On 10th February 2020 the “2nd ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development: Towards Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals” was held in Brussels. This Dialogue brought together senior representatives and experts of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and of the European Union (EU), the European Commission and the ASEAN Secretariat. The Dialogue built on the conclusions of the inaugural High-Level ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development, held in Bangkok on 17th November 2017. It reiterated the importance of continued policy dialogue to promote cooperation on sustainable development in line with the ASEAN-EU Plan of Action 2018-2022.
The EU and ASEAN have a longstanding and multi-faceted development cooperation partnership. Over the period 2014-2020, the EU has supported ASEAN regional development with over EUR 200 million and dedicated EUR 2 billion to individual ASEAN Member States. Regional integration, trade, green growth, the environment, agriculture, poverty eradication, natural disaster prevention and response, people-to-people connectivity, gender equality, and human rights, including the rights of persons with disabilities, are important areas of ASEAN-EU cooperation to achieve the SDGs.
The Dialogue in Brussels underlined the importance for both the EU and ASEAN to promote sustainable development, through the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At this occasion representatives of both sides discussed about opportunities to enhance their cooperation in the fields of sustainable production and consumption and circular economy, promoting smart and sustainable cities, clean energy, sustainable fisheries, biodiversity, combating marine debris, sustainable use of peatland forest and transboundary haze pollution.
With the adoption of the Communication on the European Green Deal in December 2019, the European Commission strengthened its ambition to jointly tackling global challenges linked to environment degradation and climate change with its partners in the world. As part of this engagement, the EU-funded SWITCH Asia programmeis already playing an important role in accelerating the transition of countries in Asia to a greener and more sustainable economy engaging with both the industrial sector, consumers, financial institutions and national governments. Since its launch in 2007, the programme has funded ca. 130 pilots projects (49 of which implemented in the ASEAN countries) across a wide range of sectors (energy efficiency in industrial plants and buildings, agri-food and fishing sectors, textiles and leather, tourism, logistics and freight).
Within ASEAN, instead, with the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 countries in the region committed to enhance participation in global value chains and strengthen their economic growth through innovation and green technologies thus ensuring the environmental protection of their lands. The establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue (ACSDSD), hosted at the College of Management Mahidol University in Bangkok, at the occasion of the 34th ASEAN Summit in June 2019 provided ASEAN with a tool to encourage research and studies on sustainable development issues and to enhance high-level policy dialogues to exchange best practices and to promote cooperation in the region.
At the occasion of the ASEAN-EU Dialogue in Brussels, the EU and ASEAN countries announced a joint collaboration in the field of Sustainable Consumption and Production through partnership with ACSDSD, which will be implemented through a roadmap of joint activities between the ASEAN Centre and the SWITCH Asia programme.
