Diverse Voices Reinforce Inclusive Approach to Building a More Interconnected, Innovative and Inclusive APEC

By Ambassador Matt Murray, US Senior Official for APEC

APEC’s commitment to stakeholder engagement not only reinforces our belief in an inclusive approach to the most pressing issues we face but is a means of making better, more informed decisions when we hear from a variety of voices.

This year, we have dedicated significant time to traveling and explaining APEC to diverse stakeholder communities, particularly the connections between trade, investment and economic prosperity of everyday life in the region.

This is something we first put into practice in Honolulu during the Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting. We asked local stakeholders to provide their perspectives on the theme, priorities, and proposed work for our host year.

Throughout the year, we have listened carefully to stakeholders to ensure our APEC agenda and work reflect what is important to the people in the region, whether they hail from the private sector, civil society, think tanks, academia, advocacy groups, or labor organizations. The APEC Multistakeholder Forum is well aligned with this endeavor.

The forum’s theme, "Working through a Just Transition” is absolutely timely and critical. That is obvious given numerous challenges we currently face, none more so than climate change, a global challenge that affects us all, irrespective of our economies.

This year, under our APEC 2023 theme of “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,” APEC economies have worked together to build an “interconnected, innovative, and inclusive” Asia-Pacific region.

APEC 2023 has advanced priorities, such as climate change, supply chain resiliency, clean energy supply chains, renewable energy and technologies, disaster preparedness, sustainable aviation fuels and maritime corridors, the Decent Work agenda and inclusive human resources development, and resilient agri-food systems. In addition, conversations have centered around pathways to achieve net-zero emissions.

A very important piece we have emphasized across all our discussions, is safeguarding the most vulnerable populations impacted by climate change.

Although the impact of climate change affects everyone, it does not affect all communities equally. Some in the APEC region—often those who have not historically had opportunities to participate in making decisions to address the climate crisis—experience greater suffering.

To promote sustainable growth, we have implemented workstreams to ensure all segments of our societies are able to play a part in, and benefit from, an increasingly connected and globalized economy.

We have accelerated a sustainable transition, prioritizing and working with communities and groups disproportionately impacted by climate change, including Indigenous Peoples, workers, and women in rural areas. We have supported them in an equitable and inclusive way.

The just transition we envision includes, for example, climate financing to upskill workers, a climate and gender equity-focused roadmap plan, technologies for inclusive clean energy economy, and workers’ rights for safety and health under climate change.

We have a responsibility to actively engage with diverse voices and perspectives in climate discussions. However, this is not just the right thing to do. It is also the most effective way to do it. By bringing all groups’ unique experiences and knowledge to the table, we can find the most effective solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation for all.

This forum is a great platform to reaffirm our commitment to cooperating with civil society stakeholders on just transition topics. It enhances the important progress made by our predecessors in furthering APEC efforts to include key non-governmental stakeholders, as outlined in the Putrajaya Vision 2040 and Aotearoa Plan of Action, and APEC’s broader sustainability agenda, as defined by the 2022 Bangkok Goals.

We will have an intensive four-day program at this forum focusing on how we all can work together to serve as an incubator of ideas to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, especially on the vulnerable groups. Our efforts must not come at the expense of people who are already facing economic hardships.

This forum marks the beginning of the 2023 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week. President Biden will soon welcome Leaders and thousands of delegates from all APEC economies here to San Francisco. At the Leaders’, ministerial and bilateral meetings, we will push forward the US APEC 2023 host year’s final efforts to implement our shared visions and goals and, as Secretary of State Blinken has said, to “meet the moment we are in,” which means delivering the results the region needs “right now” in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2023 APEC road to San Francisco has been prosperous and fruitful, thanks to our stakeholders. Starting in Honolulu, and moving through Palm Springs, Detroit, and Seattle, hundreds of meetings shaped the agendas that led us to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.

Along the way, we’ve worked with our like-minded partners, the 20 other APEC economies. Together we successfully completed ministerial meetings on transportation, trade, disaster management, agriculture, health, energy, women and the economy, and small-and-medium-sized enterprises. The meetings aimed to build stronger and more sustainable resilient economies in the region, bridging governments and stakeholders together.

In particular, in Seattle, APEC Energy Ministers endorsed the “Non-Binding Just Energy Transition Principles for APEC Cooperation.”

In short, our goal in our US APEC host year, is to produce an ambitious set of economic policy outcomes, based on our year-long engagements with a diverse set of stakeholders.

This APEC Multistakeholder Forum represents our collective commitment to building a more interconnected, innovative, and inclusive APEC region by leading generative and forward-looking conversations meant to drive the outcomes that benefit all those in the region.

This is an opportunity to help all of us search for new solutions to an evolving set of challenges and to ensure that no people, workers, places, or economies are left behind during the transitions that lie ahead.

We look forward to continuing our collaboration, understanding, and cross-border cooperation by listening to voices from across the spectrum. That is the spirit of APEC: together, as partners, APEC economies and stakeholders can make significant strides towards “Creating a Sustainable and Resilient Future for All.”

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