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Hanns Seidel Foundation co-organized the Asia-Europe Environment Forum’s Annual Conference on the Roles of Consumers in Triggering Changes in Consumption and Production
ENVforum Annual Conference on Sustainable Consumption and Production

As one of the partners of the Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVforum), the Hanns Seidel Foundation joined hands this year again with the Asia-Europe Foundation to organize the Annual Conference on the Roles of Consumers in Triggering Changes in Consumption and Production. The Conference was hosted by the Institute of Global Environment Strategies (IGES) and held back to back to IGES’s International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP 2019) in the harbour city of Yokohama (Japan).

H.E. Eang Sophalleth, Secretary of State, Cambodian Ministry of Environment, delivering a keynote remark

HSF

The conference was opened with a special remark by Ambassador Kojiro Shiriji and two keynote remarks by H.E. Satoru Morishita, Vice Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministy of Environment of Japan and H.E. Eang Sophalleth, Secreraty of State, Ministry of Environment, Kingdom of Cambodia. H.E. Eang Sophalleth attended the conference from an invitation of the Hanns Seidel Foundation. His keynote remark highlighted the rapid expansion of Asian middle class and the role of Asian consumers in shaping the future market towards sustainability.

Dr. Axel Neubert, country director of the HSF Vietnam, opened the conference by stating that “consumers must be involved and need to be aware of their role in sustainable growth”. 

Group photo with all participants

HSF

The conference was well attended by almost 100 participants  from Asian and Europe countries, with representatives from the government, academia, private sector and international organizations. Representatives from the ASEAN member states such as Lao PDR, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia were invited by the Hanns Seidel Foundation and contributed to the conference with the national and regional insights.

The case research on SDG12 - Sustainable Consumption and Production for Lao PDR, which was initiated and supported by HSF last year, was also presented in the conference by the lead researcher, Lukas Maximilian Müller, and commented by Ms. Sisavanh Didaravong, Deputy Director General, Center for Development Research, Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment.

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