Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries

The Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries is a global framework for action provided by Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development; the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development; the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and the recommendations of the fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (held at Seoul, South Korea in March 2005) on enhancing the environmental sustainability of economic growth. The second Ministerial Regional Forum was held 14–16 July 2010 in Jeju Province, South Korea. The forum is held every three years; the first was in Bangkok in August 2007.

The ministers responsible for the environment and health of the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam, and the East Asian countries of China, Japan, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea, meeting together for the first time at Bangkok on 9 August 2007, adopted the charter of the Regional Forum on Environment and Health; have agreed upon the principles, vision, goals and objectives, strategies and structures set forth therein as the basis for their joint commitment to collective and individual country actions, and call upon their international partners to support the implementation of the charter.

Sustainable development encompasses nurturing the environment, enhancing economic growth and social equity to reduce poverty, promoting the health and well-being of people and encouraging partnerships and cooperation among stakeholders and countries in the region. Without environmental and health protection, development is undermined. Without economic growth (essential to poverty reduction and improving the quality of life), protection of the environment and promotion of health will also fail. The Regional Forum's vision is to safeguard and enhance health and the environment, promoting development which reduces poverty. The interplay of health and environment and their role in poverty reduction needs to be understood and addressed. This can be achieved by a national approach that integrates the efforts of stakeholders in preserving the environment with the protection of human health and well-being. The regional forum also believes that national efforts for environmental preservation and health protection may be affected by development activities and environmental and health conditions in neighboring countries. Thus, greater regional partnership and cooperation are needed to address common interests and threats to the region.

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