Pollution Across Borders Transboundary Fire Smoke And Haze In Southeast Asia

This book is a collection of insights from experts of various fields, and will entail discussions of the recurring haze problem in Southeast Asia.It discusses multiple aspects of the haze problem. What is the cause of the haze? Who are the perpetrators and victims? What are the impacts and costs of the haze? Why has the haze problem persisted for decades? Are there prospects of resolving the pollution? How should we analyze the issue? Which solutions are more or less effective than others? How can we involve the stakeholders? The book provides a wide range of views on the haze problem. Written in a simple and accessible manner, this book allows the readers to easily access across different fields and develop a deeper understanding of the haze.

"A collection of insights from experts of various fields, and will entail discussions of the recurring haze problem in Southeast Asia. It discusses multiple aspects of the haze problem. What is the cause of the haze? Who are the perpetrators and victims? What are the impacts and costs of the haze? Why has the haze problem persisted for decades? Are there prospects of resolving the pollution? How should we analyze the issue? Which solutions are more or less effective than others? How can we involve the stakeholders? The book provides a wide range of views on the haze problem. Written in a simple and accessible manner, this book allows the readers to easily access across different fields and develop a deeper understanding of the haze"--

This publication, a joint effort of ADB and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), brings together the current knowledge about land and forest fires, examines their causes and impacts with particular reference to Southeast Asia, and suggests what could happen in the future.

Despite the efforts of Southeast Asian governments and of ASEAN, transboundary haze continues to be a major environmental problem in Southeast Asia. This book demonstrates that the issue is complex, and explains why efforts to solve the problem in purely political terms are ineffective, and likely to continue to be ineffective. The book shows how state-led, state-incentivised agribusiness development lies at the heart of the problem, leading to a large rise in palm oil production, with extensive clearing of forests, leading to deliberate or accidental fires and the resulting haze. Moreover, although the forest clearing is occurring in Indonesia, many of the companies involved are Malaysian and Singaporean; and, further, many of these companies have close relationships with the politicians and officials responsible for addressing the problem and who thereby have a conflict of interest. The author concludes by discussing the huge difficulties involved in overturning this system of 'patronage politics'.

Focusing on Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Mainland China, the contributors to this book analyze various cases of air pollution within East Asia. Air pollution in East Asia is a major health risk, which also has damaging impacts on the environment leading to impacts on society, economic growth, and welfare. While existing laws and policies have made progress in alleviating air pollution in each country in the region, the protection of favorable environments and the resolution of transboundary air pollution problems have become major targets of regional cooperation. Combining perspectives from social sciences and science, technology, and society studies, the contributors to this book examine both the technical and socioeconomic-political aspects of these challenges through a range of case studies from around the region. The book is a valuable read for researchers and policymakers looking at air pollution and transboundary governance challenges within and beyond East Asia.

This book critically explores the legal tools, concepts, principles and instruments, as well as cross-cutting issues, that comprise the field of international environmental law. Commencing with foundational elements, progressing on to discrete sub-fields, then exploring regional cooperative approaches, cross-cutting issues and finally emerging challenges for international environmental law, it features chapters by leading experts in the field of international environmental law, drawn from a range of countries in order to put forward a truly global approach to the subject. The book is split into five parts: • The foundations of international environmental law covering the principles of international environmental law, standards and voluntary commitments, sustainable development, issues of public participation and environmental rights and compliance, state responsibility, liability and dispute settlement. • The key instruments and governance arrangements across the most critical areas of international environmental law: biodiversity, wildlife, freshwater, forestry and soils, fisheries, marine pollution, chemicals and waste, air and atmospheric pollution and climate change. • Crucial developments in seven distinct regions of the world: Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, South East Asia, the polar regions and small island states. • Cross-cutting issues and multidisciplinary developments, drawing from multiple other fields of law and beyond to address human rights and Indigenous rights, war and armed conflict, trade, financing, investment, criminology, technology and energy. • Contemporary challenges and the emerging international environmental law regimes which address these: the changing climate, forced migration, marine plastic debris and future directions in international environmental law. Containing chapters on the most critical developments in environmental law in recent years, this comprehensive and authoritative book makes for an essential reference work for students, scholars and practitioners working in the field.

The first 50 years of ASEAN integration has brought peace and prosperity to the Southeast Asian region, while the next 50 will undoubtedly be fraught with unprecedented challenges. Today ASEAN not only has to contend with its own internal challenges arising from the highly diverse political, economic and socio-cultural systems of its member countries, it also has to deal with external factors which include shifts in geostrategic balance, fraying global consensus on free trade, populism and xenophobia, climate change, digital revolutions and cybercrimes. Set against the above background, this edited collection considers some of the contemporary issues and challenges faced by ASEAN in its journey towards more cohesive and dynamic regional integration. Among the topics explored are ASEAN’s evolving partnerships with its key strategic partners including China and the United States on economic policies and strategies, educational systems and frameworks, migration and environmental threats.

This book consists of updated and refreshed papers written by international law scholars and practitioners from the ASEAN region and published by the Journal of East Asia and International Law, comprehensively covering almost all contemporary international legal issues related to ASEAN. Legal analysis of the ASEAN integration as one community with one vision in this book provides readers with a better understanding of the current social climate and future developments of ASEAN. Each section within the book covers a highly topical issue on ASEAN cooperation and dispute resolution from an international law perspective. ASEAN is one of the biggest economic communities in the world and the ASEAN+3 covers nearly half of global GDP. Given the region’s global impact, this book is of interest to Asia watchers, academics and policymakers alike.