9 February 2021, Kobe—The 24th Joint Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) and Scientific Planning Group (SPG) Meeting of APN was held on 9 February 2021. Over 50 participants participated in the virtual meeting, including APN national Focal Points, Scientific Planning Group members and representatives from observer organizations.

The IGM approved the APN Fourth Strategic Phase Report, which summarizes the achievements of APN in contributing to the implementation of international initiatives related to global change, including disaster risk reduction and sustainability in the period between 2015 and 2020.

The IGM also approved the draft APN Fifth Strategic Plan, which sets out the overall goals of APN in the period 2020-2024 to further strengthen partnerships and activities that promote and foster regional-based research and capacity building, as a contribution to the efforts to “build forward better” and to establish a post-COVID-19 world that is more resilient, sustainable, safe and equitable.

The meeting adopted a set of draft amendments to the APN Framework Document, which were proposed to enable the streamlining of the institutional structure of APN and improve the overall efficiency of the intergovernmental network.

The following observer organizations participated at the meeting, and provided an overview of their respective institutions and updates at the interactive session: Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO); Asia-Pacific Adaptation Information Platform (AP-PLAT); the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment of World Climate Research Programme (WCRP-CORDEX); the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA); Future Earth in Asia; and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES).