5 June marks Word Environment Day to encourage awareness and action for protecting the environment, and crucially, emphasise the importance of collective action to address pressing environmental challenges, such as climate change, deforestation, pollution and loss of biodiversity. According to the 2023 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the world needs to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, and get to net zero by 2050 to achieve the 1.5 degrees Celsius target. However, as of end-2023, global emissions are still rising. We are seeing climate change with increased frequency of extreme storms, floods, wildfires, and heat waves. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, half of the planet has seen a rise in floods and one third has been facing a surge in drought events. The world is working together to tackle these challenges, including at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), ongoing negotiations to conclude a new UN Treaty to end Plastic Pollution and the successful conclusion of negotiations in 2023 of an UN Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity. But more needs to be done.
ASEM partners have a key role to play – according to the 2022 Overview of Climate Change Mitigation Efforts in ASEM Countries, the 51 ASEM partner countries were responsible for 57 percent of the global emissions in 2018. ASEM partners are collaborating to protect the environment. The EU introduced the Green Deal in 2019, a comprehensive policy package to decarbonise its entire economy, including energy, transport and agriculture, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Southeast Asian countries are developing an ASEAN Power Grid for transmission of clean electricity. In November 2021, the EU launched the Green Team Europe Initiative to expand collaboration with ASEAN on environmental conservation and climate action. Bilaterally, The EU-China Environment Project aims to improve environmental protection standards and integration on environmental governance, including on biodiversity, plastic management and pollution. These initiatives have their challenges, such as the EU’s Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which have raised concerns in Asian countries of high compliance costs and potential trade impact. It is essential for both sides to continue working closely together, in order to protect the environment for our common future.
Read more:
National Geographic (15 February 2024) “How global warming is disrupting life on Earth”
EPA, “Impacts of Climate Change”
EastAsiaForum (23 October 2023) “Towards an equitable EU ASEAN green deal”
Mirza Sadakat Huda (12 April 2024) “A Just Transition Approach to the ASEAN Power Grid” Fulcrum
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