6th AMME+3 (EMM), 2007

6th AMME+3 — 10th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment, 3rd Conference of Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, 6th ASEAN Plus Three Environment Ministers Meeting

Ministerial-level Statements
Socio-cultural Cooperations
Environment
AMME+3 (EMM)

Bangkok, Thailand  7 September 2007

  1. Ministers responsible for environment from ASEAN Member Countries held their 10th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment, and also met as the 3rd Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Bangkok, Thailand on 5-6 September 2007. The Ministers also met their counterparts from the Peoples’ Republic of China, Japan and Republic of Korea at the 6th ASEAN Plus Three Environment Ministers Meeting on 7 September 2007.
  2. The Ministers noted that ASEAN Member Countries are experiencing extreme weather events that could be due to the impacts of climate change. The Ministers noted that there is on-going work by ASEAN Member Countries on climate change issues and the need to further cooperate in this area. The Ministers further noted the need to establish the vulnerability of the ASEAN Member Countries to the impact of climate change on the environment, biodiversity and water resources, and agreed to cooperate by sharing findings of national studies.
  3. The Ministers expressed their commitment to support the ASEAN’s decision to declare “Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development” as the theme for the 13th ASEAN Summit to be held in Singapore in November 2007. The Ministers exchanged views on the draft declarations to be issued at the Summit. The 3rd East Asia Summit also to be held in Singapore in November 2007 is expected to issue a declaration on climate change, energy and the environment.
  4. The Ministers also agreed to fully support Indonesia in the successful hosting of the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 3rd Meeting of the Parties (MOP) of the Kyoto Protocol in Bali, Indonesia in December 2007.
  5. The Ministers reviewed national, sub-regional and regional activities to address land and forest fires in the region and its associated transboundary haze pollution. The Ministers welcomed the substantive progress in the implementation of concrete on-the-ground activities, especially in the implementation of Indonesia’s Plan of Action. The Ministers welcomed the efforts of Malaysia and Singapore to assist Indonesia in undertaking activities at the provincial level.
  6. The Ministers pledged to remain vigilant and continuously implement preventive activities even though the efforts undertaken so far and the favourable weather conditions during the current dry season have reduced the occurrence of land and forest fires. The Ministers noted that ASEAN Member Countries have started contributing to the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Pollution Control Fund to realise their pledge of providing an initial seed contribution of US$500,000. The Ministers discussed strategies to mobilise additional resources to the Haze Fund, and identified high priority/urgent activities to be implemented to address land and forest fires. The Ministers also agreed to establish a sub-regional Technical Working Group to focus attention on addressing land and forest fires in the northern part of the region.
  7. The Ministers adopted the ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan (AEEAP) 2008-2012 with the theme “Environmental Education for Sustainable Development” to realise the ASEAN Vision of a clean and green ASEAN through environmental education and public participation.
  8. The Ministers agreed to showcase environmentally sustainable cities in ASEAN, among others, by recognising exemplary national efforts through an ASEAN ESC Award to be conferred annually beginning 2008 on the occasion of their ministerial meetings.
  9. The Ministers expressed their full support and commitment to the effective operations of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, hosted by the Philippines. The Ministers also agreed to consider expediting the signing of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on access and benefit sharing.
  10. The Ministers noted the progress made in the protection of the common seas of the region through harmonised implementation of the ASEAN Marine Water Quality Criteria, particularly in preparing a manual for marine water quality monitoring, and guidelines for marine water quality policy and management.
  11. The Ministers welcomed the efforts to address water demand management in the urban and agriculture sector, and also risks and impacts from severe floods and droughts which the region has encountered recently.
  12. The ASEAN Ministers and their counterparts from the Peoples’ Republic of China, Japan and Republic of Korea exchanged views on global environmental issues and agreed to implement activities in specific areas such as biodiversity, climate change, environmental education, water resources management, promotion of environmentally sound technology and cleaner production, and solid waste and hazardous waste management.

Ministerial-level Statements:
SOM Level: