Bandar Seri Begawan, 21 April 2025: On the sidelines of the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change (ACCC) workshop – co-organised by ERIA and Brunei Darussalam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – ERIA President Tetsuya Watanabe paid a courtesy visit to His Excellency Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Muhammad Juanda bin Haji Abdul Rashid, Minister of Development of Brunei Darussalam.

President Watanabe shared key updates from the workshop and discussed the potential of the ACCC to evolve into a regional knowledge hub on climate change. Both sides explored strategic directions to strengthen the Centre’s role in advancing regional climate action and capacity-building initiatives.

The meeting also covered global climate developments, including major takeaways from recent COP negotiations and the shifting international landscape of climate policy. President Watanabe introduced ERIA’s Asia Zero Emission Center (AZEC), highlighting its efforts to promote practical and inclusive pathways toward decarbonisation, and noted how AZEC could complement ACCC’s regional objectives.

Both parties reaffirmed their shared commitment to tackling the urgent challenges of climate change and advancing the energy transition through deeper regional cooperation and knowledge exchange.