Ensuring Sustainability as the Key Driver for Achieving Development Justice: CSO Statement at the 1st Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities of Asia-Pacific

Building on good practices in regional and global engagements in UNEP processes and the long established recognition by the UN and Asia-Pacific governments of the invaluable contributions of civil society in sustainable development, we put forward these concrete recommendations for effective and meaningful civil society engagement in this Forum: • Promote direct participation of civil society representatives based on established practices at UNEP; • Provide adequate opportunities and spaces for civil society to substantively contribute to the agenda of the Forum; 2 • Ensure timely access to documents relevant to the Forum and related processes; and • Respect and support efforts of civil society to self-organize to effectively communicate our substantive contributions to the deliberations of the Forum.