The Ministry of Environment (Minister Kim Wansup) announced that the ‘25th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting (TEMM*24)’, involving South Korea, Japan, and China, will be held for two days from September 28 at the Jeju International Convention Center to discuss Northeast Asian environmental issues such as climate change and the plastic treaty.

* TEMM: Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among Japan, Korea, China 

This meeting will be attended by Minister of Environment Kim Wansup; Japanese Minister of the Environment Shin-Taro Ito; and Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu, along with representatives from the governments of the three countries.

The meeting will begin with bilateral meetings between countries on September 28, followed by the main session of the TEMM and various side events and press conferences on September 29.

Initiated in 1999 at the proposal of South Korea, the TEMM is held annually in rotation among the three countries and serves as a ministerial consultative

At this meeting, the ministers from the three countries will directly introduce their major environmental policies and discuss cooperation measures for addressing environmental issues at the Northeast Asia level.

Minister Kim Wansup will review the implementation status of the Tripartite Joint Action Plan, which includes eight areas of joint action such as climate change and fine dust responses and biodiversity. He will also introduce South Korea's efforts to address domestic and international environmental issues.

In addition, discussions will continue on the environmental cooperation matters from the trilateral summit held in Seoul in May this year, including dust storm reduction through cooperation among the three countries and Mongolia.

The ministers of the three countries will review the achievements in the eight* areas of cooperation related to climate change and others, and are expected to adopt a Joint Communique containing the review results and future cooperation plans on September 29.

* Air quality improvement, circular economy, water and marine environment management, climate change, biodiversity, chemical substance management, green economy, and environmental education

In addition, discussions will be held on the establishment direction of priority cooperation areas for the fourth Tripartite Joint Action Plan (2026-2030), which will be created after the completion of the third Tripartite Joint Action Plan (2021-2025) in 2025.

The establishment direction of priority cooperation areas classifies the existing eight areas of cooperation into three goals: environmental quality improvement, carbon-free green growth, and environmental welfare, and restructures the existing cooperation areas under these categories. As part of this restructuring, the main focus includes the establishment of new areas for plastic reduction cooperation and living environment issues such as noise and light pollution.

The fourth Tripartite Joint Action Plan is expected to be finalized at the 26th TEMM, which is scheduled to be held in China next year.

Meanwhile, the 25th TEMM, held this year, will feature side events including a youth forum involving youth from the three countries and the 9th Tripartite Roundtable on Environment Business.

The youth forum, held at the Jeju International Convention Center, will feature youth representatives selected from the three countries (5 from each country, totaling 15) who will discuss the topic ‘Transitioning to a Sustainable Circular Economy: The Contribution of Youth.’

The 9th Tripartite Roundtable on Environment Business will be held for two days from September 27 at Lotte Hotel Jeju (located in Seogwipo), with participation from government officials, industry representatives, and experts from the three countries to discuss various issues under the theme ‘Efforts of the Governments and Industries of the Three Countries for Carbon Neutrality.’

In addition, during this meeting, the Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting Environment Award will be presented to those who have contributed to environmental cooperation among the three countries.

Our award recipient will be Senior Researcher Choi Jae-yeon from the International Environmental Cooperation Center of the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, who will be recognized for contributions to Northeast Asia environmental cooperation focused on plastic reduction.

Minister of Environment Kim Wansup stated, “As neighboring countries, our three countries have mutual environmental impacts, so close cooperation is essential.” He added, “Through this Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting, we will discuss Northeast Asian environmental issues such as climate change and plastic and strive to find solutions.”

For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division. 

Contact person: Gina Lee, foreign media spokesperson

Phone: +82-44-201-6055

Email: gcjgina @gmail.com