The document discusses sustainable development goals and measures at regional and national levels. Key points include: 1) Implementation of SDGs needs discussion at regional levels, integration at national levels, and consultation of non-state entities. 2) National SDG targets should be set by countries, be measurable, and include policy review mechanisms. 3) A guiding framework for civil society participation is needed, including representation guidelines and accountability. 4) Mechanisms are needed for coordination across regions and compliance with global agreements.

1. Sustainable
Development
Assessment: Towards
Measurable Goals
Grazyna Pulawska
Asia-Europe Foundation
Singapore
21-22 November 2012

2. Overview
• Introduction
• Process
• Research scope
• Conclusions
• Follow up

3. ASEM process
• The Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) was officially
established in 1996 at the first summit
in Bangkok, Thailand
• ASEM is an interregional forum which consists of
the European Commission, the twenty-seven
members of the European Union (EU), the
thirteen members of the ASEAN Plus
three regional groupings
• 2008: India, Mongolia, and Pakistan
• 2010: Australia, Russia and New Zealand
• 2012: Bangladesh, Norway, and Switzerland

4. Main components of ASEM process
• Political and security dialogue
• Economy
• Education and culture
• They are so-called three pillars

5. Asia-Europe Foundation
The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) promotes greater
mutual understanding between Asia and Europe
through intellectual, cultural and people-to-people
exchanges.
Through ASEF, civil society concerns are included as a
vital component of deliberations of the Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM), which currently comprises of 49
member states plus the European Commission and the
ASEAN Secretariat (www.aseminfoboard.org).

6. Asia-Europe Foundation
ASEF was established in February 1997 by the
participating governments of ASEM and has since
engaged over 17,000 direct participants through more
than 600 projects in the realms of governance and
human rights, economy and society, sustainable
development and environment, public health, arts and
culture and academic co-operation and education.
In 2012, ASEF is commemorating its 15th Anniversary and
invites everyone to take part in celebrating Connected
Histories, Shared Future.

7. Asia-Europe Environment Forum
• partnership of the Asia-Europe Foundation
(ASEF), the ASEM SMEs Eco-Innovation Center
(ASEIC), the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Hanns Seidel
Foundation (HSF), the Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies (IGES), advisory
committee consisting of representatives from
UNEP, EU&EEA, ASEAN and recognised think
tanks from Asia and Europe

8. Role of the ENVforum

9. Asia-Europe Strategies for the Earth
Summit
• acting as a bridge between civil society and ASEM
governments
• 2-year consultation process
• 3 workshops substantiated by research
• group of 80 experts involved in the process
• Foresight approach to asses IFSD reform options
• Outcomes launched during 2 side-events during
Rio+20

10. workshop in Yogyakarta
exploring alternative futures
IFSD&IEG: state of play Megatrends analysis predefined by existing IFSD and IEG
options
2 workshop in Uppsala
presenting outcomes of the first deepening futures on the base of creating alternative
workshop recent developments in IFSD and IEG option
workshop in Bangkok
assessing all IFSD and IEG options: pros
integrating research outcomes and cons positioning outcomes for Rio+20

11. Research scope
A. Creation Sustainable Development Council
• A.1. Mapping the existing UN SD structure
• A.2. Analysis of the SDC’s place
• A.3. Proposing possible structure and functions
• A.4. Assessing the civil society participation models including
the need for an accountability framework
• A.5. Assessing of the options filtered via scenarios

12. Research scope
Implications of the regional and national SD mechanisms for
Vertical Integration
• B.1. Mapping existing regional SDC bodies in ASEM
• B.2. Assessing the efficiency of existing structures and
choosing the best practices examples
• B.3. Analysis of a potential level SDC’s place in the existing
structure
• B.4. Analysis of national models for SD structures in ASEM
countries and choosing the best practices
• B.5. Assessing the possible civil society participation models

13. Research scope
Analysis of Asian and European positions on strengthening
International Environmental Governance
• C.1. Upgrading UNEP – practical implications related with
competences and global membership
• C.2. Upgrading UNEP – legal aspects of mandate change:
UNEO or WEO.
• C.3. Options of governance structure and possible organs of
IEG body
• C.4. Funding mechanisms proposals
• C.5. Identification of common positions and opportunities for
further dialogue in ASEM based on submissions and further
negotiation positions.

