Environment ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have set up a working group to promote closer and deeper regional co-operative ties on issues related to climate change.

The group, established at the 11th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment held in Singapore on October 29, will also respond in line with global efforts to address climate change issues.

At the meeting, ministers discussed a wide range of environmental issues of mutual concern in the region and around the world, including efforts to manage water resources, the sea and coastal environment, biological diversification and to preserve the country’s natural resources and monitor climate change.

The ministers are currently attending a conference of members of the ASEAN Agreement on Trans-border Haze Pollution (COP5) and the 8 th ASEAN+3 Environment Ministers Meeting in order to seek ways of mitigating forest fires and the trans-border pollution issue.

The ASEAN ministers are scheduled to meet with their counterparts from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea to discuss the potential for regional cooperation in the environmental field./.