The Star 11 Sep 13;
KUALA LUMPUR: The haze problem will be one of the main issues addressed by the Forum on Environment and Health in South-East and East Asian Countries.
Malaysia will chair the forum for the next three years.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry would use the platform for co-operation among the 14 countries to address cross-boundary issues.
“That is an area we will look at closely. For example, the issue of haze which three or four countries touched on at the meeting. We will see how we can cooperate to find regional consensus on managing it,” he said during a press conference at the Third Ministerial Regional Forum on Environment and Health in South-East and East Asian Countries yesterday.
Dr Subramaniam added that the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry had been engaging all levels, including highlighting the issue at Asean meetings on the haze.
He added that there was positive commitment from the Indonesian representatives at the forum as they were taking serious measures to address air pollution affecting neighbouring countries.
The forum also produced and endorsed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Environment and Health.
In the declaration, the ministers of environment and health from 14 countries agreed to commit to action plans that put sustainable environment and health at the centre of development.
'Instil respect for nature'
Ahmad Fairuz Othman and Nuradilla Noorazam New Straits Times 11 Sep 13;
NEW MINDSET: PM urges leaders to balance development with care for environment
KUALA LUMPUR: DATUK Seri Najib Razak has called on world leaders to inculcate respect for the environment, stressing that this was needed to achieve a balanced development and ensure the wellbeing of future generations.
The prime minister said a change in mindset and organisational culture was needed, especially when leaders formulated policies to preserve the environment.
He said while the authorities struggled to balance development and the environment, it was vital to understand the correlation between inequity, poverty, illness and environmental degradation.
"Leaders must understand that sacrificing natural resources for short-term monetary benefit will undermine long-term aims and we cannot hope to achieve sustainable development.
"This same principle applies to regional and global policy, too," he said when opening the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries here yesterday.
Najib cited the example of an unscrupulous logger, who felled trees without considering the impact in the long run.
"Our local cengal trees, like the California Redwoods, take centuries to grow. But it can be felled in less than a few hours by an unscrupulous logger with a chainsaw.
"When a logger sees a cengal tree, he sees the dollar sign. He doesn't see that it has been growing for a century."
The forum, which was hosted by Malaysia for the first time, involved ministers in environmental and health portfolios from 14 countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
Themed "Health and the environment at the centre of development", the two-day event, that ended yesterday, was organised by a secretariat from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organisation (WHO).
Najib said the forum could be used to address pressing issues such as the recent haze.
He cited the haze, that reached hazardous air pollutant index levels in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in June, as "a stinging reminder of the human costs of environmental degradation".
He said the crisis brought about new levels of regional cooperation like the Asean Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee on Trans-boundary Haze Pollution, which played a vital role in taking action to solve the crisis.
He said many governments had noted the links between environment and socio-economic wellbeing, particularly since the landmark Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 21 years ago.
Najib later proposed six steps that could bring environmental health into any development plan.
He said on Malaysia's part, the government had put in place policies for an integrated form of sustainable development.
Among the measures were the National Policy on Environment since 1992, which protected natural heritage through enforcement, research, education and public awareness.
