REMEMBERING our commitments made in the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration on Realisation of the ASEAN Community by 2015 (2014); ASEAN Action Plan on Joint Response to Climate Change (2012); the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Climate Change to the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Session of the COP serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (2011); the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Joint Response to Climate Change (2010); the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change to the 15th Session of the COP to the UNFCCC and the 5th Session of the COP serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (2009); the ASEAN Declaration on the 13th session of COP to the UNFCCC and the 3rd session of the CMP to the Kyoto Protocol (2007); and the ASEAN Declaration on Environmental Sustainability (2007);
NOTING the wide-ranging and collaborative research and policy development work in recent years by ASEAN Member States on sustainable development, land use and landscapes, and on forest conservation and governance, as recognised, for example, at the Forests Asia Summit 2014;
REITERATING our commitment to the UNFCCC, and its principles and provisions, as a framework for international collaboration on climate change mitigation and adaptation;
REAFFIRMING the UNFCCC’s core principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and that developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof in accordance with this principle, while agreeing that renewed efforts by all Parties to the UNFCCC are required to ensure mitigation goals are met;
WELCOMING the Warsaw Framework for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), and the financial support provided by the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom, as an important outcome of COP19 and a critical step in better valuing and protecting global forest carbon stocks;
PRAISING strengthened efforts to mobilize the long-term financing commitments from developed countries to support developing countries and least developed countries in pursuing ambitious mitigation and adaptation efforts;
RECOGNIZING the United Nations Climate Summit held in New York on 23 September 2014;
HIGHLIGHTING the urgency with which renewed mitigation efforts are required given the latest reports prepared for the International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) predict that, without additional mitigation, global mean surface temperatures will increase in 2100 from 3.7°C to 4.8°C compared to pre-industrial levels, and that substantial reductions beyond 2020 will be required to limit temperature change to 2°C relative to pre-industrial levels;
POINTING to the clear evidence of climate change in our region over the past four decades, which has major consequences for agriculture, energy supply and livelihoods;
REEMPHASISING that climate change is already having significant impacts causing major loss and damage throughout the ASEAN region, and disproportionately affecting developing countries, with the experiences with Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines providing stark evidence of the destructive impacts and disaster-prone nature of the region that cannot be ignored;
RECOGNISING the important role that forest conservation and sustainable management of forests throughout ASEAN will play in helping to mitigate global climate change, reduce the risks of extreme weather events and other climate-driven disasters, and provide sustainable economic livelihood opportunities for local communities;
WELCOMING decision 1/CP.17 of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in which Parties decided to launch a process to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties by 2015 to be implemented from 2020; and recognising that the 2015 global agreement must be balanced and comprehensive, including key areas of the Durban mandate such as mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation;
ACKNOWLEDGING that universal participation is an essential ingredient for greater ambition in the 2015 agreement and in that regard, all Parties have a common obligation to submit an intended nationally determined contribution as part of the 2015 global agreement, while recalling the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities;
EXPRESSING the view that technology transfer, capacity building and financial assistance from developed countries to developing countries are vital to supporting Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions and other activities on climate change effectively and efficiently in the long run;
VALUING the importance of pursuing climate change mitigation and adaptation actions that are consistent with broader sustainable development goals to the achievement of food security and poverty alleviation throughout the ASEAN region;
RECOGNIZING the progress made in the implementation of the ASEAN Multi-Sectoral Framework on Climate Change: Agriculture and Forestry towards Food Security (AFCC), the ASEAN-German Program on Climate Change: Agriculture, Forestry and related sectors (GAP-CC) through newly proposed ‘Forestry and Climate Change (FOR-CC)’, and the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership Programme on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC) endorsed by the 36th Meeting of ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (36th AMAF);
ACKNOWLEDGING the role of regional forums, including ASEAN, in supporting countries to collaborate on the local, regional and global challenges of climate change;
