Representatives from the Climate Change Secretariat of Brunei Darussalam and ACB officials strike a solidarity pose after their kick-off meeting at the ACB headquarters in Los Banos, Laguna.
LOS BANOS, Laguna – In support of the recently launched ASEAN Centre for Climate Change (ACCC), the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity welcomed representatives from Brunei Climate Change Secretariat (BCCS) in its headquarters to further boost the ASEAN region’s cooperation and coordination on biodiversity and climate action.
The visit was part of a series of regional consultations with various ASEAN centres and bodies in preparation for the full operation of the ACCC being hosted by Brunei Darussalam.
A regional hub for climate change
In 2021, the ASEAN under the Brunei chairmanship, proposed the establishment of the ACCC which will serve as an intergovernmental centre for climate change coordination and cooperation among the ASEAN Member States. The centre is envisioned to make Brunei Darussalam as a regional knowledge and research hub on climate change and will be supported by the Brunei Climate Change Secretariat under the Office of the Prime Minister.
At the 17th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Environment (AMME) held last August in Vientiane, Lao PDR, Brunei Darussalam received a nod to push for the establishment of the ACCC. The BCCC reported that by the first quarter of 2024, it is slated to finalise the refurbishment of the ACCC headquarters in Brunei Darussalam, as well as the appointment of the ACCC interim Executive Director.
ACB’s 18 years of safeguarding ASEAN’s biodiversity
Signifying its commitment to assist the ACCC, the ACB shared its best practices and experiences acquired in its 18 years of operation as well as the numerous challenges it surmounted as a regional biodiversity hub in ASEAN. Moreover, programme implementation and potential areas of collaboration on climate and biodiversity were tackled in the said meeting.
The meeting ended with the ACB expressing its enthusiastic support for the full implementation of the ACCC in the spirit of ASEAN solidarity. This synergy is also in line with the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 towards a “rules-based, people-oriented, and people-centred ASEAN of “One Vision, One Identity, and One Community”.
At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 28 in Dubai, UAE, the ACB was accredited as an intergovernmental organisation observer and delivered a statement at the second part of the High-Level Segment of the UNFCCC COP28. With this accreditation, the ACB is now in a better position to strengthen its work with the ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN Secretariat in promoting synergy of actions in the region to optimise resources and efforts in addressing the intertwined crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
