As two of the most successful regional blocs in the world, the European Union (EU) and ASEAN have been cooperating across a wide range of sectors since formalising dialogue relations more than 40 years ago.While trade and investment were the traditional pillars of this relationship, the two bodies have been working together in fields such as science, technology and energy as far back as 1980 when a joint committee established a programme of cooperation.

For Singapore, integrating its climate change efforts and aligning them with international standards will be key to achieving several targets in the years to come. Noting that urbanisation and consumerism is leading to more competition for scarce resources, Masagos Zulkifli, Singapore’s Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, this week said that dealing with the way the country produces and consumes requires collective action.“The world is at a critical turning point.

ASEAN has to do more to attract private investment for key sustainable infrastructure programmes as the region makes the transition to a low carbon economy. HSBC presented a report to ASEAN Finance Ministers in Bangkok earlier this month ahead of their annual ministerial summit which outlined three recommendations in response to the region being disproportionately affected by climate change and the growing need for private investment to help bridge infrastructure funding gaps.The rep