Over the last 20 years, the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) has been instrumental in shaping climate research, capacity building, networking and training activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the late 1990’s, APN has been a consistent supporter of relevant global environmental change initiatives such as the Regional Modelling Inter-comparison Project (RMIP) Asia, Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS), Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) and Past Global Changes (PAGES). By engaging young scientists and encouraging regional global change research, APN contributes to the success of various Global Environmental Change (GEC) programmes and is helping cultivate the next generation of sustainability leaders in the fields of paleo-monsoon climate, regional modelling, impact assessments and transdisciplinary studies.