Manila - Amid the increasing threat of global warming, the environment and the impact of climate change will take the spotlight in November at the leaders' summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore. Leaders are expected to sign a declaration on environmental sustainability during the 13th ASEAN Leaders' Summit in Singapore, scheduled for November 20.
A Singapore Declaration on the Environment was also expected to be issued at the East Asia Summit following the ASEAN leaders' meeting.
At the ongoing ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila, the ministers of the 10-member group expressed alarm over global warming and climate change mostly due to pollution, deforestation and soaring greenhouse-gas emissions.
They called for "concerted efforts involving the international community" to address the impact of global warming and climate change.
"We welcomed the proposal by Singapore, as the next chair of ASEAN, to focus on 'Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development' as the theme of discussions at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November," the ministers said in a joint statement.
"We also look forward to the outcome of the informal ASEAN ministerial meeting on the environment to be held in Bangkok in September 2007."
The ministers reiterated the need "to step up cooperation to prevent and mitigate trans-boundary haze pollution," which has continued to be a major environmental issue between ASEAN countries, especially Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
ASEAN also includes Brunei, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
Environmental watchdog Greenpeace, a non-governmental organization, said it was about time that ASEAN starts taking "aggressive action" to protect the environment.
But the regional bloc must go "beyond the rhetorical concern that usually attends these types of political gatherings," according to Jasper Inventor, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace South- East Asia.
"While ASEAN has started to recognize the perils that climate change pose to its citizens and economies, its member governments are, however, still failing to act," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "And time is running out."
Inventor warned that South-East Asia is among the regions most vulnerable to "cataclysmic" impacts from climate change.
"The frequency of extreme weather events like super typhoons and droughts, which have visited the region in recent memory, offer us a glimpse of what awaits us under this comprised climate scenario," he said.
According to Greenpeace, 400 million people have been exposed on average to floods in Asia every year for the past 20 years. From 1987-97, 44 per cent of all flood disasters worldwide affected Asia, claiming 228,000 lives.
The death toll accounts for 93 per cent of all flood-related casualties worldwide.
Economic losses in that decade alone totaled 136 billion dollars, Greenpeace data showed.
Inventor said that ASEAN countries must start stabilizing their own carbon-dioxide emissions and initiate a shift away from the use of fossil fuels, especially coal, and move toward the use of renewable energy and enhanced energy-efficiency measures.
"In addition, ASEAN governments must work together to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions brought about by massive deforestation, which together with the increasing use of fossil fuels constitute a significant threat to the climate," he said.
Currently, South-East Asia collectively ranks third highest in greenhouse-gas emissions among developing countries, after China and India.
"The right policy support for the massive uptake of renewable energy continues to be at the bottom of the priorities of ASEAN governments," Inventor said.
"We have yet to see our governments set strong renewable energy targets and policies and develop comprehensive energy-efficient measures to bring down fuel consumption, even as the region strives to sustain its thriving economies."
