[7] After the contract of Carousel Productions to stage the Mutya ng Pilipinas and Miss Asia Pacific International pageants was not renewed in the year 2000,[8] the production company, led by Ramon Monzon and Lorraine Schuck, has decided to come up with their own pageants, with the help of former beauty queens from Mutya ng Pilipinas.

[10][11] Likewise, the pageant tied up with the Philippine government agencies such as the Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and at least two international environmental groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the American Global Release to further its environmental advocacy.

There were originally sixty countries that will compete in this edition, but was trimmed down to fifty-two after the September 11 attacks that happened in New York and Washington, United States.

The number of contestants was further whittled to forty-two following the air-strikes on Afghanistan by the coalition led by the United States.

Some countries who withdrew due to the aforementioned events include Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Malawi, Nepal, Switzerland, Uruguay, and Vietnam.