Declaration by 22 Students From Japan and 10 ASEAN Member Counties Studying in Japan: The Launch Ceremony to Be Held Online on March 16

“Future Leaders' Declaration on ASEAN-Japan Cooperation for International Marine Plastic Waste”

Welcome Remarks by ASEAN SG H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC) will hold a launch ceremony for the “Future Leaders’ Declaration on ASEAN-Japan Cooperation for International Marine Plastic Waste” on March 16, 2021. Organized by the AJC, this project has been the first attempt to adopt and present a student-initiated declaration on international marine plastic litter between Japan and 10 ASEAN member countries.¹ Twenty-two undergraduate and graduate students representing Japan (Okayama, Shizuoka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Mie, and Yamaguchi prefectures) and 10 ASEAN member countries were selected after a rigorous screening process from a total of approximately 60 applicants who are currently studying in Japan.

Since last November, the 22 students worked together online to draft a joint declaration to combat the current issue of international marine plastic waste through a series of three preparatory sessions and lectures. In the process of making the declaration, they received guidance and support from Professor ISOBE Atsuhiko of Kyushu University, a leading expert on marine micro plastics research, and Professor KAJITA Takaaki of the University of Tokyo and Nobel Laureate in Physics, and special lectures by experts from the ASEAN Environment Division, the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) of the Government of Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Kitakyushu Asian Center for Low Carbon Society, Environment Bureau, City of Kitakyushu, and the Clean Ocean Materials Alliance (CLOMA).

At the ceremony, the students will launch the joint declaration. ASEAN Secretary General H.E. Dato LIM Jock Hoi will open the ceremony and Professor KAJITA will deliver the keynote speech. A panel discussion will be organized as well where four student representatives from Cambodia, Indonesia, Viet Nam and Japan will exchange ideas on “What Future Leaders Must Learn from the Present Leaders” with Professor KAJITA, Dr. SUZUKI Motoyuki, Representative Director of Japan Association for UNEP, and Ms. KOSHIISHI Yuko, a Senior General Manager from Corporate Sustainability Department of Suntory Holdings Limited, and Professor ISOBE.

For the details of the event including registration, please see the AJC website as below.
https://www.asean.or.jp/en/centre-wide-info/20210225/

If you are interested in covering this event, please contact PR Unit of the AJC.

¹ Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.