ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution

As a regional organsiation, ASEAN should in theory be able to coordinate between the various states to tackle this transboundary issue. We shall look at the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and assess whether it has been successful.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional organisation founded in 1967 by 5 countries, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. It has grown to include the rest of the Southeast Asian states that we know today. It was first established to counter the threat of communism that was spreading during the 1960s but have now expanded to facilitate intergovernmental cooperation in economics, political and security matters.

Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution

This agreement was signed on 10 June 2002. It outlines a series of guidelines that all ASEAN member states should take to prevent and monitor haze pollution. It states how all countries should develop and implement measures to monitor the outbreak of haze, control sources of fire and provide assistance and information in a timely manner if there is an outbreak of fire. The agreement also requests member states to implement necessary legislation to address the issues of haze and forest fires. This establishment of ASEAN Co-ordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control was codified in this agreement so as to facilitate information sharing and coordinating responses between member states.

Has the agreement been successful?

Not really. Haze continues to plague us with one of the worst episodes in 2015.

Why has the agreement failed?

The nature of ASEAN means that any agreement signed between member states will have a weak effect. This stems from the norms that were established since its inception as an organisation. The ASEAN Way is an approach by all member states with regards to resolving issues. This approach means that any problem or issue should be resolved in a non-conflictual way and any solution reached should be based on consensus. This results in any agreement formulated to be one that is the weakest given the different interests of each state.

Furthermore, ASEAN adheres to a strict principle of non-interference. This means that the organisation and its member states cannot interfere with each other’s internal affairs. This also means that ASEAN cannot unilaterally intervene to address the haze situation in Indonesia. Most agreements signed by member states in an ASEAN setting are not legally binding. The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution was surprisingly, an outlier.

However, despite its ratification by all member states, the latest being Indonesia in 2014, it is still severely limited. This is a result of the structure of an international system which is anarchy.

Anarchy and its role in international agreements

Anarchy in this sense means that there is no order or hierarchy among countries in the world. Unlike within a country where the government is able to enforce laws and sanction wrongdoers, no such authority exists to resolve and punish states that breach the law. Given this, it matters not whether an agreement is legally binding but whether anyone is able to enforce these laws.