Grant of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives can help achieve the goal of the Asean Green Initiative (AGI) of planting at least 10 million native trees over a period of 10 years, according to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Secretariat.
Kung Phoak, Asean deputy secretary-general for socio-cultural community, said in a virtual briefing on Friday while there are no region-wide guidelines for such incentives, member countries are implementing their own versions.
“It is a valid point that there should be some sort of incentive and encouragement for the private sector to contribute more in the forms of recognizing their contributions to the society or promotion of products that respect the environment and contribute to the environmental well-being — these are some things the government can do,” Phoak said.
Even without an Asean-wide framework requiring all member states to provide uniform incentives, countries are acting on varying capacities.
“The design of these fiscal policies vary from one country to another but this is something that the member states have been doing over the years but at the end of the day, There must be mature policies and interventions to ensure that there is strong incentives for the private sector,” Phoak said.
Formally launched last Friday, AGI aims to set standards for the recognition of tree-planting activities across the region not only to re-grow forests but contribute to people’s well-being, livelihood improvement and resilience-building.
Asean is home to at least 60 percent of the world’s tropical peatlands, 42 percent of mangroves and 15 percent of tropical forests. – Jed Macapagal
