Kuala Lumpur, 29 October 2025 — Greenpeace Southeast Asia (GPSEA) welcomes the adoption of the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment during the 2025 ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, calling it a long-overdue step that recognises environmental protection as a human right across the region.

While welcoming the declaration, GPSEA urges ASEAN to show greater ambition and take concrete action. The declaration remains incomplete as it lacks clear obligations, measurable targets, and enforcement mechanisms. It also omits corporate responsibility to uphold people’s environmental rights and the need to address the transboundary nature of the region’s environmental challenges.

“This declaration is a chance for ASEAN to show real courage to turn recognition into action and make environmental rights a lived reality. To do that, ASEAN must confront transboundary pollution, biodiversity loss, corporate impunity head-on with clear timelines, accountability, and protection for environmental defenders,” said Heng Kiah Chun, Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Malaysia.

GPSEA stresses that ASEAN missed a key opportunity to demonstrate genuine leadership. The bloc could have been the first in the Global South to operationalise the UN General Assembly’s 2022 resolution on the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment by establishing enforceable regional standards and strong protections for those defending nature.

“The Declaration comes with a huge expectation for the ASEAN Member States to be the leader in the fulfillment of the right to the environment. The first step towards realizing that expectation is to enhance the access for vulnerable communities to participate in the development and implementation of the Declaration. It should also be mirrored in the actions taken by ASEAN Member States in various multilateral environmental agreements, such as on the COP of CBD, COP of the UNFCCC, and development of plastic treaty through the INCs”, said Fajri Fadhillah, Senior Regional Campaign Strategist (Legal and Political) at Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

“This declaration comes at the heels of the world’s highest court clearly defining what state responsibilities should be in addressing the climate crisis. ASEAN must follow up this statement with stronger language reflecting the urgency that we see in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling. ASEAN likewise should not pull its brakes by reverting to mere rhetoric while more frontline communities across the region suffer the consequences of the triple planetary crisis,” said Jefferson Chua, Climate Emergency Preparedness and Response Campaigner at Greenpeace Philippines.

Adding that, “These same communities are taking matters into their own hands by suing big corporations, just like the 67 Filipino claimants who announced a case against Shell last week. The Philippines has its work cut out as the next chair of the ASEAN – it should not allow the regional bloc to fall into irrelevance. Instead, it should take its cue from these communities to lead the region in defining how we protect our environmental rights, and pursue accountability against those who continue to violate them.”

While recognising the vital roles of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) in developing the upcoming Regional Plan of Action (RPA), GPSEA calls on ASEAN leaders to ensure it is transparent, inclusive, and well-resourced. This includes upholding Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The lack of transparency during the drafting of the Declaration must not be repeated in its implementation.

Greenpeace and its civil society partners across Southeast Asia reaffirm their commitment to engage ASEAN institutions and member states to push for stronger implementation, transparency and accountability, to make environmental rights a lived reality for all people in the region.

ENDS

References:
1. https://asean.org/asean-declaration-on-the-right-to-a-safe-clean-healthy-and-sustainable-environment/
2. https://asean.org/asean-declaration-on-promoting-the-right-to-development-and-the-right-to-peace-towards-realising-inclusive-and-sustainable-development/