Brunei’s ASEAN chairmanship gives focus on care on prosperity for 2021

Brunei Darussalam’s ASEAN chairmanship is giving priority towards care and prosperity among the people of the region this year which is under the theme ‘We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper’ preparing ASEAN for the future.

Minister of Development Dato Seri Setia Ir Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar has given highlight on this during the G20 Environment Ministerial Meeting on July 22.

Brunei, being the ASEAN Chair for this year has received an invitation from the G20 Italian presidency as the guest of the chair.

Minister for the Ecological Transition of the Republic of Italy Roberto Cingolani headed the meeting which is held in a hybrid set-up where ministers and G20 member countries representatives, guest countries, as well as regional and international organizations have attended.

Two main topics, namely, A Natural Capital to Protect and Manage focusses on the promotion of nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches to protect and restore ecosystems, and to halt biodiversity loss and reverse land degradation; and Joint Efforts for Sustainable and Circular Resource Use focusses on combatting marine litter and plastic waste, and efforts towards circular economy were discussed in the meeting.

Dato Seri Setia Ir Awang Haji Suhaimi has given emphasis on some of ASEAN’s initiatives to safeguard and direct its natural capital and biodiversity, and also pointed out the regional cooperation in dealing with marine debris and plastic, which, amongst others were: Potential development of an ASEAN Natural Capital Roadmap that intends to strengthen participation among various sectors in integrating natural capital valuation to regional and national programs and policies; the ASEAN Green Initiative (AGI) that aims to plant 10 million trees throughout the ASEAN region over a period of 10 years beginning this year, which is also ASEAN’s contribution to the United Nations (UN) Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF) and its Implementation Plan that identifies mainstreaming biodiversity across relevant sectors as one of the key priorities towards attaining a more sustainable and resilient future; and the recent launching of the ASEAN Regional Action Plan for Combatting Marine Debris in the ASEAN Member States (2021-2025 which includes 14 regional actions across four pillars: policy support and planning; research, innovation and capacity building; public awareness, education and outreach; and private sector engagement.

The G20 Environment Communiqué has been taken up by the G20 Environment Ministerial Meeting Permanent Secretary (Planning, Land Use and Environment) at the Ministry of Development Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak; Acting Director of the Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRe) Martinah binti Haji Tamit; and senior officials from JASTRe were also present in the meeting.