By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
The environment ministers of Korea, China and Japan agreed on the need to make joint efforts to cope with climate change at their 11th regular meeting in Beijing Sunday.
Zhou Shengxian, minister at the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection, and Tetsuo Saito, minister of the environment in Japan, participated in the meeting with Lee Maan-ee, their Korean counterpart.
Launched in 1999 at Korea's initiative, the meeting is designed to exchange views on current environmental conditions, promote cooperation and conduct joint projects.
The ministers agreed on the need for East Asian countries to make a contribution to raise awareness on environmental issues. They also agreed to cope with emerging environmental challenges for the next decade.
They made a special reference to yellow dust ― local air pollution ― and building a joint cooperation system as their priorities.
Lee presented Korea's low-carbon green growth strategies, such as the four-river restoration project and green transportation networks.
``We reconfirmed the importance of environmental cooperation and we will strive to work together more with follow-up measures,'' said Lee.
The three ministers shared the idea of a ``Green New Deal'' ― increasing sustainability of investment by putting more money into environmental infrastructure and energy source diversification as a part of a stimulus package.
They also suggested a proposal for a tripartite summit of Korea, China and Japan in August to adopt a joint statement to consolidate environmental cooperation.
Lee said the statement would strengthen cooperation among Northeast Asian countries and provide a blueprint for future work.