The Asia-Pacific Network (APN) for Global Change Research is an international network of member governments whose mission is to enable investigation of change in the Earth's life support systems as it occurs in the Asia-Pacific region to (a) identify, explain, and predict changes in the context of both natural and anthropogenic forcing; (b) assess potential regional and global vulnerability of natural and human systems; and (c) contribute, from the science perspective, to the development of policy options for appropriate responses to global change that will also contribute to sustainable development.