Since ASEAN’s inception in 1967, disaster management and environmental matters have been overseen by the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Committee. In 1971, member countries signed the ASEAN Combined Operation Against Natural Disaster agreement, which resulted in the first meeting of the ASEAN Experts Group on Natural Disasters. Nevertheless, ASEAN cooperation in disaster management had remained minimal throughout these early decades. In August 1993, the group decided to change its name to the ASEAN Experts Group on Disaster Management (AEGDM) and to expand their tasks to cover both natural and man-made disasters. Subsequently, AEGDM restructured itself into an ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) to intensify their cooperation on disaster management and meet every year. This was followed by the signings of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002, the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II in 2003, and the Declaration on Action to Strengthen Emergency Relief, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Prevention in the Aftermath of the Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster in 2004. (ASEAN Secretariat).