14. Research team
• Ms. Ella Antonio, President, Earth Council Asia Pacific;
• Dr. Ingeborg Niestroy, PublicStrategy for Sustainable
Development
• Mr. Simon Høiberg Olsen, Policy Researcher, Governance and
Capacity Group, the Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies;
• Mr. Ruben Zondervan, Executive Director, the Earth System
Governance Project;
• Mr. Christer Holtsberg and Ms. Georgia Noaro from the
Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRC.AP) at
the Asian Institute of Technology

15. Focus points
• Focus on the sustainable development
• Asia-Europe lenses
• Civil Society involvement
• Access to information
• SD and IEG – coordination system
• Looking at the Rio+20 outcomes

16. General recommendations
• There is an urgent need to update the existing system of the IFSD to
enable it to deal with current and emerging challenges.
• There are a host of large systemic problems that need to be dealt
with to effectuate behavioural change and change the course of
global development.
• Strengthening the environmental dimension and reforming the IFSD
are not mutually exclusive undertakings.
• Integrating the dimensions of sustainable development requires
prolonged attention and effort from highest-level line ministries of
all sectors on national, regional and global levels.
• National planning can create positive incentives for a wider
involvement from the bottom-up by including SDGs throughout line
ministries’ portfolios, that will also ensure their participation at the
intergovernmental level.

17. Summary of findings: SDGs
• the implementation of SDGs needs to be discussed and
agreed upon at regional levels (by regional, sub-
regional bodies, etc.),
• once integrated at the national levels, ensuring
common but differentiated responsibilities is crucial
• non-state entities such as civil societies and business
councils, etc. must be consulted in the formulation of
SDGs
• ideal participation should be proportional (formula
should integrate local realities)
• non state actors should be accountable to public

18. Summary of findings: SDGs
• National SDGs targets are to be set by countries
• targets should be measurable (including deliverables
and milestones)
• policy review mechanisms should be in place to
enable peer review (ensuring independent
monitoring)

19. Summary of findings: civil society
• a guiding framework should be established
• it must include, among others, mandatory
participation of non-state actors in planning and
policymaking at all levels
• guidelines for representation
• accountability systems and procedures
• maintenance of independence

20. Summary of findings: regional and
national measures
• set up a platform for co-ordination and knowledge
sharing among sub-regions or across regions since
current mechanisms are confined within regions and
within sub-regions (ASEM as possible mechanism to
explore)
• establish systems and procedures that would
improve enforcement and compliance of global
agreements
• monitoring and evaluation of performance of nations
and sub-global bodies in complying with said
agreements

21. Summary of findings: regional and
national measures
• strengthen nsd mechanisms by addressing issues
and challenges that beset them foremost of
which are inadequate participation of non-state
actors
• clarify functions and focus areas of co-ordinating
mechanisms at each level (the subsidiarity
principle)
• strengthen the existing political and
administrative mechanisms for vertical and
horizontal coordination

22. Summary of findings: regional and
national measures
• provide access to adequate and sustained financing
for NCSDs including for its nonstate members
• build capacity especially of national sustainable
development bodies, by strengthening technical and
substantive inputs, providing venue for exchange of
knowledge and experiences, meetings and joint
project
• establish an Asia-Pacific Principle 10 Convention to
ensure stakeholders’ access to information and allow
them to contribute substantively to policy and
decision making

23. Enabling conditions
• increasing public awareness and education
• developing skilled human resources
• disseminating information on good practices
• creating the appropriate financial mechanisms
(policy level eg. incentives, green tax etc.)

24. Follow up
2013- 2015
• continuation of research on SDGs in ASEM countries
– knowledge management
– information tailored to target group
– multi-stakeholder consultation
• proposing a set of SDGs indicators on the regional level
Specifically:
• what do SDGs mean for ASEM countries
• how it translates into strategies at the national level
• what are the implementation mechanisms
• how the bodies responsible could cooperate
• how to ensure connection & consistency with other policies

25. Conclusions
• Informal process can help to create awareness and provides
room for discussion of various suggestions
• Input from civil society provides valuable knowledge from
practical experiences and should be heard on political level
• Spin-offs from high-level bi-regional events can lead to
practical policy implementation on a national or even local
level
• Supranational institutions equipped with sufficient resources,
a certain power to act and make decisions, can provide a
suitable institutional framework to deal with
international/trans-national problems