The Seventeenth Tripartite Presidents Meeting (TPM17) among the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) of Japan, the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) of Korea and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) of China, was hosted by NIES and held online on December 16, 2020. President LI Haisheng of CRAES, President Watanabe Chiho of NIES and President Chang Yoon Seok of NIER, attended TPM17 with their delegations.

President LI Haisheng shared the progress achieved in China's ecology and environmental protection, including key tasks, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. He highlighted that the eight out of totally nine obligatory targets for ecology and environmental protection set out in the 13th Five-Year Plan were met ahead of schedule, and all targets would be fully completed by the end of 2020. Regarding the future work of TPM, President LI suggested that the three institutes could take the “carbon neutrality” as an opportunity making breakthrough in tripartite cooperation, with further practical cooperation be explored and multiple channels be developed for better improvement of the ecology and environmental quality in Northeast Asia, so as for our beautiful earth.

After listening to the reports on “Scientific Research Progress since TPM 16” and “Comparative Study of Science and Technology Innovation System and Mechanism of CRAES, NIES and NIER”, the three Presidents conducted in-depth discussion on future cooperation. They agreed to jointly optimize future collaboration under the TPM mechanism and signed the Joint Communiqué of TPM17.

Nearly 40 experts and representatives from CRAES, NIES and NIER attended the meeting.