Festival & Nature Stewardship: Sarawak’s Rainforest World Music Festival 2026 returns to Sarawak Cultural Village (26–28 June) with a sustainability push, including “Green Ruai” and the EcoGreen Planet tree-planting drive—6,000 trees planted since 2023, aiming for 10,000 by year-end. Regional Security & the Environment: 17 countries have agreed to launch “Guidelines for Mutual Defense of Undersea Infrastructure” to protect submarine cables and power lines, after incidents in the Baltic Sea and Taiwan Strait raised fears of a new seabed battleground—Brunei is listed among the participants. Health & Pollution-by-Proxy: Malaysia faces growing youth nicotine use via vapes and e-cigarettes, with calls for bold action ahead of World No Tobacco Day 2026, including banning nicotine products to prevent early addiction. Forests & Climate Resilience: Laos ranks second in ASEAN for forest coverage (about 62% of land), behind Brunei (72.1%), highlighting forests’ roles in biodiversity, watershed protection and climate regulation. Brunei-linked Growth: Inchcape Shipping Services opened a new Brunei office to support offshore, navy-related and logistics operations—an economic boost that also keeps attention on how shipping activity can affect marine environments. Agri-Tech for Sustainability: Malaysia’s VentureTECH invests in Pacton’s AI/IoT aquaculture platform FishSpeak, aiming to improve productivity and long-term sustainability for fish and shrimp farms across ASEAN, including Brunei.