Regional Forum on Environmental Rights in ASEAN

During the Civil Society Regional Forum on ASEAN Environmental Rights held in Kuala Lumpur on 5 April 2025, civil society organizations across ASEAN reviewed the progress on the development of the Draft ASEAN Declaration on the right to a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment.

The following statement was presented to H.E. Edmund Bon, Chair of AICHR and Malaysian Representative to AICHR. The statement was presented on behalf of ARIEL, ICEL, AYF and APNED.

The statement recognizes the current triple planetary crisis which poses harm to human well-being, and undermines people’s rights to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment and that environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs), including indigenous peoples, are at the forefront of the fight against the planetary crisis and their work is crucial for environmental protection, yet they are highly vulnerable to attacks and persecution;

It noted that since the inception of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group (AER WG) in 2023, civil society representatives have called for a strong environmental rights framework through the conduct of various consultations, a sign-on, press releases, and the ASEAN Peoples Declaration on Environmental Rights.

The groups requested that the draft ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment which aims to be adopted this year should be released for further public comment.

The full statement is available here.