BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

BRUNEI can be a regional leader in efforts to combat climate change in ASEAN, said an official yesterday.

Philippe Zeller, France’s ambassador for climate change in Asia and Oceania, said the Sultanate has implemented several “green” policies as part of the government’s sustainability efforts, and could pave the way for other ASEAN countries to follow suit.

“There is a real awareness in the ministries and among the general population…. His Majesty also used the opportunity of the 2014 UN General Assembly to propose a lot of targets (to cut CO2 emissions) and tackle climate change,” he said.

Brunei is party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), and is also among 32 countries that have ratified the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol, legally requiring it to meet CO2 emission reduction targets by 2020.

Zeller said Brunei is a “a partner we can count on” to lobby other ASEAN countries to set CO2 reduction targets, in line with international efforts to limit global temperature rises to below two degrees centigrade.

“We need some examples of best practices and Brunei is the best example of this,” the ambassador said.

Zeller was in Brunei to speak at a climate change forum jointly organised by the foreign missions of Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

The forum is part of European efforts to highlight the importance of climate change issues, in the run up to the Climate Conference (CO21) in Paris this December.

During the conference, parties to the UNFCCC must agree on a new legally-binding deal to cut carbon emissions to keep global temperatures at safe levels.

Zeller said: “Southeast Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change. Most of the region’s 600 million people and economic activity is vulnerable to extreme weather events and sea level rise”.

The Brunei Times