Brown’s upcoming visit to Beijing will focus on keeping up the COP21 Paris accords momentum Trump wants to radically reverse. California’s aggressive stance on pollution controls and environmental standards will be highlighted. The governor wants to make a lasting difference in the world. [...] California’s interest and right to combat climate change and seek China’s support is understandable and has precedent. But what’s in it for China?

Efforts by China to forge a new global alliance on climate change and sidestep US president Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement were boosted after California governor Jerry Brown affirmed his state’s climate change alliance with Beijing. Mr Brown, governor of the state with the largest economy in the US, has been in China for a high-profile visit during which he pledged to co-operate in shaping global climate change policies and signed a deal with China to co-operate on clean technology.

Cities are engines of economic growth. Due to unique social, environmental and physical challenges, ASEAN cities should be able to find their own way in dealing with these issues. Collective lessons will need to be drawn from various city development projects implemented by ASEAN member states with support from international donors. These will hopefully lead ASEAN’s cities to their sustainable and livable future.

The growing recognition of water’s strategic relevance reflects global developments. In the last three years, the Islamic State (ISIS) captured the Tabqa, Tishrin, Mosul, and Fallujah dams on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. ISIS subsequently lost control of all of them, but not before using them to flood or starve downstream populations, to pressure them to surrender. [...] The importance of water in the twenty-first century – comparable to that of oil in the twentieth – can hardly be overstated.

In the future, China, Japan and South Korea should make efforts to improve their relations. First, the three countries should take positive steps to increase regional cooperation and establish mechanisms such as the Free Trade Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This is beneficial to the future development of the three countries

The fifth World Youth Alliance Asia Pacific Emerging Leaders Conference [...] with the stated aim of contributing to solution to the world's environmental problems. The Emerging Leaders Conference is an annual event of the youth-led World Youth Alliance Asia-Pacific and seeks to enable young people from diverse backgrounds to connect and share ideas in response to today's important issues.