TEMM-9 held in Toyama, Japan

The 9th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting (TEMM) was convened on 5-6 December 2007 in Toyama, Japan.  TEMM is a regional mechanism among the three environment ministers of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.  In the Joint Communique released after the meeting, the three countries expressed their appreciation for the joint efforts made within the framework of NOWPAP and its Marine Litter Activity while recognizing the importance of further collaboration on marine litter and other areas related to marine and coastal environmental protection. It is the first time that a TEMM session was held outside the capitals of the three countries, sending out a positive signal of encouraging more local involvement in the environmental cooperation among the countries. Immediately prior to the meeting, the Northeast Asia Environmental Partners Forum has been held on 4-5 December 2007, where the forum participants were greeted by Toyama Prefecture Governor and NOWPAP Coordinator.  During the Forum, three main topics were discussed by experts from four NOWPAP member states, China, Japan, Korea and Russia:  1) transboundary environmental monitoring system;  2) sharing technical information for environmental conservation;  3) development of human resources for environmental conservation.