CONCERN that the issues on environment are becoming more complex and challenging;

AWARE that to meet these challenges, there is a need to strengthen the institutional and organisational capacity within the ASEAN member countries;

REALISING that the Rio+10 Conference on Environment and Development, will provide new driving force for achieving environmentally sound and sustainable development;

EMPHASISING the need for enhancing ASEAN cooperation to address common environmental problems, promote technology transfer, information networking and to deal with the negative impacts of globalisation; and

RECOGNISING that the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment shall continue to be the guiding document for present and future initiatives toward achieving the balance between environmental protection and economic development.

WE, THE ASEAN MINISTERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT HEREBY AGREED TO:

• synergise the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment with the Regional Action Plan for Environmentally Sound and Sustainable Development, 2001-2005 for Asia and the Pacific Region with a view to optimise the utilisation of limited resources in the implementation of the planned activities;
  
  

• adopt the approach of overcoming environmental pollution by working in collaboration with cities such as Kitakyushu which has successfully controlled pollution;
  
  

• adopt and implement the ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan 2000-2005 and task ASOEN to implement the Plan;
  
  

• accelerate our efforts in the realisation of the Regional Action Plan for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land and Sea-based activities by the year 2004;
  
  

• initiate the process of negotiation on the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution;
  
  

• continue and further enhance our collaboration to implement the Regional Haze Action Plan (RHAP) coherently and effectively;
  
  

• sustainably manage and wise use of our diverse biological resources and to exchange information on biodiversity conservation issues including biosafety and access to biological and genetic resources;
  
  

• stand firm on the common understanding that the developed countries must fulfill their commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and subsequently the Kyoto Protocol;
  
  

• intensify our cooperation in enhancing national capacities in the negotiation and implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements;
  
  

• reiterate ASEAN’s support on the proposal by Indonesia to host the “Rio + 10” Conference on Environment and Development, as stipulated at the 9^th Environmental Congress for Asia and the Pacific (ECO ASIA 2000) on 3^rd September 2000 and the Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific in Kitakyushu, Japan, 4-5 September 2000;
  
  

• support the proposal of Cambodia to host an Asia Pacific regional preparatory meeting in the run-up to the “Rio + 10” Conference on Environment and Development;
  
  

• enhance environmental co-operation between ASEAN and the 3 East Asian countries namely, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea;
  
  

• task ASEAN Secretariat to explore the possibility of establishing environmental co-operation between ASEAN and Central Asian countries;
  
  

• support the proposal to organize an international forum on fire hazards arising from large-scale biomass burning; and
  
  

• support to explore the possibility of seting up an Emergency Response and Rescue Institute.