Ministerial Conferences on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MCEDs)have been organized every five years since 1985 by ESCAP in partnership with host governments and other institutions, including the UN Environment Programme and the Asian Development Bank. This forum is the largest high-level gathering of government officials and stakeholders to discuss sustainable development in the Asian and Pacific Region.

Successive MCEDs have played an instrumental role in setting the sustainable development agenda for the region. The 2000 MCED resulted in a region-wide initiative to improve urban development; at the 2005 MCED the region's decision-makers agreed that green growth was a key strategy to achieve sustainable development, becoming global frontrunners in the process; the sixth MCED in 2010 has initiated a partnership for promoting green growth between the Asian and Pacific region and Europe – the Astana Green Bridge Initiative.