Record heat in Southeast Asia led to school closures and fatal heat strokes, emphasizing the need for a stronger ASEAN environmental rights declaration.

Southeast Asia experienced record heat, causing school closures & fatal heat strokes, highlighting the urgency of a regional environmental rights declaration by ASEAN. The draft, currently recognizing the right to a clean environment, access to environmental information, and participation in environmental decisions, lacks acknowledgement of Indigenous rights & corporate accountability, prompting calls for stronger language to address these issues.