ASEAN plays key role in eco-talks

ASEAN plays key role in eco-talks

 

[caption id="attachment_6133" align="alignnone" width="600"] (Dr Nur Masripatin (2nd R), coordinator of ASEAN Regional Knowledge Network on Forest and Climate Change (ARKNFCC) speaking during Session 2 of the 14th Seminar on Current International Issues Affecting Forestry and Forest Products at The Centrepoint Hotel in Gadong. (Picture: The Brunei Times, Ubaidillah Masli))[/caption]

 

ASEAN is gaining greater recognition as a single grouping in international climate change negotiations, but the association's regional coordinator recently warned that the 10 nations must maintain a common position in the talks to build on their recognition.

 

Dr Nur Masripatin, coordinator of the ASEAN Regional Knowledge Network on Forest and Climate Change (ARKN-FCC), said the 10 Southeast Asian countries have been issuing joint statements under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

 

In doing so, ASEAN was seen as a "hub" for the UNFCCC secretariat to communicate with parties in ASEAN, despite the association not being a negotiating block in the convention.

 

"But the existence of our group, through the ARKN-FCC... we have gained more and more recognition... as a group," she said at the 14th Seminar on Current International Issues Affecting Forestry and Forest Products held here on July 4.

 

Dr Nur noted that in June, during the Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, "ASEAN member states were seen as the group that could offer solutions" in coordinating efforts in REDD+ implementation, and the association was thus asked to become part of a panel - alongside Brazil, the Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN) and the USA - in one of the conference's workshops.

 

REDD refers to "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation", which was proposed by the CfRN in 2005, while the "+" included activities to conserve, sustainably manage and enhance forest carbon stocks through programmes such as carbon trading.

 

The ARKN-FCC regional coordinator said the Southeast Asian bloc made headway in anticipation of the 19th Climate Change Conference to be held in Poland in November.

 

"We have committed to work more intensively and advance our work to be able to have decision on finance, in Warsaw," she said.

 

ASEAN, as a body, also addressed the "divergent views" faced by UNFCCC parties in the notion of having separate institutions for REDD+.

 

ASEAN offered a solution of exploring the possibilities, whereby the parties should first discuss the roles and functions of such institutions "and then we will decide whether we need separate institutions or not".

 

However, despite ASEAN's collective contribution to the climate change negotiations, the membership of some of the countries in other groupings such as the CfRN has at times put them at odds with the ASEAN stance in these talks.

 

"Sometimes, the position is not the same as our (ASEAN's) common position," Dr Nur said.

 

"So, the ARKN-FCC needs to really be very, very careful in formulating our common position," she added.

 

The regional coordinator went on to say the regional knowledge network's involvement in the UN's Forestry Information Centre (FIC), UN REDD+ partnership and LEAF (Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forests) "has opened wide opportunities for us to scale up those activities in the ASEAN region".

 

"With this group of countries, there is open opportunity under the ARKN-FCC to coordinate and cooperate.

 

" The bloc's own regional initiatives have grown from sector-specific approaches to multi-sectoral approaches, reflecting the direction of the UNFCCC, she noted.

 

"So the change in pace in the national negotiations are enough.

 

And also the initiatives under ASEAN need to be taken into account by ARKN in all our work programmes and we need to bring this to attention of the ASOM (ASEAN senior officials meeting) for further guidance."

 

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(The Brunei Times, 11 JULY 2013)