Environmental Management Challenges and Responses in Southeast Asia

This essay reflects on the challenges of environmental management in Southeast Asia, including global warming, deforestation, pollution, urbanization, water scarcity, and overfishing. It examines how states and individuals are responding to these issues, noting the limited regional cooperation despite the threats to human security. The essay discusses institutionalist and constructivist perspectives on the slow creation of environmental regimes in the region, highlighting factors such as the prioritization of short-term economic benefits, the treatment of natural resources as export commodities, and the impact of ASEAN's decision-making processes. The analysis references the informality, institutional setting, and consensus principle of ASEAN, which have obstructed environmental regime creation, with environmental protection measures primarily undertaken in response to major tragedies.

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How states and individuals respond to the challenges of environmental management in Southeast
Asia
Southeast Asia faces enormous environmental pressure from global warming, deforestation,
pollution, increased urbanization, water scarcity, and overfishing. These environmental issues are
threatening human security. Even with these environmental issues threating social security, one
can make observations that only a few regional cooperation are trying to solve these
environmental issues.
The reason why the creation of an environmental regime is low is explained using the argument
by institutionalists and the constructivists. Institutionalists claim that the states as a sensible
performer will only take part in the creation of the regime if the benefits expected will surpass
the costs anticipated (Lee, et al., 2016). The countries in Southeast Asia do not value the benefits
of long-term environmental protection, and also the Southeast Asia countries treat natural
resources as merchandises in the export market.
Constructivists’ argument states that the creation of a regime is facilitated by the presence of the
institutional, regional cooperation that is long-standing, and which is capable of creating trust
among its members. Though Southeast Asia has an active regional organization, its presence has
not contributed significantly to the creation of regimes.
The measures of environmental protection have been only undertaken in the cases of major
tragedies that made inaction an unbearable choice. The national level of the informality
decision, institutional setting, and consensus principle of the ASEAN has much obstructed
environmental regime creation (Acharya, 2014).

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References
Acharya, A. (2014). Constructing a security community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the
problem of regional order. Routledge.
Lee, J. S. H., Jaafar, Z., Tan, A. K. J., Carrasco, L. R., Ewing, J. J., Bickford, D. P., ... & Koh, L.
P. (2016). Toward clearer skies: challenges in regulating transboundary haze in Southeast
Asia. Environmental Science & Policy, 55, 87-95.