Asean states agree to annual haze prevention forum

Today Online 30 Oct 09;

SINGAPORE - The 10 members of the Association of South-east Asian nations (Asean) have agreed to hold a haze prevention forum annually to address the continued problem of land and forest fires.

Singapore introduced the forum this year, bringing together heads of local governments and international and non-government organisations to share best practices in preventing haze.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, said the forum has proven to be a good platform to discuss measures such as Singapore's collaboration with Indonesia's Jambi province.

"There was a feeling among members that it's useful for us to share these experiences across the region. And to also bring in the IOs (international organisations) and the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) so that through the forum, we can create opportunities for not only the sharing of best practices, but also to find different ways in which we can collaborate with experts beyond the region to deal with the challenge," Dr Yaacob said.

The Environment Ministers were in Singapore for the 11th Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment.

They agreed to adopt a common Singapore Resolution on Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change.

This includes recognising the efforts of Asean member states to ratify and operationalise the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

However, Indonesia, who is seen to be a major contributor of the haze, has yet to ratify the agreement.

Indonesia's Assistant Minister for the Environment Liana Bratasida said: "We (previously) put (the agreement) into Parliament, but Parliament members have not agreed yet. So, with the new Parliament, we will continue to give it to the Parliament again for their approval."

The Singapore Resolution also established an Asean working group to promote closer regional cooperation on climate change issues. 938LIVE

Singapore's resolution on environment adopted
Teh Shi Ning, Business Times 30 Oct 09;

(SINGAPORE) Asean environment ministers met in Singapore yesterday to discuss climate change and transboundary haze pollution, ahead of the Copenhagen climate talks in December.

Both meetings yesterday went 'quite well', said Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, who chaired the talks.

Last week, leaders at the 15th Asean summit in Hua Hin issued a joint statement stating their shared concerns on climate change. It noted the need for Asean to work closely together and with other partners for a successful Copenhagen conference, and reaffirmed that parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change should protect the climate on the basis of equity and according to their differing abilities.

But, environmental non-governmental organisations have said that Asean's statement does not oblige members to embark on any action plan for climate change, and has yet to commit to a concrete goal, such as a figure on carbon emission reduction.

Yesterday, at the 11th formal Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment, ministers reiterated their shared concern for the success of the Copenhagen climate talks, and adopted the Singapore resolution on environmental sustainability and climate change. It is customary for the host country to draft an outcome resolution for the AMME to adopt, and Singapore's focused on protecting and managing the environment, nature conservation and biodiversity, as well as climate change.

Another outcome, among others, was the establishment of the Asean Working Group on climate change, to be chaired by Thailand.

ASEAN ministers form working group on climate change
Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia 29 Oct 09;

SINGAPORE: ASEAN environment ministers have formed an ASEAN working group on Climate Change.

The group, to be chaired by Thailand, aims to promote closer regional cooperation and more effective regional response to the climate change situation.

The ASEAN environment ministers gathered on Thursday at the eleventh ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment, chaired by Singapore, to discuss measures to counter transboundary haze in the region.

This came after the Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) met to discuss the haze issue on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by representatives from the various governments, international organisations as well as the private sector.

The ASEAN ministers also expressed appreciation to the Singapore government for hosting the MSC forum on "Prevention and Mitigation of Land and Forest Fires" and together they agreed to host the event annually with the venue being rotated amongst the various member states.

Indonesia is one of the member states, which has yet to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

"In our regulations, it should be approved by the Parliament. We have already put it to the Parliament, but the members have not agreed to it yet. So with the new Parliament members, we want to continue to give it to Parliament again for their approval," said Liana Bratasida, Assistant Minister, Indonesia Ministry of Environment.

ASEAN ministers also agreed to adopt a Singapore resolution on environmental sustainability and climate change.

Representatives from the ten member states will meet their counterparts from Japan, China and South Korea on Friday, to discuss cooperative environmental projects and other possible areas of collaboration.

- CNA/sc

Indonesia to cut forest fires by 20% yearly
my paper, AsiaOne 30 Oct 09;

SINGAPORE might be able to look forward to less hazy skies in a few years' time.

Indonesia said yesterday on the sidelines of an Asean meeting for environment ministers in Singapore that it aims to reduce its number of forest fires by 20 per cent a year.

This would cut greenhouse-gas emissions from such fires by 2 to 3 per cent a year, said Ms Liana Bratasida, assistant minister at Indonesia's Ministry of Environment.

This is part of its promise, made last month, to cut 26 per cent of its total emissions by 2020. A 2007 World Bank report found Indonesia to be the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

While Indonesia has not yet signed the 2002 Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, it would like to ratify the agreement and has put it up for parliamentary approval, said Ms Bratasida.

But its parliament members did not agree, due to concerns that Singapore and Malaysia have not signed an agreement with it to help control illegal logging in the country, which has been fuelled by strong demand for timber from both countries.

She added that even without the agreement, Indonesia has already been working to tackle the haze situation with other Asean countries.

Yesterday, Asean ministers and their representatives also established a working group to promote closer and deeper regional cooperation on climate-change issues.

In December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to negotiate a new treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which limits greenhouse-gas emissions to fight global warming.

It will expire in 2012.