Environmental Agreements in Southeast Asia: Balancing Economic Interests and Regional Politics

Giok-Ling Ooi,Simon Tay, and Yue Choong Kog

Abstract

　

        Focusing further on the nexus between politics and environmental change issues, Chapter 6 examines the role of national economic interests in influencing international environmental cooperation in Southeast Asia, using Singapore as a case study. Regional agreements on the environment in Southeast Asia predate many broader international agreements. Yet, as Giok-Ling Ooi, Simon Tay and Yue Choong Kog point out, many of the Southeast Asian agreements have been characterized more by good intentions and constant negotiations than by actual implementation of environmental protection measures (something which can, of course, be said about many other regional and global agreements). Given the state of the environment in Southeast Asia, it is not surprising that the introduction and implementation of sound environmental policies are very much bound up with regional politics, which have been fuelled by political differences among national governments. Regional political rivalry, rather than cooperation, has often resulted from different approaches to governance and from intense competition among the economies in region for foreign investment. To illustrate this phenomenon, the discussion in Chapter 7 examines the impact of various regional environmental agreements in the light of transboundary pollution problems and coping strategies adopted in resource-scarce states. More specifically, the chapter looks at the relationship between multilateral agreements, such as the Montreal Protocol for protection of the stratospheric ozone layer, and interests of businesses in the region, with particular focus on Singapore. Being a small city-state reliant on imported water and other natural resources, Singapore is a good case for illustrating the strategies that states with limited resources use to cope with environmental scarcities, as well as related regional politics concerning environmental issues. In its bilateral relations with Malaysia, water resources (for which Singapore depends on Malaysia) have featured prominently. The negotiations to maintain the supply of water from Malaysia have highlighted related environmental issues, and they illustrate how Singapore's foreign policy has been one of "coping with vulnerability."

　

        International relations and diplomacy are important dimensions of Singapore's environmental concerns, both domestic and global. International environmental cooperation remains a key strategy in the management of its position on trade and other issues. On the international front, the importance of trade and its own economic interests has provided impetus for the tiny city-state to make its mark in global negotiations on environmental issues. Negotiations at the regional level have proven to be less remarkable in terms of Singapore's ability to influence environmental cooperation, but the city-state nevertheless wins points for its track record in the effort at implementing measures required by the multilateral environmental agreements to which it is a signatory. The authors argue that Singapore's dependence on markets in the United States and Europe mandates its cooperation with multilateral environmental agreements. In its negotiations on the international front, there has been continuing concern about the impact of such agreements on the business competitiveness of Singapore. Not joining in such international environmental cooperation would contradict the Singapore government's wish to be increasingly integrated with global markets and the global economy. The onset of the Asian economic crisis has stressed the urgency of such integration for Singapore. But concerns among surrounding states about economic competitiveness is limiting their willingness to seek more effective ways of cooperating on the environment. The effort to secure greater cooperation on the environment has typically meant a flurry of meetings among political leaders and bureaucrats followed by declarations of good intent. This has not been followed up with a real commitment to international or regional cooperation on major environmental issues facing individual nation-states. As such, Singapore's integration with the world economy has pushed it to implement stricter environmental controls than obtain throughout the region, but it has so far had very limited success in persuading its neighbors to adopt similarly strict environmental controls. Thus, Chapter 6 shows the possibilities for environmental protection by willing and capable governments at the national level, but also shows the difficulties of spreading those practices more broadly.