BANGKOK, March 6 (TNA) – ASEAN will collaborate to tackle
marine pollution under the Bangkok Declaration signed at a meeting in Bangkok
on Tuesday.
Thailand by the Ministry of National Resources and Environment
hosted the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Marine Debris to discuss
cooperative efforts and measures to tackle the environmental threat.
The Bangkok Declaration which will be officially endorsed by
ASEAN leader in June is ASEAN’s first cooperative framework to tackle the
pervasive marine waste pollution.
Thai Natural Resources and Environment Minister General
Surasak Karnjanarat said the ministers
gathering for the meeting had made a resolution to jointly address this serious
threat to marine ecosystems the affected the region’s economic and tourism
activities.
The ministers also agreed on an action plan framework that
identified areas of cooperation such as information sharing, technology
transfer and assistance among ASEAN members, Gen Surasak said.
Thailand supported the uses of new technologies and
innovations for effective and sustainable results in tackling marine debris,
the minister noted, as the Thai government had actively introduced measures for
management of land waste.
A Thai official said the Bangkok Declaration was a
significant step towards safeguarding marine ecosystems as ASEAN had felt
serious impacts from marine plastic pollution.
ASEAN countries are among world’s biggest polluters of the
ocean, according to studies. (TNA)
