Jakarta, Bangkok, January 22, 2002 - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today strengthened its commitment to the South East Asia region, with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said the social, economic and political diversity and dynamism of South East Asia, and its abundance of natural resources, created huge challenges and potential for environmental management.
Mr Toepfer congratulated ASEAN on the platform it had built for enhanced environmental management in the region, through its ASEAN Vision 2020, the Hanoi Plan of Action and the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment, 1999-2004.
He said UNEP was committed to working with the Association and its ten member countries - Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - to further strengthen and implement these initiatives.
The memorandum was signed by Mr Toepfer and ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo C Severino Jr at a function at the ASEAN Secretariat this evening.
It builds on the collaboration between the two organisations in the areas of transboundary haze, environmental education, state of environment assessment and reporting, and the development of environmental legislation.
Mr Toepfer said UNEP chose to focus its efforts at the sub-regional level because of the shared cultural contexts, environmental concerns and inter-governmental arrangements such as ASEAN.
ASEAN member countries are close to signing an Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution - designed to prevent a repeat of the forest fires which plagued the region in 1997-98 - following a series of negotiations facilitated by UNEP last year.
The UN agency also supported the development of the ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan 2000-2005, and will implement an initial capacity building project for community-based educators in Bangkok in May using the Chao Phraya Magic Eyes Barge Programme.
Particular attention is also being given to the implementation of the international conventions on hazardous chemicals and toxic waste management in the region. An ASEAN-UNEP workshop in Kuala Lumpur on the new Persistent Organic Pollutants convention and others last September highlighted the need for further targeted capacity building initiatives.
Mr Toepfer said that an estimated 80,000 new chemical products had come onto the market over the last half century with a trend towards shifting their manufacture from industrialised to developing countries.
"There is concern that many of these chemicals have not been tested for their full range of health and environmental effects, including their potential to disrupt the hormonal systems of animals and human beings, particularly vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant or breast feeding mothers," Mr Toepfer said.
"Experts have told us they are concerned that many poorer nations may not have adequate safeguards or emergency response systems in place to deal with chemical spills or accidents of the kind that occurred in Bopal, India, 15 years ago."
When environment ministers from around the world meet next month at UNEP's Governing Council meeting in Cartegna, Colombia, Mr Toepfer will recommend a new, strategic, approach to the management of chemicals that mobilizes the skills and financial resources of scientists, industry and governments. The strategy aims to build bridges between the various chemicals agreements and conventions to make the world's response to how chemicals are used more effective and safety-conscious. (For further details and a preview of other key issues at Global Ministerial Environment Forum visit the 'Press Room' at www.unep.org).
The Memorandum notes ASEAN has established a committee of Senior Officials on the Environment with Working Groups on nature conservation and biodiversity, coastal and marine environment and multilateral environmental agreements, and a haze technical task force.
Under each working group the memorandum signals areas for enhanced collaboration, addressing issues such as risk assessment and management of Genetically Modified Organisms, illegal logging, eco-tourism, public participation, river water quality, assessment of environmentally sound technologies, and cleaner production for small and medium size enterprises.
Earlier in the day, while attending an Eminent Persons Meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development chaired by former Indonesian Environment Minister Emil Salim, Mr Toepfer said the work of ASEAN was an example of the progress made in tackling environmental issues since the Rio Earth Summit 10 years ago.
"But new and even more complex issues have emerged since Rio, particularly the environmental impacts of international trade and the globilisation of markets, the hugely disparate consumption patterns of the rich and the poor, massive industrialization and urbanisation, particularly in this region, and persistent and unacceptable levels of poverty - which has a critical relationship with the environment," he said.
"Meanwhile, the huge debt of the least developed countries is stifling their prospects for economic growth, and therefore environmental improvements, because they simply cannot afford to act. The growth in environmental agreements, while welcome, has not been matched by a political will to make these binding or enforceable. We urgently need to overhaul the environmental machinery, make better and more targeted use of our resources both human and financial and modernise the way we all work to achieve a better, cleaner and healthier world, " said Mr Toepfer.
These issues will be top of the agenda when the world's environment ministers meet at the seventh special session of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme and third Global Ministerial Environment in Cartagena, Colombia, from 13 to 15 February.
"The importance of this meeting in Cartagena cannot be under estimated as it comes at a critical time in the run up to the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa this August," Mr Toepfer said.
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For further information contact: Tim Higham, Regional Information Officer, United Nations Environment Programme, ph 288 2127, email higham@un.org, http://www.roap.unep.org, Tore J Brevik, Spokesman/Director of the UNEP Division of Communications and Public Information, ph 254 2 623292, email: tore.brevik@unep.org or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, ph 254 2 623084, Mobile: 254 (0) 733 632755, email: nick.nuttall@unep.org
For documents and schedule for the Cartegena meeting see: http://www.unep.org/governingbodies/gc/specialsessions/gcss_vii/
For information of the WSSD preparatory process see: http://www.rrcap.unep.org/wssd
For information on the work of ASEAN see http://www.aseansec.org
UNEP News Release ROAP/2002/03