ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment Meeting discuss marine debris

Thai delegates have raised the issue of marine debris and will submit a proposal to nominate Thailand as the Chairman of the ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment (Photo: thainews.prd.go.th)

Bangkok (NNT/VNA) - At the 30th ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment Meeting, Thai delegates have raised the issue of marine debris and will submit a proposal to nominate Thailand as the Chairman of the ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment (AWGCME).

The permanent secretaries for environment from the 10 ASEAN member states discussed important environmental issues, such as the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change to the 25th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the ASEAN Heritage Parks’ designated sites, and the proposal to nominate Thailand as the AWGCME Chairman from 2020 to 2023.

The 30th ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment Meeting was divided into seven groups, including natural conservation and biodiversity, marine and coastal environment, marine resource management, environmentally sustainable cities, climate change, waste and hazardous substance management, and sustainable consumption and production.

Since 2017, Thailand has taken action to reduce marine debris and the Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris was recently ratified at the 34th ASEAN Summit. Many member states have shown interest in solving this problem, as so much plastic waste that ends up in the sea comes from five Asian countries, four of which are ASEAN members. Therefore, a framework has to be developed before funds can be allocated to tackle this issue accordingly.

The 30th ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment Meeting also discussed measures to combat the illegal wildlife trade, which has become a major problem in the region. The results of this meeting will be presented to the 25th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place in December this year, and the 35th ASEAN Summit, which will be held in Thailand this November.-NNT/VNA