APEC 2022: Bangkok Goals on Bio Circular Green (BCG) Economy
The 2022 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) resulted in an agreement on The Bangkok Goals on Bio Circular Green (BCG) Economy. The agreement was made at the APEC meeting in Thailand which took place on November 18-19.
What is APEC?
For information, APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation which is a regional economic forum that was established in 1989. This forum aims to build cooperation between Asia-Pacific countries to create wider prosperity for people in this region by promoting balanced growth, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure and by accelerating regional economic integration.
APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM)
The 29th AELM meeting resulted in The Bangkok Goals on BCG. The contents of this agreement are recalling the Putrajaya Vision 2040 which creates an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific. In addition, these leaders are committed to advancing the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). They also complementing global efforts such as the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Last, they commit to increasing Asia-Pacific relations and openness through the APEC Connectivity Blueprint (2015-2025).
APEC will develop existing targets and workflows in relation to its objectives including addressing all environmental challenges. They are also commit to advancing sustainable and inclusive trade and investment, such as encouraging the MSME and startup business ecosystem. In addition, they are also commit to promoting environmental and biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and management of natural resources, and advancing resource efficiency and sustainability with waste management towards zero waste.
The Enabler Must Be Accelerated Through APEC
The following are enablers that must be accelerated through APEC. The first is conducive and agile regulatory frameworks and enabling business environment. Second, capacity building to increase cooperation in building sustainability through technology transfer, and inclusive development of human resources. Third, encourage an environment that supports infrastructure, finance, investment, science, technology, innovation and digitalization. Fourth, they need to create collaboration between the public sector, private sector, financial sector, academia, other international and regional organizations. They also need collaborate with other relevant stakeholders such as ABAC, ASEAN, PECC and PIF.
The Bangkok Goals on the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG)
The Bangkok Goals on the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) is a comprehensive framework for achieving sustainable goals from APEC. Therefore, they will also launch the APEC BCG Award to appreciate achievements in the region towards sustainable growth. Therefore, this agreement is a great opportunity for Indonesia to accelerate circular economy through innovation and use of technology and digitalization. As the message conveyed by Joko Widodo that global economic challenges need to be faced with the collaboration of the digital economy and the green economy.
Circular Economy in 29th AELM
One of the goals of the Bangkok Goals on BCG is to advance resource efficiency and sustainable waste management towards zero waste. This goal is realized by increasing cooperation to advance the circular economy approach. This includes through the promotion of circular business models and exchange policies and best practices. As well as sustainable patterns of production and consumption. This shows great potential for business practitioners to start transitioning their business towards a circular economy with a circular business model approach.