ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Environment (AMME)

The AMME held a Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris (SAMMMD) on 4-5 March 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. It took off from the ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine Debris in the ASEAN Region in Bali, Indonesia in November 2017 and the 20th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment chaired by the Philippines in January 2019 in Phuket Thailand. During the SAMM-MD, each AMS delivered its country statement highlighting its actions to reduce marine debris. The Philippines reported that the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program would showcase its commitment to address marine debris. The outcome documents of the meeting were the(1) Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris in the ASEAN Region for consideration and adoption by the ASEAN Leaders at the 34th ASEAN Summit in June 2019 in Bangkok; the (2) ASEAN Framework of Action on Marine Debris in the ASEAN Region and the (3) Joint Media Statement of the SAMMMD. The Bangkok Declaration emphasized the need to (1) strengthen action at the national level and among the AMS and partners to prevent and reduce marine debris; (2) encourage an integrated land-to-sea approach; (3) promote inter-sectoral coordination; (4) enhance multi-stakeholder coordination and cooperation; (5) promote private sector engagement and investment; (6) strengthen research capacity and application of scientific knowledge and (7) accelerate advocacy and actions to increase public awareness and participation and enhance education.
In the 14th AMME on 11-13 September 2017 in Brunei, actions taken on environmental sustainability under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint and new initiatives on the promotion of regional environmental cooperation were discussed. It was held back-to-back with the 13th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. The Environment Ministers adopted the items endorsed to them by the 28th ASOEN meeting. These included the updated Terms of Reference of ASOEN and its Working Groups. They reaffirmed their commitment to implement the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) and the Roadmap on ASEAN Cooperation towards Transboundary Haze Pollution Control with Means of Implementation, to realize a Haze-Free ASEAN by 2020. They also adopted the ASEAN-China Environmental Cooperation Action Plan 2016-2020 and the ASEAN-UN Action Plan on Environment and Climate Change. Since the meeting was held during the 50th or the Golden Anniversary of ASEAN, the Environment Ministers launched the 5th ASEAN State of Environment Report. They also congratulated 10 outstanding individuals from the AMS who received awards as ASEAN Biodiversity Champions or Heroes in August 2017 in Manila, Philippines. The Ministers presented the ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable Cities (ESC) Awards and the ASEAN Certificates of Recognition for Clean Air, Clean Water and Clean Land, to selected cities in the AMS. San Carlos City, Philippines, was one of the awardees of the 4th ESC ASEAN Award.
The 5th State of Environment Report was launched during the 14th AMME. The report gives a comprehensive view of the following themes in the region: atmosphere, land, biota and ecosystems, fresh water, coasts and oceans, production and consumption. It may be accessed at https://environment.asean.org/soer5/.