Bangkok, Thailand, 12 July 2019
On 12 July 2019, over 150 participants from government, private sector, academic institutes, NGOs and CSOs from ASEAN and European countries, attended the ASEAN SCP Multi-stakeholders Dialogue with a focus on SCP and Circular Economy through Sustainable Tourism and Food Waste. The event has been organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand, the Thai-SCP Network, and the SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility, and took place at Amari Watergate Hotel, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Key objectives of the meeting were to exchange experiences, perspectives and lessons learned on how to overcome the challenges for SCP and circular economy, in particular through sustainable tourism and food waste management; provide comprehensive knowledge and practices for strengthening stakeholders’ knowledge and capacity on related key areas; elaborate recommendations and suggestions from the dialogue to improve the SCP policy in Thailand and the ASEAN region; and engage effectively SCP networks.
In his opening remarks, Giuseppe Busini, Charge d’Affaires, European Union to Thailand, clearly acknowledged that as ASEAN has undergone dramatic transformation, driven by increasing population, growing urbanisation and developing industrialisation, the level of consumption will sharply increase, resulting in GDP growth over the next 10 years. Busini stressed the urgent need to “building our future responsibly by taking into account sustainable consumption and production, and bringing it back to a sustainable path”.
Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand, emphasised the importance of applying a Circular Economy approach when dealing with waste management in ASEAN. Partnerships and support from the EU, the Thai SCP Network, the SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility were recognized as crucial to achieving Thailand’s SCP Roadmap targets and SDG12.
Giuseppe Busini, Charge d’Affaires, European Union to Thailand; Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Arab Hoballah, Team Leader, SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility.
ASEAN SCP policy implementation to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) was discussed during the first panel discussion moderated by Arab Hoballah, Team Leader, SWITCH-Asia SCP Facility. In particular, progress and challenges of implementing national SCP action plans from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines were presented. The second panel discussion focused on SCP and Circular Economy, with emphasis on greening the supply chain, eco-innovation, and waste management. The focus of the dialogue later shifted towards sustainable tourism in ASEAN and good practices from Thailand and Malaysia. Finally, the dialogue tackled the issue of food waste management and the importance of effective laws and regulations. Experiences and lessons learned from the EU and other countries were also exchanged.
Active discussions were led by the panel chairs with representatives and external speakers who deliberated and compared the respective SCP policy approaches from ASEAN, shared lessons learned and brainstormed innovative ways for scaling up opportunities to further mainstream and deliver SCP and Circular Economy, sustainable tourism in ASEAN and more effective food waste management. Overall, participants agreed on the importance of sharing experiences and good practices between ASEAN member countries, and that SCP policies and strategies should be followed up by a clear Action Plan for their effective delivery.
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