HE Long Sonita presided over the opening ceremony of the Consultation Workshop on Providing Inputs for the Regional Plan of Action (RPA) for the ASEAN Declaration on [the Right to] a Safe, Clean, [Healthy] and Sustainable Environment.
![HE Long Sonita presided over the opening ceremony of the Consultation Workshop on Providing Inputs for the Regional Plan of Action (RPA) for the ASEAN Declaration on [the Right to] a Safe, Clean, [Healthy] and Sustainable Environment.](https://www.chrc.gov.kh/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/26082026_6-1.jpg)
HE Long Sonita presided over the opening ceremony of the Consultation Workshop on Providing Inputs for the Regional Plan of Action (RPA) for the ASEAN Declaration on [the Right to] a Safe, Clean, [Healthy] and Sustainable Environment.
Phnom Penh: HE Long Sonita, Vice-President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC), representing HE Keo Remy, Senior Minister, CHRC President, and Cambodia’s Representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) presided over the opening ceremony of the “Consultation Workshop on Providing Inputs for the Regional Plan of Action (RPA) for the ASEAN Declaration on [the Right to] a Safe, Clean, [Healthy] and Sustainable Environment” on 26 August 2026, at the Cambodiana Hotel. On that occasion, she noted that human rights and environmental issues are fundamentally interconnected. Climate change, pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and the depletion of natural resources have direct consequences for people’s lives and well-being. She further stated that safeguarding the environment is an essential part of protecting human rights, since all citizens are entitled to live in a clean, safe, healthy, and sustainable environment. They should also be able to participate in environmental decision-making processes that affect their lives. She further stressed that protecting and conserving the environment is a shared responsibility that cannot be carried out by one group alone. It requires the active involvement of the Royal Government, civil society, local communities, and all citizens. The workshop brings together key stakeholders, especially civil society organisations and representatives of vulnerable groups, to contribute their perspectives to the development of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action. The key areas identified include ensuring access to reliable and timely environmental information, promoting public involvement in decision-making, providing access to justice and effective complaint-resolution mechanisms, safeguarding environmental rights defenders, and guaranteeing the meaningful and equitable participation of vulnerable groups. She hoped that the workshop’s outcomes would provide meaningful contributions to the Regional Plan of Action and support future ASEAN initiatives. She underscored that “A safe environment is essential to living with dignity, while environmental sustainability represents a shared duty to future generations. She added that collective engagement is crucial to making these rights a reality.”
