In the afternoon of March the 10th, the Ministry of Environment (ME, Minister Han Jeoung Ae) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA, Minister Chung Eui-yong) held the fifth Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit to be held for two days on the 30th of May, 2021 at the government building of MOFA, located in Jongno-Gu, Seoul. 

※ Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) is a multi-lateral cooperation channel through which public and private organizations across the world can work together to accelerate green growth and progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Its twelve-member states, including the Republic of Korea and Denmark, join forces to hold a summit biennially.

* The official name: 2021 P4G Seoul Summit 

* Alternate name: the "2021 Seoul Summit for Green Future" in Korean.

The preparatory meeting, co-chaired by Ministers Han and Chung, was held for the first time since both Ministers had been inaugurated as the co-chair of the Preparatory Committee. 

※ The Participatory Committee consists of 22 members in total: 16 ex officio members in the position of Vice or Deputy Ministers of 14 relevant Ministries, including co-chairs, the Minister of Environment and Minister of Foreign Affairs; and six entrusted members from the relevant agencies, businesses, and civil societies.

The meeting began with the opening speech delivered by Minister Chung, followed by a comprehensive review on the overall preparations for the "2021 P4G Seoul Summit" and action plans of general and special sessions for each Ministry. Following this, Minister Han closed the meeting after delivering her remarks. 

Minister Chung said, "the P4G Summit gives us a very good opportunity to show global leadership in both the climate and environment sectors." She added, "we will thoroughly prepare and make it an exemplary case of a virtual summit."

Minister Han said, "this P4G Summit should send the world much stronger messages for climate action as carbon neutrality becomes the new norm globally." She also stated that "we will work hard with the relevant Ministries to successfully host this summit."

Mr. Yoo Yeon-chul, Executive Director of the "2021 P4G Seoul Summit" Preparatory Office reported i) preparations for the "2021 P4G Seoul Summit" and ii) action plans to push forward with general and special sessions. Following this, participants shared constructive ideas on how to hold a successful summit during the meeting.

The "2021 P4G Seoul Summit" is the first multi-lateral environmental summit hosted by Korea and its Preparatory Committee touched on preparations as the summit had been decided to be held virtually, structures of thematic sessions, and outcomes, such as the tentatively titled "Seoul Declaration."

※ The "2021 P4G Seoul Summit" was originally planned to be held for two days from the 29th to the 30th of June, 2020. However, it was rescheduled for the 30th and 31st of May, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The P4G Summit is expected to be attended by as many heads of states as possible since it is to be held virtually. Therefore, the Preparatory Committee also discussed how to deliver messages effectively to those who participated virtually. 

Individual sessions will be held in a hybrid format, meaning there will be both in-person and video conferences, which will focus on five key areas of P4G, including water, energy, agriculture/food, cities, and a circular economy. On top of those, a variety of topics, such as the future generations and green finance* will be touched upon during the special sessions. 

* The future generations, the practice of carbon neutrality, green technology, ocean, biodiversity, business fora, forest, Green New Deals, and green finance are included. 

In addition, the tentatively named Seoul Declaration, which reflects the commitment of the participating countries to climate action, will be adopted as an outcome of the P4G Summit.