BANGKOK DECLARATION ON COMBATING MARINE DEBRIS IN ASEAN REGION
WE, the Heads of State/Government of Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely, Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (hereinafter referred to as "ASEAN Member States") on the occasion of the 34 th ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on 22 June 2019;
EMPHASISING the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, particularly the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint 2025 on Conservation and Sustainable Management of Biodiversity and Natural Resources which reaffirmed the commitment of strategic measures to "promote cooperation for the protection, restoration and sustainable use of coastal and marine environment, respond and deal with the risk of pollution and threats to marine ecosystem and coastal environment, in particular in respect of ecologically sensitive areas";
NOTING the common aspiration of the ASEAN Member States to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, and its target 14.1 which seeks, by 2025, to "prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution";
RECOGNISING the complementarities between ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
RECALLING the United Nations Conference to Support the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, which call for actions to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, including by partnering with stakeholders at relevant levels to address their production, marketing and use of plastics and microplastics;
NOTING the United Nations Environment Assembly resolutions 3/7 entitled "Marine litter and microplastics", particularly paragraph 7(c) for the United Nations Environment Programme to facilitate the establishment and implementation of regional and national action plans to prevent and reduce litter and microplastics in the marine environment as requested by Member States;
AFFIRMING the determination of the ASEAN Member States demonstrated in the East Asia Summit Leaders' Statement on Combating Marine Plastic Debris on 15 November 2018 to take concrete actions in combating marine plastic debris, in particular to strengthen regional and international cooperation by exploring the possible development of an EAS regional plan of action and guidelines, and promoting efforts to support the development of national action plan to prevent, reduce and manage marine plastic debris;
REITERATING our concern on the high and rapidly increasing levels of marine debris in particular marine plastic litter and the expected increase in negative effects on marine biodiversity, ecosystems, animal well-being, fisheries, maritime transport, recreation and tourism, local societies and economies, and the urgent need for strengthened knowledge of the levels and effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on marine ecosystem, food safety and human health;
NOTING the key findings, lessons learned and way forward from the EAS Conference on Combating Marine Plastic Debris in Bali on 6-7 September 2017,and the recommendations from the ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine Debris in ASEAN Region in Phuket on 22-23 November 2017;
NOTING ALSO the discussions of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Review Meeting on the Implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities in Bali from 31 October to 1 November 2018;
RECOGNISING the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation, knowledge sharing, technology transfer, increasing public awareness and innovation dissemination to combat marine debris;
RECOGNISING the need to enhance cooperation among the ASEAN Member States to protect marine environments and ensure sustainable use of marine resources;
EXTENDING our full support to advance partnerships between ASEAN and its partners to promote sustainability in all dimensions;
WELCOMING the convening of the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris, on 5 March 2019 in Bangkok, where ASEAN Member States proposed robust solutions and a framework of action to combat marine debris in the region;
DO HEREBY DECLARE to combat marine debris, namely to:
STRENGTHEN actions at the national level as well as through collaborative actions among the ASEAN Member States and partners to prevent and significantly reduce marine debris, particularly from land-based activities, including environmentally sound management;
ENCOURAGE an integrated land-to-sea approach to prevent and reduce marine debris, and strengthen national laws and regulations as well as enhance regional and international cooperation including on relevant policy dialogue and information sharing;
PROMOTE inter-sectoral coordination between ASEAN sectoral bodies to effectively address the multi-dimensional and far-reaching negative effects as well as sources of marine debris pollution;
ENHANCE the multi-stakeholder coordination and cooperation to combat marine debris, including implementing joint actions and partnerships for addressing such a challenge;
PROMOTE private sector engagement and investment in preventing and reducing marine debris, including partnerships between public and private sector through various mechanisms and incentives;
PROMOTE innovative solutions to enhance plastics value chains and improve resource efficiency by prioritising approaches such as circular economy and 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle), and welcome capacity building and exchange of best practices among ASEAN Member States as well as support from external partners in this regard;
STRENGTHEN research capacity and application of scientific knowledge to combat marine debris, in particular, to support science-based policy and decision making;
ACCELERATE advocacy and actions to increase public awareness and participation, and enhance education, with the aim to change behavior toward preventing and reducing marine debris;
WELCOME the ASEAN Framework of Action on Marine Debris of the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris held on 5 March 2019 in Bangkok, and encourage the ASEAN Member States to timely implement the Framework.
ADOPTED in Bangkok, Thailand, in this Twenty-Second Day of June in the Two Thousand Nineteen, in a single original copy,in the English language.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs