ASEAN: The Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment, 2007 and beyond

South-east Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change due to geological, geographic and other factors. Extreme weather events such as floods and heat waves, and adverse impacts on biodiversity, water and food, etc. have occurred and are recurring with alarming frequency in the region. They will limit the region’s development options, including poverty eradication, sustainable development, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This has highlighted the need to adopt appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures at the national as well as regional level. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a sub-regional organization that was established in 1967 to promote socio-cultural, economic and political security in the ASEAN Member Countries (AMCs). One of ASEAN’s roles is to facilitate the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1994 (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol 1997, which have been ratified by all the AMCs. ASEAN has also initiated its own environmental agenda to deal with problems in South-east Asia, including those related to climate change. In this regard, the Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment (Singapore Declaration) represents a milestone. It recognizes that rapid economic development, while contributing to sustainable development and poverty eradication, poses new challenges in dealing with greater energy consumption as well as regional and global security concerns. It also acknowledges that sustainable development facilitates adaptation and mitigation to climate change.