Draft 18 February 2003
Inter-linkages – Regional Workshop on Integrated Capacity Development in ASEAN on
Multilateral Environmental Agreements
Date and Venue
March 24, 25 and 26, 2003
Hotel Nikko, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Organized by
United Nations University (UNU), ASEAN Secretariat, Institute for International and
Strategic Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES),
Ministry of the Environment (MOE), Japan
Hosted by
Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia (MOSTE)
Introduction and Background
The Workshop will explore opportunities for, and constraints in strengthening cooperation and
mutual supportiveness of environmental agreements both in scale (national/regional/global)
and across issues (biodiversity, climate change, chemicals, etc.) in the ASEAN region. It will
build upon the experiences of the UNU’s Inter-linkages Initiative and the preliminary results
and recommendations of its case study in the ASEAN member states, undertaken jointly with
the ASEAN Secretariat and ISIS, Malaysia (in drafting). The workshop seeks to benefit both
governmental and non-governmental stakeholders at the national level and also strengthen the
position of the ASEAN Secretariat in facilitating further cooperation among the ASEAN
countries.
The Inter-linkages Initiative focuses on human-environment interaction through the
governance of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). The overall objective is to
strengthen regional and national governance structures and cooperation in environmental
management by identifying prospects in the promotion of cooperation and mutual
supportiveness of these agreements. Specifically, the project studies institutional and legal
frameworks, information management and monitoring procedures, capacity and funding
constraints, public awareness and education, and partnership and participation related to the
management of these agreements.
Purpose of the Workshop
The draft ASEAN case study observes that capacity issues in the ASEAN are not merely
quality based (knowledge), but also quantitative and sustainability related. Knowing the
limited manpower available in the region to deal with the ever increasing issues at the
national, regional and global level; the workshop will promote coordinated capacity
development on cross-cutting issues. This will be done by approaching capacity development
at a functional level. For example, instead of the present approach to provide separate training
for climate change aspects (for example, Kyoto Protocol), the project will promote
coordinated capacity development where multiple but related issues can be dealt with at once
at a fraction of the cost of separate trainings. A functional approach means that instead of
issues (climate change, ozone depleting substances, dangerous chemicals), we focus on
Draft 18 February 2003
functions (data assessment, information
arrangements, compliance, etc.).
storage,
institutional
support,
legislative
Structure
The workshop will be conducted at two levels: in plenary and working group discussions. In
the plenary sessions, presentations will be made by invited speakers from MEA secretariats,
international organizations, and regional inter-governmental organizations on cross-cutting
and functional issues related to MEAs. On the second day, three working group sessions will
be held based on the thematic clusters of MEAs, i.e. climate related conventions, biodiversity
related conventions, and chemicals related conventions. In each of these thematic clusters,
discussions will focus on the following three aspects (i) institutional arrangements, legislation,
policies and strategies, (ii) information management, and (iii) capacity development and
resourcing.
On the third day plenary, the recommendations of each of these thematic working groups will
be considered with a view to identifying areas of synergy and coordination across thematic
clusters and functional areas. The workshop aims at developing concrete and practical
suggestions on how ASEAN could promote effective implementation of MEAs based on the
inter-linkages approach.
Participants
The Ministry of the Environment, Japan will fund up to 3 participants from ASEAN member
countries and 2 participants from the ASEAN Secretariat. The financial support includes
discounted economy travel, modest DSA to cover hotel, meals and incidental expenses.
The participants should be senior or middle level managers who have prime responsibility for
implementing and coordinating MEAs in their country. The three participants should have
expertise in the each of the three thematic areas, i.e. climate change, biodiversity and chemical
related conventions respectively. Participants will be expected to brief the working groups on
national level implementation for each cluster of conventions and to participate actively in the
deliberations of the workshop.
Participants from countries outside the ASEAN region, inter-governmental organizations,
international and regional organizations will have the opportunity to highlight and interact
with the ASEAN participants on their activities related to promoting inter-linkages among
MEAs, and to explore partnerships with the ASEAN member countries to implement this
approach.
Draft 18 February 2003
Tentative Programme
23 March 2003, Sunday
Arrival of participants
24 March 2003, Monday, Day 1
Morning
– Opening Ceremony
– Opening Statements
- ISIS
- ASEAN
- MOE
- UNU
- IGES
– Opening address
- Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia
– Main presentations
- Integrated Assessment through the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
- Prof. Zakri, UNU/IAS
- Institutional and Capacity Development Issues in ASEAN
- Dr. Brook Boyer, UNITAR
- Results of Inter-linkages Case Studies in the Pacific
- UNU, SPREP, UNDP/PNG
- Q&A
Afternoon
– Presentations on Inter-linkages Issues for the Region
- Inter-linkages between the Ozone and the Chemicals Conventions
- UNEP-DTIE (requested)
- Inter-linkages between the UNFCCC, CBD and the CCD
- UNFCCC Secretariat (requested)
- Harmonization of Reporting for Biodiversity Related Conventions
- UNEP-WCMC (requested)
- E-based Capacity Development
- IGES
- Q&A
25 March, Tuesday, Day 2
Morning
– Working groups
Afternoon
– Working groups
Draft 18 February 2003
26 March, Wednesday, Day 3
Morning
– Plenary, presentation of WG results
- WG1 Chair
- WG2 Chair
- WG3 Chair
- Open Discussions
- Adoption of Report
– Closing
27 March, Thursday
Departure of participants
Terms of References for the Working Groups
Under their issue-cluster, each working group will discuss functional approaches to
obligations, opportunities and constraints for the respective MEAs, applying to the ASEAN
member countries. These will be (i) institutional arrangements, legislation, policies and
strategies, (ii) information management, and (iii) capacity development and resourcing.
Addressing the same themes under different clusters will assure comparability of each
working groups results and ease the development of an applicable capacity development
framework meeting the needs and comparative advantages of the ASEAN member countries.
Working Groups
WG1 – Climate Related Conventions, including Haze
– Chair: N.N.
– Scoping paper by UNU on the linkages between the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols
– Background paper by ASEAN on haze issues
WG2 – Biodiversity related conventions
– Chair: N.N.
– Scoping paper by the ASEAN Regional Center for Biodiversity Conservation
WG3 – Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes
– Chair: N.N.
– Scoping paper by Prof. Nordin Hasan, Malaysia