Five of the Kingdom’s towns and districts were included as nominees for ASEAN’s prestigious Environmental Sustainability Awards at the 36th Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN) in Langkawi, Malaysia, held from July 28 to 31.
Final decisions will be made during the upcoming ASEAN Environment Ministers Meeting in early September 2025, also in Malaysia.
The Ministry of Environment announced that the ASOEN meeting reached consensus on several key outcomes, including ten nominations for the ASEAN Environmental Sustainable Cities (ESC) Award — with Siem Reap being Cambodia’s nominee in this category.
In addition, 19 smaller and larger towns were shortlisted to receive the Certificate of Recognition for Water, Land, and Air. Cambodian nominees include Tbong Khmum and Ponhea Krek districts in Tbong Khmum province, Sinhanoukville in Preah Sihanouk and Takhmao in Kandal province.
The ASEAN officials also agreed on a draft joint statement on climate change, which will be submitted to the upcoming COP30 climate conference in Brazil this November. Notably, Cambodia was selected to chair the ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities for the 2025–2028 term.
The meeting also considered six proposed national parks, three from Malaysia and three from Vietnam, to be nominated as ASEAN Heritage Parks.
Additional items on the agenda included endorsements from the 27th Meeting of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity Governing Board, approval of the 2026 annual work plan and budget, and preparation of a draft joint ASEAN statement on biodiversity for the CBD COP16 conference.
All of these proposals and outcomes will be formally submitted for endorsement at the ASEAN Environment Ministers Meeting.
The ASEAN meeting also reviewed updates on policies, strategies, and action plans with dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, the EU and the US.
Ministry undersecretary of state Vann Monyneath, who serves as chair of the ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment, led Cambodia’s delegation to the meetings.
The event included participation from all 10 ASEAN member states, the deputy secretary-general of ASEAN, representatives from Timor-Leste, the director of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and ASEAN dialogue partners.
