On October 28th, 2025, a senior-level roundtable event ‘CJK+ASEAN Climate Cooperation: High Ambition for Sustainable Asia’ was held in Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea (ROK), co-organized by the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). The event strategically took place ahead of the upcoming 2025 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting hosted by the ROK. Organized as a part of the Global Green Growth Week, the event aims to foster discussion, knowledge exchange, and call for implementation actions on climate issues such as energy transition and carbon market development in China, Japan, the ROK, and ASEAN.
During the Opening Session, TCS Deputy Secretary-General ZUSHI Shuji delivered his welcoming remarks to introduce the achievements of China, Japan, and the ROK in promoting climate action both regionally and independently, as well as the works of TCS in promoting environmental protection. He emphasized that CJK is ready and willing to share its experience with other countries in ASEAN via the Trilateral+X modality, in order to further accelerate green transition and sustainable development.
Mr. KIM Sang Hyup, Director-General of GGGI, also stressed the importance of resilience and cooperation, pointing out that the region is also the source of innovation and bold commitments, with East Asia especially demonstrating strong leadership in driving sustainable development. He proceeded to make a brief introduction of the program and expressed his hopes of finding new cross-sectoral cooperation opportunities through this event.
The openings were followed by keynote speeches by high-level speakers, including Mr. LIU Zhenmin, Special Envoy for Climate Change of China. Mr. Liu highlighted the efforts made by China, especially through its newly announced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). He pointed out that energy transition is the key to combating climate change, and made suggestions to steadily promote clean energy transformation in Asia, such as promoting a global just transition, reducing both pollution and carbon emission, and lastly establishing a regional platform for energy transition.
Consisting of two themes ‘Energy Transition & Industrial Decarbonization’ and ‘Carbon Markets’, the Roundtable Discussion session invited policymakers, civil society organizations, and international organizations from CJK and ASEAN to identify gaps and explore ways to accelerate existing endeavors and mandates in the region. Following the Chatham House Rule, the interactive discussion shared each country’s national policy frameworks on decarbonization and carbon markets.
The event concluded with a call for action, in which the participants welcomed the efforts to gather consensus and explore meaningful next-steps in regional efforts.
Documents
- Tripartite Joint Action Plan on Environmental Cooperation 2026-2030
- Joint Communiqué of the 26th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Among China, Japan and Korea
- Joint Communiqué of the 25th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Among Korea, China and Japan
- Joint Communiqué of the 24th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Among Japan, Korea and China
- Joint Communiqué of the 23rd Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Among Korea, China and Japan
- Joint Communique for the 22nd Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Among Korea, China and Japan (TEMM)
- Joint Communique for the 21st Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Among Korea, China and Japan (TEMM)
- Joint Communiqué of the 20th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Among Korea, China and Japan (TEMM)
