To the Heads of State and Environment Ministers of ASEAN Member States:
As the world witnesses the escalating impacts of the climate crisis, from deadly flash floods in Nepal to severe droughts supercharged by El Niño across Southeast Asia, protecting and restoring our biodiversity has never been more urgent. Governments must move beyond pledges and commit to immediate, concrete action.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) marks the first global assessment of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). While progress has been made, global efforts fall short of what is needed to achieve our 2030 targets.
Biodiversity is our single greatest natural defense against the climate crisis. Yet, safeguarding Southeast Asia’s vital marine ecosystems is actively being undermined by growing development pressures such as further fossil fuel expansion across the region.
We, the undersigned civil society organizations, faith organizations, community representatives, and advocates from across Southeast Asia and around the world, call on ASEAN Member States to protect the region’s irreplaceable biodiversity, halt destruction of our natural heritage, and deliver on protecting 30% of our land, water, and seas.
Southeast Asia covers only 3% of the Earth’s surface, yet harbors an extraordinary concentration of biodiversity, including megadiverse countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, alongside the rich ecosystems of Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. Yet, these ecosystems and millions of people who depend on them face grave threats from fossil fuels.
Stretching from Southeast Asia to the Pacific, the Coral Triangle is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. It supports over 120 million people and shelters 76% of all global coral species and 37% of reef fish species.
Today, this marine sanctuary is under threat from 113 oil and gas fields that are currently operational, 13 are in development, and 50 have just been discovered. If all fields being explored for extraction are allowed to operate, the area covered by offshore oil and gas fields in the marine region will increase from 1% to a devastating 16%. These oil and gas blocks overlap with 24% of coral, 37% of mangroves, and 22% of seagrass ecosystems in the region. Alarmingly, marine protected areas are not spared; for example, Malaysia’s Tun Mustapha Park is 100% covered by an active oil and gas exploration block (SB-403).
Across the Coral Triangle, critical biodiversity hotspots are on the frontlines of this expansion. The Verde Island Passage and Bali face severe threats from expanding fossil gas and LNG facilities that endanger marine life and coastal livelihoods. Meanwhile, Palawan faces mounting risks from offshore oil and gas exploration and development.
Further east of the Coral Triangle, the proposed Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea threatens ecological hotspot home to critically endangered species on the IUCN Red List, placing harm on indigenous communities and local ecosystems.
Beyond marine sanctuaries, vital freshwater river basins and deltas face similar destruction. In Vietnam, the Mekong Delta stands as one of the world’s most fertile deltas and a vital food basket supporting 18 million people reliant on agriculture and aquaculture. Connected to the Mekong River, which produces 25% of the world’s inland fish catch and serves as a vital migratory corridor, the Delta faces severe risk with around 64% of Vietnam’s total gas power capacity set to concentrate around the Delta by 2030.
Similarly, Thailand faces a rapid expansion of fossil gas power plants and LNG terminals across the country. Several major gas projects are situated within the Chao Phraya River Basin, the biological and agricultural center of Thailand. The Lower Central Basin of the Chao Phraya River is designated as a Key Biodiversity Area and Important Bird Area, comprising vital wetlands and river habitats. Placing gas infrastructure near crucial water sources and agricultural land threatens local ecosystems, exacerbates environmental risks, and directly endangers the livelihoods of nearby communities.
These critical ecosystems are being pushed to the brink when local communities need them most to protect and buffer against climate impacts. Southeast Asia is confronting intensifying droughts, extreme rainfall, supercharged storms, sea-level rise, with the Super El Nino threatening to further exacerbate these impacts. For vulnerable communities, this means food and water insecurity, declining fisheries and agricultural productivity, and ecosystems and wildlife areas pushed beyond their ability to recover.
COP17 comes at a critical juncture as Southeast Asia directly experiences these climate shocks. This moment presents a pivotal opportunity for ASEAN leaders to protect our communities from further climate catastrophe by turning regional commitments into real, enforceable protection for Southeast Asia’s biodiversity and ecosystems.
We call on ASEAN Member States to:
- Take decisive shifts towards a people-centred agenda for biodiversity protection, restoration, and recovery that safeguard human rights and local livelihoods.
- Recognize the destructive role of fossil fuels, industrial food systems and extractive industries in endangering both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
- Declare critical biodiversity and wildlife areas as no go zones for fossil fuels and other destructive activities.
- Stop the development and financing of new oil, gas, and LNG infrastructure.
- Put local communities, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples at the heart of conservation by guaranteeing their rights.
- Accelerate concrete, equitable actions to protect 30% of the region’s land, water, and seas by 2030 in alignment with the KMGBF.
At COP17, we urge ASEAN to turn commitments into action, targets into protected ecosystems, and regional cooperation into real protection on the ground and in the sea.
Protecting biodiversity means halting the systemic drivers of its destruction. The climate and biodiversity crises are inextricably linked and cannot be addressed in isolation. These landscapes and seascapes are Southeast Asia’s ultimate natural defense against the climate crisis and the foundation of our cultural and ecological identity.
Signed,
Energy Shift Southeast Asia
Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development
Protect Verde Island Passage
Bukluran ng Mangingisda ng Batangas
RimbaWatch
Fossil Free Thailand
KRuHA (People’s Coalition for The Rights to Water)
Don’t Gas Indonesia
Greenpeace Southeast Asia (GPSEA)
The Artivist Network
Trend Asia
Campax
Southeast and East Asian Women’s Association – UK
Office for Human Development, Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference
WISDOM FOUNDATION
Aid Life Learn Environment (ALLEN)
FoE Japan
Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO)
Earth Insight
Mothers Rise Up
Aid Life Learn Environment
Ekō
urgewald
Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines–UK (CHRP-UK)
Money Rebellion
Rainforest Action Network
World Animal Protection
Connect Kirat
Solutions For Our Climate
Sahabat Alam Malaysia / Friends of the Earth Malaysia