ASEAN JOINT STATEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE TO THE 25th SESSION OF THE

ASEAN JOINT STATEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE TO THE 25th SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC COP25)

WE, the Heads of State/Government of 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, Member States of ASEAN, on the occasion of the 35th ASEAN Summit;

RECALLING previous ASEAN Joint Statements on Climate Change and ASEAN Leaders’ Statements on Climate Change to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the ASEAN Joint Statement to the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019;

NOTING that ASEAN Member States (AMS) have reaffirmed our commitment to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, in particular the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC), in the light of different national circumstances, by:

Implementing measures to address climate change under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint 2025, in alignment with the broader outcomes of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and national development priorities;
Promoting sustainable management of forests, including through the implementation of COP decisions on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD-Plus) under the guidance of the Warsaw Framework, as well as enhancing biodiversity conservation, protection, and restoration of various terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems;
Achieving 21.9% reduction in energy intensity compared to 2005 levels, exceeding the 2020 target set by the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016 – 2025;
Launching the ASEAN Regional Strategy on Sustainable Land Transport, the ASEAN Fuel Economy Roadmap for the Transport Sector 2018 - 2025: with Focus on Light-Duty Vehicles, and the Guidelines for Sustainable Land Transport Indicators on Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in ASEAN;
Strengthening ASEAN's capacity in managing climate-related disasters though existing mechanisms under the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER);
Implementing the Phase 2 Plan of Action of the ASEAN Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (ADRFI) Phase 2 and establishing the Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility (SEADRIF) with a view to strengthening AMS’ financial resilience against climate and disaster risks by improving disaster risk assessment, financing and insurance solutions;
Promoting collaboration with ASEAN dialogue, sectoral dialogue, development partners and other external parties to enhance climate action in the ASEAN region.

DO HEREBY:

EXPRESS grave concern about the multi-faceted impacts of climate change, including those outlined in the Assessment Reports (AR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5?C above pre-industrial levels, and the IPCC Special Report on Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate and the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land.

We CALL UPON Parties to the UNFCCC to

Enhance their mitigation and adaptation actions, including implementing their respective Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, strengthening the sub-national, national and global response to climate change, and moving towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development;
Adopt an intergenerational approach to climate action that is collaborative across stakeholders, and sensitive to gender considerations and vulnerable groups.
Promote and enhance the science on interlinkages between climate change, land and ocean, and strengthen existing efforts addressing linkages of those issues.

WELCOME the decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its twenty-fourth session and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) at its first session in Katowice, Poland, in particular the decisions related to the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) at the 2018 UNFCCC COP 24. We CALL UPON Parties to the UNFCCC to expedite the completion of negotiations for

Outstanding issues in the Paris Agreement, including those in relation to cooperative approaches, market and non-market mechanisms (Article 6) and common time frames for NDCs (Article 4).
Other issues that are due this year, including the review and institutionalisation of the Paris Committee on Capacity-building.

RECOGNISE the importance of enhanced pre-2020 ambition and provision of the means of implementation by developed country Parties as the basis for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. We CALL UPON developed country Parties to

Fulfill their existing mitigation commitments and enhance mitigation ambitions during the pre-2020 period;
Fulfill their financial support commitment of USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to support the implementation of adaptation and mitigation actions by AMS and other developing country Parties;
Further scale up and mobilize climate finance in the setting up of a new collective quantified goal from a floor of USD 100 billion per year that takes into account the needs and priorities of AMS and other developing country Parties;
Ratify the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.

STRESS the need to strengthen support for AMS and other developing country Parties to analyse climate risks, formulate and implement adaptation measures, recognizing the important role of agriculture in ensuring food security and providing other co-benefits. We CALL UPON

Parties to the UNFCCC to implement the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture to address issues related to agriculture.

EMPHASISE that adequate resources and the ability of AMS and other developing country Parties to access support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Adaptation Fund (AF) should be ensured and facilitated. We CALL UPON

Developed country Parties to honor their commitments and to scale-up their contributions by providing adequate and predictable climate finance to the GCF, including its first formal replenishment process, taking into account the needs of AMS and other developing country Parties;
The GCF Board to speed up the replenishment process, ensure transparency and enhance access by AMS and other developing country Parties to the fund;
Developed country Parties to continue making financial contribution to the GEF to ensure adequate funding allocation and continuous support for the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) to enable AMS and other developing country Parties to implement their pre-2020 climate action and post-2020 implementation of NDCs and enhanced transparency framework.

URGE developed country Parties to provide timely, effective and predictable support to AMS and other developing country Parties for technology development and transfer, scientific research, and capacity building as stipulated under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. We CALL UPON developed country Parties to

Support international academic partnerships with AMS and other developing country Parties to strengthen the capacity of national experts involved in Greenhouse Gas Inventory and national reporting under the UNFCCC, as well as national experts involved in technical expert review (TER) under the Paris Agreement, thus enhancing the implementation of the enhanced transparency framework under the Paris Agreement.

Adopted in Bangkok, the Second Day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Nineteen.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs