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ASEM nations vow to strengthen environmental efforts
( 2002-01-18 00:38 ) (1 )

Environment ministers from 25 member countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Thursday reached a consensus in Beijing on further enhancing co-operation between the continents in the coming years.

They set their sights on the use of energy and water resources, forest protection, cleaner production, environmental policy making, biological diversity conservation and anti-desertification in a joint agreement released at the First ASEM Environment Ministers' Meeting held in Beijing Thursday.

The 25 countries will also promote the environmental protection partnership further and try to establish a dialogue mechanism on relevant issues, according to the agreement.

Premier Zhu Rongji, who initiated the environment ministers' summit along with German officials at the Third ASEM in Seoul in October 2000, expressed high hopes of greater partnership.

Zhu urged ASEM members "hand in hand, to create a better environment for Asia and Europe,'' in his message to the meeting Thursday.

Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao, on behalf of the Chinese Government, stressed four recommendations at the meeting on strengthening Asia-Europe environmental co-operation based on equality, mutual respect and shared benefits.

He also called for integrated environmental co-operation with economic development that takes into full account varied levels of each country's socio-economic state and to firmly root the partnership by emphasizing the fields of environmental technologies, management, and industry.

Environmental officials from Spain, on behalf of the European countries, expressed the European Union's (EU) hope that views and technologies on environmental protection would be exchanged with Asian countries.

They urged joint efforts to ensure that key international environmental treaties are enforced more strictly, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol.

Another senior EU official also spoke highly of the environment meeting, calling it "very timely" as it was held on the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in South Africa.

The EU is pleased to see the increasing importance of environmental issues on the international agenda, both in bilateral talks and multilateral forums, the EU statement stated.

ASEM groups 10 Asian countries -- Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Viet Nam, China, Japan, South Korea -- and 16 members from Europe.

They are Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden and the European Commission.

Launched in 1996, ASEM has brought together countries from both Asia and Europe to discuss issues in the political, economic and scientific fields.

(China Daily by Zhang Yong)