Brunei Darussalam’s air quality was slightly affected by transboundary haze pollution in the fourth week of July due to the smoke haze from neighbouring hotspot activities that led to changes in our air quality.
The PSI recorded from all the air quality monitoring stations escalated higher than usual, with the highest PSI 50. The occasional downpours have helped to reduce and prevent hazy conditions from persisting in the country.
However, with the potential hot and dry weather of El Nino developing in the coming months this year, all ASEAN member states are urged to continue working closely together, united in its shared responsibility, to address the issues of transboundary haze pollution and to protect our environment.
The statement was delivered by Minister of Development Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Muhammad Juanda bin Haji Abdul Rashid, during the 17th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME) and the 18th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution held on August 23 and 24 in Vientiane, Laos.
On another note, Brunei also aims to achieve environmental sustainability that supports the Brunei Vision 2035 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes Brunei Darussalam’s Voluntary National Review 2023 (VNR 2023) reported during the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) of the United Nations (UN) held in July 2023.
Other initiatives include the implementation of increasing excise duties tax for the importation of plastic products and the national scale marine debris clean-up campaign – Coastal Marvel – which aims to empower the society to instil a sense of responsibility towards protecting and conserving the environment through proper waste disposal methods; drive for climate change with the newly launched Mandatory Reporting Directive as part of the Sultanate’s commitment to fulfilling the obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement; and the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change in Brunei Darussalam. The biodiversity conservation is also aimed at supporting the climate change mitigation programme through tree planting, whereby as of June 2023, 42,928 trees have been planted nationwide.
Also representing the Sultanate were Acting Permanent Secretary (Planning, Land Use and Environment) at the Ministry of Development (MoD) Aldila binti Haji Mohamad Salleh and officials from the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation, Brunei Climate Change Secretariat (BCCS), Prime Minister’s Office and the MoD.
The meetings looked forward to the conduct of the Horizontal Learning for ASEAN Sustainable Cities on Indonesia, which will provide a platform for ASEAN countries to share experiences and lessons learned in sustainable cities development, enhance knowledge and better understanding of Sustainable Development Goals, especially on the waste management and urban development topics, and build networks and potential collaboration between policymakers, private sectors and civil society in initiating sustainable cities in ASEAN.
The meetings also congratulated the recipients of the 4th ASEAN Eco-schools Awards and the 2nd ASEAN Youth Eco-champions Awards. The meetings commended the awardees’ achievements and encouraged other schools and citizens to learn from their best practices and adopt more sustainable environmental practices.
For Brunei Darussalam, the 4th ASEAN Eco-schools Awards were presented to Pengiran Setia Negara Pengiran Mohammad Yusof Primary School for the primary school category and Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College for the secondary school category.
The 2nd ASEAN Youth Eco-champions Awards were presented to Shaima binti Haji Misli (Country Hub Leader for Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) Brunei) for the junior category and Noor Hafizah binti Rashid (Founder of Big BWN Project) for the senior category.
The meetings acknowledged the achievements and progress of regional cooperation efforts in addressing several environmental issues.
The Meeting commended Indonesia’s 2023 ASEAN Chairmanship priorities for fostering regional cooperation in advancing climate action, promoting biodiversity conservation, combating marine plastic pollution and realising sustainable cities.
The meetings endorsed the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change to 28th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (UNFCCC COP28) for consideration of the 43rd ASEAN Summit.
The meetings commended Indonesia’s initiative on the ASEAN Community-based Climate Action to share experiences, build capacity, promote best practices, and enhance multi stakeholder participation in implementing community-based climate actions in ASEAN countries.
The meetings agreed to meet again in Thailand in 2024 for the 19th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and in Malaysia in 2025 for the 18th AMME and the 20th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.
