1. Singapore hosted the Fifth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME) on 17-18 February 1992. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mattar, Minister for the Environment, Singapore.
2. The Meeting was attended by H.E. Pg Dato Seri Paduka Dr Hj Ismail bin Pg Hj Damit, Minister of Development, Brunei Darussalam; H.E. Mr. Law Hieng Ding, Minister for Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia; H.E. Mr. Fulgencio S. Factoran, Jr, Secretary of Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippines; H.E. Dr Ahmad Mattar, Minister for the Environment, Singapore; and H.E. Mr. Vikrom Koompirochana, Ambassador of Thailand to Singapore representing the Minister of Science, Technology and Energy, Thailand. Dr. Amru Hydari Nazif, Assistant Director VI of the ASEAN Secretariat represented the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat.
3. The Meeting adopted the Singapore Resolution on Environment and Development and its Annex, the ASEAN Common Stand on UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to be held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro) and related issues. In preparing for the Singapore Resolution, the Ministers were guided by the directions set out by the Fourth ASEAN Summit. A copy of the Singapore Resolution on Environment and Development is attached. Annexed to the Resolution is the ASEAN Common Stand on UNCED and related issues.
4. The Singapore Resolution sets out the directions for ASEAN to enhance its ongoing and future regional cooperation and the ASEAN common stand on global environmental and developmental issues which are being addressed by the UNCED process and other international fora.
5. The Ministers re-affirmed the region's commitment to the principles of sustainable development. They recognized however that the pursuit of sustainable development requires close cooperation among and between ASEAN member countries in particular, and global cooperation in general.
6. The Ministers agreed that ASEAN member countries would work collectively towards the improvement of environmental quality, harmonization of standards, and jointly promote the application, transfer and development of appropriate environmental technologies. In the international context, the Ministers agreed that ASEAN would continue to actively participate in and support international efforts in promoting sustainable development.
7. To enhance regional cooperation towards sustainable development, the Ministers agreed that ASEAN member countries would work closely on policy measures which would help encourage the integration of environmental factors in developmental processes. Towards this end, member countries would also cooperate towards setting up and harmonizing environmental quality standards and adopt long term quantitative goals relating to ambient air quality and river water quality.
8. The Ministers further agreed to step up cooperation in areas of information exchange, institutional development, and promotion of environmental technology and public awareness. Member countries would undertake to develop and implement programmes relating to: haze caused by forest fires, air and water quality, management, natural resources and environmental accounting, environmental economics, trans-frontier parks and other protected areas, a regional network for biological diversity conservation and the protection of the marine environment in ASEAN seas.
9. With respect to development and global environmental issues, the Ministers agreed that new and additional financial resources must be provided to help developing countries in meeting the incremental costs of prote(-,ting the global environment. 'The Ministers urged countries to establish basic environmental standards as needed for a quality of life and environmental protection, and stressed that there must be equitable , balanced and comprehensive resolutions to the inter-related issues of economic development and environmental protection.
10. The ASEAN Common Stand also calls for urgent measures to combat climate change, the immediate implementation of the Montreal Protocol Interim Multilateral Fund, the protection of the ecosystems of oceans and seas from pollution, greater efforts to protect freshwater resources and to ensure access of all people to this vital commodity, the sustainable management of all forests, the conservation of biological diversity, support for the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, and support for the objective of the Prior-Informed-Consent system for the trading of toxic chemicals.
11. The Ministers agreed that UNCED is an important landmark in a long-term global endeavour to pursue the goals of sustainable development. -1 he Ministers also hoped that UNCED would produce comprehensive action programmes needed to halt the global environmental degradation.
12. The Ministers considered the US initiative in launching the US-Asia Environmental Partnership US-AEP) Programme and agreed that the US-AEP could facilitate the transfer of appropriate and environmentally sound technologies to the region. in his respect, ASEAN member countries look forward to working closely with the US in the proposed partnership programme. The ASEAN Senior Officials n the Environment (ASOEN) had been asked to follow up on this proposal.
13. The Ministers also agreed to establish closer elation and cooperation between ASEAN member countries and other developing countries as well as associations of developing countries. In this connection, ASOEN had been asked to take appropriate measures to achieve this end.
14. The Ministers considered the outcome of the fifth AMME as further evidence of ASEAN's success in regional cooperation, especially in the field of environment and development. The Ministers agreed hat the Sixth AMME shall be held in Brunei Darussalam in 1995. It was further agreed that if necessary, the 6th AMME may be brought forward to address the UNCED outcome and post-UNCED activities. The Ministers also expressed support and look forward to working closely at the forthcoming Second Ministerial Conference of Developing countries on Environment and Development from 7-29 April 1992 in Kuala Lumpur.
