AECEN News

The Pollution Control Department (PCD) will propose measures to Cabinet to strictly control the movement of hazardous industrial waste - after discovering the illegal transfer of 30 million tonnes of waste from manufacturers to unknown destinations.

PCD director-general Wichien Jungrungruang said the agency was drafting strict proposals to control hazardous industrial waste management and trans-boundary movement to try to stop illegal dumping of toxic waste.

Once every two years, IGES releases a white paper focusing on key policy agendas in the Asia-Pacific region. The Fourth IGES White Paper, entitled "Greening Governance in Asia-Pacific" examines innovative approaches to governance and institutions that have emerged from the region and recommends governance arrangements and policy solutions to accelerate the transition to a green economy, and argues that, without significant governance reform in Asia-Pacific, global sustainable development will remain an under-implemented ideal rather than a new reality.

On July 10-11, 2012, the Indonesia Ministry of Environment (MOE) conducted a workshop on Strengthening Public Participation on Environmental Management in Indonesia. Co-organized with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), about 100 participants from government agencies, NGOs, academia and the private sector shared ideas on the Public Participation Guide developed by USEPA and the application of public participation principles in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.

The AECEN 2011 Award for Commitment and Outstanding Service by a Woman was presented to Dato’ Hajah Rosnani binti Ibrahim, former Director General of the Department of Environment, Malaysia.

The Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently established an Environmental Compliance Assistance Center (ECAC) catering to local government units (LGUs) in the country. The center will provide fast and reliable technical assistance to local government authorities and officials for their environment- related concerns. The establishment of the ECAC for LGUs is the agency’s response to improve understanding and strengthen capacity of local agencies both as enforcers of environmental laws and also as operators of regulated establishments.

On November 8-10, 2011, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) worked with Vermont Law School to conduct a judicial training in Kunming, China in collaboration with the China University of Political Science and Law, the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, and the Humanities College of Southwest University of Forestry located in Kunming. Approximately 30 judges from three provinces (Yunnan, Hainan, and Guizhou) participated in the training.

On November 29-30, 2011, Vietnam hosted a regional consultation meeting in Hanoi joined by counterpart officials from Korea, Malaysia and Thailand to share ideas on a draft technical guideline on contaminated soil monitoring. At the consultation meeting, experts shared lessons learned and recommendations based on implementation challenges and success in their respective countries. As for the next steps, Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will finalized the technical guidelines and explore opportunities to continue their twinning partnership with Korea.

On October 25-26, 2011 in Bangkok USAID and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) co-organized a workshop on mainstreaming climate change adaptation and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process under the auspices of the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) and the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN).

During the 9th International Conference of the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) held in Whistler, British Columbia on June 20-24, 2011, AECEN members from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam as well as the AECEN Secretariat shared best practices and outcomes of twinning partnerships.

During June 20-24, the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Waikato Regional Council of New Zealand hosted an observational program in Waikato for stakeholder representatives from Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and civil society groups from the Tha Chin River Basin to see first-hand community involvement tools and techniques in protecting and restoring waters.