ASIATODAY.ID, MEDAN — Indonesia has reinforced its role as a regional environmental leader by spearheading a joint initiative with Malaysia and Thailand to tackle cross-border environmental challenges, ranging from pollution and waste management to climate resilience and green technology adoption.
The commitment was highlighted during the 6th Meeting of the Environment Working Group under the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), held in Medan, North Sumatra, on June 18, 2026.
The gathering marked a significant step toward transforming regional environmental commitments into tangible projects with measurable impacts on communities and ecosystems across Southeast Asia.
Rosa Vivien Ratnawati, Secretary of Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Secretary-General of the Environmental Control Agency, emphasized that climate change and environmental degradation can no longer be addressed by individual countries acting alone.
“IMT-GT has become an important platform for strengthening regional cooperation, not only in economic development but also in environmental sustainability and climate resilience. Environmental challenges now transcend national borders, making stronger coordination and collective action essential,” she said in her opening remarks.
Indonesia brought three key priorities to the meeting: aligning local environmental initiatives with ASEAN and global sustainability targets, accelerating concrete projects in waste management, biodiversity conservation, and marine protection, and expanding collaboration with local governments, businesses, academic institutions, and youth organizations.
Laksmi Widyajayanti, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Environment on Food Resources, Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Quality, welcomed the adoption of the meeting’s annotated agenda, describing it as a critical framework for ensuring that discussions translate into actionable policies and field-level implementation.
This year’s forum also showcased a range of green innovations from the three participating countries. Thailand presented plans for marine oil-spill response training, Malaysia introduced a battery passport system designed to support electric vehicle battery recycling, while Indonesia highlighted an integrated waste management facility operated by PT Sumatera Deli Lestari Indah as a model of environmentally responsible industry.
Malaysia’s Environment Working Group Chair, P Jeevananth A/L Paliah of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, praised Indonesia’s leadership in hosting the event and advancing the regional environmental agenda.
“We appreciate Indonesia’s willingness to host this meeting and hope that it will generate practical recommendations that can be implemented by all member countries,” he said.
Closing the forum, Rosa Vivien urged delegates to strengthen regional solidarity in addressing increasingly complex environmental challenges.
“Let us use this meeting as an opportunity to reaffirm our shared commitment—not only as member states, but as a community bound by geography, history, and a common future,” she stated.
Supported by cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat and the Asian Development Bank, Indonesia aims to ensure that the outcomes of the meeting move beyond policy discussions and evolve into concrete green projects that enhance climate resilience, reduce regional pollution, and advance sustainable development across Southeast Asia.
The Medan meeting underscores a growing recognition among Southeast Asian nations that environmental security and economic prosperity are increasingly interconnected, requiring coordinated regional action to confront the challenges of a warming planet. (AT Network)
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