Asean members agree to cooperate on climate chasnge, energy security

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members agreed Thursday to expand their cooperation in the areas of climate change, energy security and intercultural dialog, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said.

"As it is now entering the new decade of direct cooperation, ASEAN has decided to encourage cooperation among its memebr countries in a number of new areas such as climate change, energy security and intercultural dialog," Yeo said on the sidelines of an Asean+1 meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) here Thursday.

Climate change , triggered by a rise in global temperatures in a number of countries over the past few years, was posing a threat to the world, he said.

The use of fossil fuels also had quickly increased the greenhouse gas content of the atmosphere, he said.

It was hoped the use of alternative fuels would top the list of ASEAN member states` priorities to secure energy reserves, he said.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda underscored the need to step up reforestation programs in the Southeast Asian region as part of efforts to cushion the impact of climate change.

The world community, ASEAN`s dialog partners in particular, was paying close attention to climate change, Wirajuda said after the ASEAN+1 meeting with Australia.

"For example, the European Union has been taking very active part in initiating climate change dialogs. Therefore, on every occasion their response (to climate change) is very big. Meanwhile, Australia will also raise the climate change issue at the upcoming APEC session in Sydney in September," he said. (*)

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