16 March 2012, Jakarta, Indonesia—The APN 17th Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM)/Scientific Planning Group (SPG) Meeting and associated committee meetings successfully concluded on 16 March 2012 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Indonesia in collaboration with Indonesia National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN). APN member country representatives, donor representatives, invited experts and observers from the global change community attended the three-day gathering to discuss activities to be undertaken in the upcoming fiscal year 2012/13 and chart new possibilities for future regional collaboration.
Major highlights
Among the major outcomes is the approval of 23 projects (including continuing projects and new proposals) for funding under the Annual Regional Call for Proposals (ARCP) programme and 17 projects under the Scientific Capacity Building/Enhancement for Sustainable Development in Developing Countries (CAPaBLE) programme. Results of the ARCP/CAPaBLE projects will be formally announced in early April.
The IGM reviewed and approved the Final Financial Report for 2010/11, Interim Financial Report for 2011/12, and Work Programme and Budget Plan for 2012/13. A new reporting style was introduced, whereby the use of resources were categorized into the actual expenditures, committed resources for ongoing projects and uncommitted resources that could be released for new and ongoing activities. The new style, which was welcomed by the IGM, was so designed to better manage and report APN financial resources for research, capacity building and focused activities.
A number of proposed continuing and new activities were also endorsed by the IGM:
- Southeast Asia Science-Policy Dialogue, and Ecosystem Services Framework;
- APN Session for PROVIA “Adaptation Futures” Conference in the lead up to Rio+20;
- UNFCCC/SBSTA and Annual Research Dialogue with the Parties;
- A series of workshops on “Satoyama, the New Commons” supported by Hyogo Prefectural Government;
- New focused activities on climate mitigation and low carbon development;
- New focused activities on climate adaptation; and
- APN/IGES Symposium on low carbon development.
The Climate Synthesis Team reported to the IGM on the progress of the synthesis activities to date, in particular on the publication of the synthesis report “Climate in Asia and the Pacific: A Synthesis of APN Activities”; the status of the peer-review paper to be published in EOS; and plans for publishing the climate book/special edition and its dissemination. The IGM welcomed the important work carried out to synthesize APN climate-related activities and to distribute such outcomes widely through various channels.
On sub-regional cooperation, delegates from South Asia and Southeast Asia gathered in their respective sub-regional groups to review past activities and exchange ideas on furthering sub-regional cooperation. Both groups acknowledged the importance of Proposal Development Training Workshops (PDTW) and agreed on continuing the activity on a regular basis at the sub-regional level to raise awareness among young scientists and researchers on the APN and its programmes. They also provided substantial input on developing further details for the sub-regional activities to be carried out in 2012/13.
Members from Temperate East Asia agreed to work together to involve more scientists from the sub-region in APN activities, initially by establishing a working group to look at relevant issues and organize a PDTW during the coming fiscal year.
Interactive Sessions
Four interactive sessions were organized during the 17th IGM/SPG Meeting. During the interactive sessions, APN country representatives shared the latest information on low carbon development and green growth in their countries, invited speakers from the science community presented on their work and its relevance to the policy-making process, and scientists from APN member countries presented their activities related to climate change adaptation in the Asia-Pacific region in the context of Sustainable Development.
A poster session was also organized where eleven young scientists from Indonesia introduced their research work through poster presentations. The best poster, entitled “Natural Properties of Carbon Stock in Customary Peat Forest at Danau Sentarum National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia,” was selected by all participants to the meeting and the winning scientist, Ms. Evi Gusmayanti from the Centre for Wetlands People and Biodiversity, Universitas Tanjungpura, Indonesia, was presented with the “Mitra Award for Global Change Research”.
The APN Secretariat would like to express its sincere appreciation to the host, member country representatives, invited experts, observers and all others for their active contribution that has led to the great success of the 17th IGM/SPG Meeting.
Photo gallery
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