ENVIRONMENT ministers from the member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) agreed to set up a haze fund and to work together in enforcing environmental laws in the region.

The establishment of the fund shows “our strong commitment” to combat the haze, which has been plaguing the region since the 1990s, Dr. Amy Khor Lean Suan, Singapore's deputy minister for environment, announced at the close of a two-day meeting in Cebu.

The fund will be used to fight forest fires in Indonesia and the choking haze they produce.

Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand kick-started the establishment of the haze fund with Indonesia and Singapore committing an initial US$50,000 each, said Dr. Soeung

Rachtchavy, deputy secretary general of the Asean secretariat.

Other Asean countries will contribute depending on necessity and the individual country's capability, Philippine Environment
Secretary Angelo Reyes said.

During the 10th Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment held in Mactan last Friday and yesterday, environment ministers also passed the Cebu Resolution on Sustainable Development stating, among others, their commitment to further enhance environmental cooperation.

They also launched the 3rd Asean State of the Environment Report 2006, which highlights the environmental conditions of the region, the challenges that it is facing and the actions being taken to address them.

Aside from the 10 member-countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines), the environment ministers of Japan, China and South Korea also joined the 5th Asean + 3 Environment Ministers' Summit yesterday.

The meeting focused on the various areas for collaboration between the Asean member-countries and the three dialogue partner-countries: environmental education, environmentally-sound technologies, urban environmental management and awareness, climate change issues, biodiversity management and integrated water resources management.

Secretary Reyes, also the chairman of the Asean environment ministers, said the common agreement to address environmental issues between Asean and Japan, China and South Korea is a good start, considering that together they make up one-third of the world's population and one-tenth of the world's land area.

Due to the recent haze that affected half of Southeast Asia, trans-boundary haze pollution was thoroughly discussed during the ministers' meeting.

Haze—a mix of dust, smoke and other pollutants—is caused by land and forest fires in Indonesia, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and blows towards neighboring countries.

Last month, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono apologized for the haze and his spokesman said his country was prepared to sign on to the Asean agreement, but did not provide a timeframe.

Suan, environment minister of Singapore and vice chairman of the Asean environment ministers, clarified that their commitment to the haze fund is still subject for approval by their respective heads of state.

Rachtchavy also said they have not discussed in detail how the haze fund will be established—whether it will be in a form of an endowment fund—and how it will be used.

These are matters that will be discussed by senior officials, Rachtchavy said.

A sub-regional ministerial steering committee made up of ministers from the five affected countries was created to oversee the implementation of concrete actions to address land and forest fires that result in trans-boundary haze pollution.

Reyes said that during their meeting, the Philippines introduced the idea of setting up a network among Asean member-countries for a more effective implementation of environmental laws, particularly in illegal trade of wildlife, both in the national and regional level.

But Reyes clarified that they do not envision the establishment of a Southeast Asian regional environmental force.

They merely want Asean to establish a system of collaboration and capacity-building, as well as exchange of technology, experts, training, information and data.

While this initiative was accepted by the other Asean member-countries, Reyes said they still have to create a working group for this.

The environment ministers also expressed their support and commitment to the recently established Asean Centre for Biodiversity.

Reyes said the Philippines and some countries in Southeast Asia are among the most mega-diverse countries in the world.