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NEASPEC Meeting
NEASPEC Senior Officials Meeting in Ulaanbaatar

From September 22–24, Dr. Bernhard Seliger of the Hanns Seidel Foundation joined the Senior Officials Meeting of the Northeast Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) in Ulaanbaatar. Delegates from six Northeast Asian countries reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation on pressing environmental challenges, from biodiversity and marine ecology to air pollution and desertification.

From September 22 to 24, Dr. Bernhard Seliger, representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, attended the Senior Officials Meeting of the Northeast Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) under UN-ESCAP in Ulaanbaatar.

Delegations from Mongolia, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea discussed key regional challenges, including air pollution, biodiversity, marine ecology, land degradation, desertification, and the development of low-carbon cities. Despite political differences, all countries reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation in these critical areas.

NEASPEC, founded in 1993 following the 1992 Earth Summit (UNCED), is the first intergovernmental mechanism jointly established by all six Northeast Asian states. It operates with a core fund and a permanent secretariat based in the ESCAP Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia (ESCAP-ENEA) in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

In his opening remarks, State Secretary Zolbayar Togtokhjargal of Mongolia’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change emphasized Mongolia’s dedication to environmental protection and its role as host of COP17 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Ambassador Ganbold Baasanjav, head of the ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office, likewise underscored the need for stronger regional collaboration to address environmental threats.

The Hanns Seidel Foundation has long partnered with UN-ESCAP on regional environmental projects, including bird conservation and marine protected areas. Its first joint initiative in 2014 was a rapid survey of bird habitats in Rason, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. At this year’s meeting, three threatened bird species once again received special attention: the Black-faced Spoonbill, the Hooded Crane, and the White-naped Crane.

Ahead of the official program, Dr. Seliger also participated in a conference on geopolitics and visited the Gun Galuut Nature Reserve.