JAKARTA - Member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are striving to uphold neutrality, promote diplomacy, and accelerate sustainability efforts amid intensifying global tensions and environmental challenges, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said on Friday.

Speaking at the 58th ASEAN Day Celebration, held under the theme "Toward an Inclusive and Sustainable ASEAN Future" at the ASEAN Secretariat Office in Jakarta, Kao emphasized that ASEAN's principled neutrality and commitment to dialogue can serve as a stabilizing force in a volatile world.

"In uncertain times, we must remain a steady and stabilizing force, offering space for honest dialogue, practical cooperation, and principled neutrality, where differences can be bridged and solutions be found," he said.

"Even amid tensions close to home, we are guided by the belief that diplomacy and dialogue pave the way to a lasting peace," Kao noted.

He said that beyond geopolitics, the region faces urgent environmental challenges. Climate change, natural disasters, and resource scarcity are already profoundly affecting ASEAN countries.

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In response, ASEAN is advancing several major initiatives, including long-standing cooperation on transboundary haze, the establishment of the ASEAN Center for Climate Change in Brunei Darussalam, efforts to build a regional power grid known as the ASEAN Power Grid, and accelerating a renewable energy transition.

"These reflect a growing resolve to confront the climate crisis together. Sustainability also encompasses economic resilience, diversifying supply chains, enhancing food and energy security, and building smart, green infrastructure that will support future generations," he said.

"ASEAN can not afford to treat sustainability as an abstract ideal or a future concern. It must be a concrete, urgent strategy embedded in everything we do," he added.

Representing President Prabowo Subianto at the celebration, Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono reiterated Indonesia's commitment to strengthen ASEAN as a peaceful, resilient, innovative, and people-oriented region.

He said that unity is key to ASEAN's strength amid current geopolitical rivalries, stressing that disputes must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.