFCCC. She holds an MSc in Forest Ecology from the University of Edinburgh.

Mr. Makoto Kato
Mr. Makoto Kato is a researcher at Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center (OECC), Japan. Under his previous service with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), he began working for the Asia-Pacific Seminar on Climate Change, which functions as a major regional vehicle for policy development for governments and other stakeholders. He recently joined the Delegation of Japan to COP of the UNFCCC and COP/MOP of the Kyoto Protocol, and negotiates primarily on developing country-related issues, including capacity-building and clean development mechanism (CDM). He holds a LL.M in International Law at the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University.

Shobhakar Dhakal