10 November 2014: The 26th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting released a Joint Statement addressing the advancement of economic integration; promotion of innovative development, economic reform and growth; and strengthened comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure development, among other issues.

More specifically, the Statement includes subsections on inter alia: environmental goods and services; intellectual property rights (IPR); ocean cooperation; energy; forestry and wildlife; science and technology; women; food safety and security; disaster management; health; and urbanization. It also includes annexes on, inter alia: the promotion of renewable and clean energy trade and investment; and ocean cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Joint Statement reaffirms commitments to conserve wildlife resources and combat illicit transnational trade in protected wildlife, including timber. Commenting on the APEC Statement, John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), welcomed the statement’s commitment to: continue to facilitate trade in legally harvested wildlife while combating wildlife trafficking; strengthen efforts to improve the livelihoods of rural communities; and share information, intelligence, experiences and best practices to fight illicit transnational wildlife trade.

On ocean cooperation, the ministers encourage the development of environmentally-friendly, ocean-related economic activity to ensure the sustainable management of marine resources, such as marine renewable energy, and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. The statement also welcomes the APEC ‘Workshop on the Climate Change Impact on Oceans and Fisheries Resources.’

On energy, the statement reiterates the “aspirational goal of reducing APEC’s aggregate energy intensity by 45% from 2005 levels by 2035” and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption while still providing essential energy services. Furthermore, the statement: recognizes that fossil fuel will continue to play a significant role in the region’s energy mix; reaffirms the importance of clean and efficient fossil fuel use; encourages the development and application of clean coal technologies; and supports safe and efficient nuclear power development.

On disaster management, ministers call for more emphasis on the application of science and technology in disaster preparedness, risk reduction, response and post-disaster recovery, and search and rescue cooperation. They also commit to improve the resilience of supply chains in APEC economies; and encourage additional emergency response mechanisms to increase energy infrastructure resilience to natural disasters and climate change. They urge the application of innovative science and technology to better utilize big data and share information that will improve capacity building on disaster resilience for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and global value chains.

The APEC Ministerial Meeting was held from 7-8 November 2014, in Beijing, China. [APEC Ministerial Statement] [CITES Press Release] [26th APEC Ministerial Meeting Website]