Distinguished Chair,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure for me to take part in the current session and speak to such a representative audience. The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, or CICA is a unique consensus-based multilateral platform for enhancing cooperation toward promoting peace, security, and stability in Asia. Today CICA brings together 28 Member States which covers 90% of the territory of Asia and composes half of the world’s population. As a multilateral platform, it offers an equal opportunity for its Members with varying political, economic, and socio-cultural backgrounds to gather and discuss ideas, share knowledge and best practices, collaborate on beneficial initiatives, and make decisions based on mutual agreement. In line with sustainable development goals, CICA maintains the development of priority areas within the capacity of 5 confidence building dimensions.
One of them is CICA's environmental dimension, that does, together with sustainable development, environment protection and natural disaster management priority areas, contribute to the goal of transformation of CICA with an environmental perspective. Climate change is not a stand-alone issue. It is part of a larger systemic problem of ecological overshoot where human demand is exceeding the regenerative capacity of the biosphere. This focus point differs from the interests of the countries.
Pledging their net zero carbon economy targets, CICA Member States are aware of environmental sustainability. It is observed that climate change does not only cause environmental damage, but also directly affects the financial system. In line with the sustainable development goals, the transition to the circular economy is also meaningful and it is inevitable that it will undoubtedly contribute to the goals of the countries.
At this point, the contribution of green transformation to the goals of sustainable development is inevitable, not only from an environmental point of view, but also because it is an inclusive movement from the energy sector, transportation, industry and all consumers, and it is necessary to correctly understand the inclusive feature of many sectors.
In order to increase the awareness of CICA Member States, various seminars, workshops and online trainings are given as the CICA environmental dimension. Topics generally focused on the green transformation, current problems of the region, circular economy, sustainable development and risk reduction management. The CICA region represents a variety of climatic events, such as floods, desertification, water scarcity, air pollution, etc. The year 2022 has proven how fragile Asia is against environmental disasters. At least 7 million people were displaced by the floods in Pakistan and over 1,700 people lost their lives. Moreover, over 7.1 million Bangladeshis were displaced by climate change in 2022, a number that could reach 13.3 million by 2050. Many factors, such as climate change, conflicts, and food security issues, have resurfaced. In light of all these developments, additional economic costs have risen for the countries.
Environmental problems are a reality, and they are one of the focus of the greatest attention in the world. The 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which held in a CICA member country Egypt, showed the world that there is hope for developing countries to be supported by the developed and the most carbon polluter countries under the “loss and damage fund’’ against to climate disasters. The COP28 will be held in another CICA Member State United Arab Emirates.
At the Sixth CICA Summit, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed holding a High-Level Environmental Conference in Astana in 2024 to identify environmental issues among the CICA Member States. To achieve environmental sustainability, this initiative is vital for both the Asia and beyond.
On the path of Environmental Conference, series of CICA expert meetings will be held under the Chairmanship of Kazakhstan with the participation of 28 member states. It will be held to discuss and understand the Members' environmental perspectives, current issues, mitigation and adaptations that need to be made, and to prepare the necessary documents.
Among the expected outcomes of the conference is the decision to establish the CICA Environmental Council. This council will contribute to the countries towards their sustainable development goals and will ensure the synergy between the Members in the green transformation process.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Considering that there are only 7 years left until 2030, the significance of acting together is high. It is expected to provide a rapid acceleration of the awareness of environmental sustainability in Asia, where the significance of energy security and geopolitics has increased.
CICA perfectly fits to promoting connectivity across the Asian continent, including strengthening economic, social, environmental and other links between Member States in line with the sustainable development goals. Sustainable development goals are of great importance for countries to secure their future. Therefore, it is inevitable for all stakeholders to act jointly, especially in environmental sustainability.
Regional cooperation and solidarity are critical to protecting the planet. Combining the efforts of international organizations, in particular CICA and ESCAP and their Member States, our joint work will objectively lead to synergy and bring impressive practical results. Working together should be a priority for the development of Asia, especially green transformation policies.
Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand, 16 May 2023
