Bangkok (NNT/VNA) - At the 30th ASEANSenior Officials on the Environment Meeting, Thai delegates have raised theissue of marine debris and will submit a proposal to nominate Thailand as theChairman of the ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment (AWGCME).
The permanent secretaries for environment fromthe 10 ASEAN member states discussed important environmental issues, such asthe ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change to the 25th Session of theConference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange, the ASEAN Heritage Parks’ designated sites, and the proposal tonominate Thailand as the AWGCME Chairman from 2020 to 2023.
The 30th ASEAN Senior Officials on the EnvironmentMeeting was divided into seven groups, including natural conservation andbiodiversity, marine and coastal environment, marine resource management,environmentally sustainable cities, climate change, waste and hazardoussubstance management, and sustainable consumption and production.
Since 2017, Thailand has taken action to reducemarine debris and the Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris wasrecently ratified at the 34th ASEAN Summit. Many member states have showninterest in solving this problem, as so much plastic waste that ends up in thesea comes from five Asian countries, four of which are ASEAN members.Therefore, a framework has to be developed before funds can be allocated totackle this issue accordingly.
The 30th ASEAN Senior Officials on the EnvironmentMeeting also discussed measures to combat the illegal wildlife trade, which hasbecome a major problem in the region. The results of this meeting will bepresented to the 25th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place inDecember this year, and the 35th ASEAN Summit, which will be held in Thailandthis November.-NNT/VNA