27 October 2008: The EU and 24 Asian States have signed a
declaration urging agreement on an international framework on climate change at
the Copenhagen negotiations in December 2009. The Beijing Declaration on
Sustainable Development was agreed and signed during the Seventh Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM), held from 24-25 October in Beijing, China.

ASEM was launched in
1996 to strengthen “interaction and mutual understanding between the two
regions.” The Beijing Declaration states
that “developed countries should continue to show strong leadership and take
measurable, reportable and verifiable nationally appropriate mitigation
commitments, including quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives,
including through sectoral approach, where appropriate, as a tool to implement
them, and provide financial support and technology transfer to developing
countries.” It further provides that developing countries should take
“nationally appropriate mitigation actions in the context of sustainable
development, supported and enabled by technology, financing and
capacity-building, in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner, with a
view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions.” The
Declaration also contains several paragraphs dealing with the Millennium
Development Goals and with social cohesion. [Beijing Declaration on Sustainable
Development] [Chair’s
Statement from the meeting]