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Senior officials from Asean and the European Union (EU) met virtually for the second round of their High-Level Dialogue on Environment and Climate Change.
During their meeting, officials discussed their cooperation on shared regional and global challenges related to protecting the environment and combating climate change, as agreed in the joint statement of the 22nd Asean-EU Ministerial Meeting. After the first meeting in July 2019, the second dialogue provided an opportunity for new exchanges of experiences on environmental and climate goals, as well as for the promotion of regional solutions for a green transition.
Astrid Schomaker, Director of Global Sustainable Development of the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission; Jacob Werksman, Senior Advisor to the Directorate General for Climate Action; and Hazri Hassan, Director of International Policy at the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment, who represented Singapore as the ASEAN-EU country coordinator, chaired the meeting.
The European Green Deal, the outcomes of the 31st Asean Senior Officials Meeting on the Environment and placing sustainability at the center of the recovery framework were the guiding themes for the discussions.
Important current and potential areas of cooperation between the two regional entities discussed included plastics and marine litter, circular economy, biodiversity, and natural capital. The EU reported its intention to work towards a global agreement on plastics, considered important for both blocs, highlighted the continued implementation of a plastics and marine litter project in five ASEAN countries. The dialogue also addressed the issue of chemicals and waste, highlighting the importance of promoting safety and sustainability, with reference to the corresponding agreement, as both sides will address waste trafficking and illegal dumping of waste.
It was also announced that the preparation of an Asean platform on circular economy is underway. The EU supports it, as part of a joint initiative between the two blocs. The platform will facilitate the exchange of circular good practices in Asean, engage key stakeholders, and help design policies that can accelerate a transition from the circular economy in the latter’s member states.
The two sides turned their attention to biodiversity and natural capital, as they emphasized the importance of next year’s Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, China’s Yunnan Province. It will highlight the urgent need to work together towards a realistic and ambitious post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
In the second part of the discussion, all officials exchanged views on climate change, including in the areas of nationally determined contributions, concrete mitigation actions, long-term strategies, climate neutrality, as well as the latest trends in sustainable finance. Both parties agreed to continue their cooperation on these issues as a follow-up to the dialogue discussions.
The High-level Dialogue was supported by the EU-ASEAN Enhanced Regional Dialogue Instrument, a development cooperation program that facilitates exchanges between the EU and ASEAN in priority policy areas of common interest. Building on the EU’s regional integration experience, the E-READI political dialogue mechanism further strengthens the ASEAN regional integration process, as well as the overall partnership between the two blocs.
