Understanding Southeast Asia’s New Climate Pledges: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste

KUALA LUMPUR, 1 OCTOBER 2026 —

Kuala Lumpur – The ISEAS‑Yusof Ishak Institute and the NDC Partnership will host a second webinar on Southeast Asian climate pledges on 1 July 2026, focusing on the newly submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Thailand and Timor‑Leste.

The virtual session follows an inaugural webinar held earlier in the year and aims to give ASEAN parties a platform to compare targets, discuss common implementation challenges and explore avenues for regional cooperation as the 2025 deadline for updated NDCs passed without sufficient global ambition to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 °C goal.

The event will feature senior climate officials from the four countries. Ir. Ahmad Za’iemaddien bin Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Retired) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Halbi, director of Brunei’s Climate Change Office, will lead the Brunei presentation.

Halbi, who also serves as Brunei’s chief climate negotiator and national focal point to the UNFCCC, the ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change and the IPCC, brings more than 15 years of experience in both the private sector – including senior roles at Brunei Shell Petroleum and Shell International – and public policymaking.

Cambodia will be represented by Mr Long Sona, director of the Department of Climate Change at the Ministry of Environment. Sona has two decades of experience in natural‑resource management and climate‑change policy, having previously held senior positions that involved collaboration with international development donors. He holds a master’s degree in natural‑resource management and climate change and a bachelor’s degree in forestry science.

Thailand’s contribution will be delivered by Ms Chanutsakul Supirak, director of the Policy and Plan Section at the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Supirak, Thailand’s national focal point for the UNFCCC, earned her degree from the Asian Institute of Technology, where she researched greenhouse‑gas emissions from sanitation.

Her career includes stints at the Ministry of Energy and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, where she contributed to environmental impact assessments for major energy projects, and she has been active in climate‑policy planning and international coordination since 2016.

Timor‑Leste will be represented by H.E. Adão Soares Barbosa, the country’s special envoy and ambassador at large for climate affairs, chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group for 2026‑2027 and alternate national focal point to the UNFCCC.

Barbosa has negotiated on behalf of the LDC Group since 2009, leading its loss‑and‑damage agenda and serving on the board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage since 2024, as well as on the Warsaw International Mechanism Executive Committee (2014‑2021) and the Adaptation Fund Board (2011‑2014).

The webinar will be delivered entirely online, with participants required to register in advance to receive a unique link. Organisers note that the registration form includes a clause obliging attendees to respect the Chatham House Rule, meaning that any information disclosed during the session may not be attributed to speakers or participants without prior written consent.

The series is intended to reinforce the role of NDCs as policy tools that enable countries to articulate decarbonisation strategies at both economy‑wide and sectoral levels, report progress on climate action and call for broader stakeholder participation.

By convening the four ASEAN nations that have recently submitted their NDC 3.0 documents, the webinar seeks to highlight gaps between current pledges and the emissions pathways required to limit warming to 1.5 °C, and to identify collaborative mechanisms that could boost regional ambition.

The initiative comes as the collective climate ambition of all UNFCCC parties remains far below the level needed to align the world with the Paris target, underscoring the urgency of each successive round of NDCs to demonstrate enhanced ambition. Organisers hope that the exchange will generate concrete recommendations for policy alignment, joint mitigation projects and capacity‑building measures that can be taken up by governments, donors and private‑sector partners across Southeast Asia.

Registration for the 1 July 2026 webinar is open, and participants can join using a computer, phone or tablet with internet access. The event will conclude with a Q&A session, after which the ISEAS‑Yusof Ishak Institute plans to publish a summary of the discussions, subject to the confidentiality constraints agreed by attendees.