IGES worked in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop the Asia-Pacific Synergy Report, with support from the Ministry of the Environment Japan (MOEJ). This report will be officially launched at the 7th Global Conference on Climate and SDG Synergies in Bangkok at the end of June 2026, and following its release, the Ninth Session of the Committee on Environment and Development (CED9) is expected to adopt the Regional Action Programme on Synergies. Both the report and action programme are intended to strengthen the implementation of synergistic solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution control at the local, national and regional levels.
This session will discuss how to translate messages from the synergies report and the action programme into practical actions at the local level while contributing to key regional and global policy processes. At the same time, the session will examine the mechanisms and approaches required to scale up local synergistic initiatives for problem-solving, such as those implemented in Hyogo Prefecture, to the regional and international levels.
With particular focus on the synergies between climate change and the SDGs, the session will offer an opportunity for high-profile experts to deepen discussions on how decision-makers can actively work towards strengthening these synergies as well as bring those experiences into deliberations on a possible post-2030 sustainable development agenda.
Keynote Speech
Armida Salsiah ALISJAHBANA
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations / Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) [video]
Panel Discussion
Moderator
Eric ZUSMAN
Programme Director / Director of Integrated Sustainability Centre, IGES
Panelist
TBC
Panelist
TBC
Panelist
UENISHI Kotoko
Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Management Department, Hyogo Prefecture
UENISHI Kotoko joined the Hyogo Prefectural Government in 1992 as a Technical Environmental Officer. After serving as Director of the Environmental Impact Assessment Office, Environmental Management Bureau, Agricultural & Environmental Affairs Department in 2017, Director of the Water & Air Quality Control Division in 2019, and Director of the Global Warming Solutions Division in 2021, she became Director General of the Environmental Management Department in 2022. In April 2026, she was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Management Department, a position she continues to hold.