The Third Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Japan in 1987 will be a deciding point whether the international community will respond to the challenge of addressing the threats of climate change or postpone its action until the situation reached catastrophic level. While the policy makers are still deciding on what measures to take, global emissions continue to rise and threats of climate change impact is increasing as measures are being postponed. The message of the scientists is clear: the longer we postpone implementation of measures to stabilize global emissions, the more costly and risky it will be.

The East Asia region has bigger stakes in the climate issue due to the potential impacts of climate change, and the region’s growing contribution in greenhouse emissions to support its economic activities. Having a vast length of coastlines, the region is highly vulnerable to sea level rise, thus, endangering the millions of people living these areas. Climate Change will also impact on the infrastructure and the economic base of the East Asian countries. In 1990, the average carbon dioxide per capita emission in the region was 6.7 metric tons, which was way above the per capita sustainable emissions level of 1.69metric tons. With its huge economic and technological resources, the region can effectively implement measures that would adapt to climate change impacts and stabilize its emissions. This, however depends much on the political will of the governments in the region, to push for a more aggressive policies to combat climate change.

The Third Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC) in Japan is an opportunity for East Asia to lead the international community position in adopting a legally-binding document to stabilize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately, as decided upon during the Berlin Summit in 1995. This should also be taken as an opportunity to consolidate the Asian countries in its bid to define its own sustainable development agenda. In the midst of this development in the climate debate, the civil society should play a catalyzing role in ensuring that the interests of the various sectors are reflected in the process of policy formulation. At this early, NGO coordination and linkaging is crucial at the national and regional levels to set the needed momentum for a people-oriented Third Conference of the Parties of UNFCCC.