SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Oct. 15 -- Top officials from the environment ministries of the ASEAN Member States convened on 8 October 2019 in the 15th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (15th AMME). This meeting was set to discuss the most pressing environmental issues in the Region, including the alarming rate of biodiversity loss due to climate change, plastic pollution, and transboundary haze.

        The meeting kicked off with a tree planting ceremony held in front of the world- renowned Angkor Wat. This marks the soft launch of the ASEAN Green Initiative, a testament of ASEAN’s commitment to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, and to ensure that its regional policies and strategies are supported by a broad base of stakeholders, including the youth, and traditional and local communities.

          Deputy Prime Minister Aun Pornmoniroth of Cambodia, stressed the need for intensified regional cooperation in preventing and responding to environmental challenges in the now disaster-prone ASEAN. “Climate change and environment-related issues are not a responsibility of a single country. It is our problem. Our responsibility,” he said in his speech as he officially opens the 15th AMME. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Read more...