In response to this challenge, the UN Economic and Social Commis-sion for Asia and the Pacific (Escap), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs will jointly host a "Workshop on Develop-ing Sustainability Strategies in Asia" this Thursday and Friday at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.

Escap regional participants from Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, Tuvalu and Vietnam will attend. They will join colleagues from the 30 industrialised member countries of the OECD and representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to discuss ways of incorporating environmental and social concerns into development planning.

Escap executive secretary Kim Hak-su and OECD deputy secretary-general Kiyo Akasaka will participate.

A recent Escap report warned that the Asia-Pacific was already living beyond its ecological carrying capacity. To ensure continuing economic growth, countries in the region will have to move away from the current "grow first, clean up later" mentality and embrace a "green growth" model.

The green-growth model proposed by Escap emphasises that environmental and ecological considerations must be integral to policy planning, in order to ensure long-term economic and social viability, and that economic growth not be measured in gross domestic product alone, but also in a set of "eco-indicators".

The green-growth model is also about viewing environmental protection and clean production not as a cost or burden, but rather an investment. It entails actively promoting business opportunities in such activities and making the tax system favourable to environmental-friendly projects. Green growth also calls for a sustainable consumption pattern.