Negotiating the haze treaty: Rationality and institutions in the negotiations for the asean agreement on transboundary haze pollution (2002)

Asian Survey

Volumn 51, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 356-378

  Nguitragool, Paruedee ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG   (Germany)

Author keywords

ASEAN Way; Cooperation; Haze; Intervention; Negotiation

Indexed keywords

ASEAN; HAZE; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; NATIONAL POLITICS; NEGOTIATION PROCESS; POLLUTION CONTROL; TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION;

EID: 79955657239     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: 1533838X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/AS.2011.51.2.356     Document Type: Article

References (78)

1. Land fires generally refer both to man-made and natural burning of bush and grassland as well as fires in agricultural and settlement areas. These fires, regardless of their size, may spread into the nearby degraded forests, where low humidity levels and masses of dry organic matter fuel aggressive forest fires. The smoke from land and forest fires-particularly peat fires, which accounted for 60%- 70% of the 1997-98 haze and are often associated with the commercial and unsustainable development of wetlands-comprises toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Micro ash particles also cause bronchitis, lung inflammation, and other respiratory diseases. Once blown to neighboring countries, the smoke becomes known as haze, a politically crafted term adopted to avoid acknowledging the clear sources of pollution. While Indonesia's Sumatra and Kalimantan are the region's largest haze producing areas, western Burma and northern Thailand have been mentioned as sources of haze in the Mekong sub-region.
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14. Robert Putnam, "Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: Logic of Two-Level Games," International Organization 42:3 (Summer 1988), pp. 427-60.
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17. Kal Raustiala, "Form and Substance in International Agreement," American Journal of International Law 99:3 (July 2005), pp. 581-614.
18. Oran Young, "Institutional Linkages in International Society: Polar Perspectives," Global Governance 2:1 (January-April 1996), pp. 1-24.
19. Oran Young, "Institutional Linkages in International Society: Polar Perspectives," Global Governance 2:1, 1996, Ibid.
20. Andrew Moravscik, "Taking Preferences Seriously: A Liberal Theory of International Politics," International Organization 51:4 (Autumn 1997), pp. 513-53.
21. Putnam, "Diplomacy and Domestic Politics."
22. Johann G. Goldammer, "Long-Term National Integrated Forest Fire Management Program Initiated at Bandung," International Forest Fire News, no. 8 (January 1993), pp. 9-12, , accessed October 25, 2010.
23. Joint Press Release 5th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment Singapore (February 18, 1992), , accessed August 9, 2010.
24. S. Tahir Qadri, Fire, Smoke, and Haze: The ASEAN Response Strategy (Manila: Asian Development Bank [ADB], 2001), , accessed August 9, 2010.
25. Judith Mayer, "Transboundary Perspectives on Managing Indonesia's Fires," Journal of Environment Development 15:2 (June 2006), pp. 202-23.
26. Influenced by the norm of face saving and concern over possible misinterpretation by Indonesia, ASEAN members adopted the term haze, whose origin is rather obscure. The goal was demonstrating their genuine attempt to tackle the smoke pollution without shaming Indonesia, a respected regional power.
27. Following the haze episode of 1994, an informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and an ASEAN Meeting on the Management of Transboundary Pollution took place in Malaysia. The ASEAN Cooperation Plan on Transboundary Pollution was adopted and followed by the establishment of a Haze Technical Task Force (HTTF)-a core mechanism aimed at implementing the plan.
28. ASEAN, ASEAN Plan on Transboundary Pollution, , accessed September 21, 2010.
29. Although forest fires may occur naturally, agricultural burning and other human activities are the main direct and indirect causes of recent fire disasters. Logging, for instance, contributes directly to the changes in microclimates. Waste wood left from logging activity is also a significant fuel source for widespread forest fires.
30. Luca Tacconi, "Fires in Indonesia: Causes, Costs, and Policy Implications," Occasional Paper, no. 38 (Bogor, Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research, 2003).
31. Markus Hund, "ASEAN and ASEAN Plus Three: Manifestation of Collective Identities in Southeast and East Asia?" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Trier), , accessed February 12, 2010.
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33. Thomas Fuller, "Shifting Winds Lower Malaysian Pollution," New York Times, September 29, 1997, , accessed February 21, 2011.
34. Adelina Kamal, "ASEAN's Response Strategy in Addressing Transboundary Haze Pollution," ASEAN Biodiversity (July-September 2001), pp. 11-14, , accessed August 10, 2010.
35. Interview with an ASEAN official who chose to remain anonymous, Jakarta, February 2, 2007.
36. Interview with an ASEAN official who chose to remain anonymous, 2007, Ibid.
37. Raustiala, "Form and Substance," p. 581.
38. Interview with an officer from the Ministry of Environment who chose to remain anonymous, Jakarta, January 22, 2007.
39. Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration declares: "States [⋯] have the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other states [⋯]," Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972),
40. Alan Tan, "Forest Fires of Indonesia: State Responsibility and International Liability," International and Comparative Law Quarterly 48:4 (October 1999), pp. 826-85;
41. Simon S. C. Tay, "Southeast Asian Fires: The Challenge for International Environmental Law and Sustainable Development," Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 11:2 (1999), pp. 241-305.
42. Tan, "Forest Fires of Indonesia: State Responsibility and International Liability," p. 842.
43. ASEAN Agreement for Transboundary Haze Pollution (2002).
44. Agricultural burning is a common practice in mainland Southeast Asia. The latest haze incident in northern Thailand in March 2010 led Thailand to hold a trilateral talk with Burma and Laos on the issue. Under the ASEAN haze treaty, Thailand is known as a leader of cooperation at the Mekong sub-regional level.
45. Interview with an anonymous ASEAN official, Jakarta, December 28, 2006.
46. Stockholm Declaration, Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.
47. Alan Khee-Jin Tan, "The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution," pp. 647-722.
48. ASEAN Agreement for Transboundary Haze Pollution (2002).
49. Unsustainable management of peatland results in dried peat soil. The massive carbon storage in the soil thus becomes susceptible to burning. Many peat fires also occur underground. This, along with dry weather conditions, makes these fires very difficult to extinguish.
50. Sovereign equality has been argued as being a core ASEAN norm. See Jürgen Haacke, ASEAN's Diplomacy and Security Culture: Origins, Development, and Prospects (New York: Routledge, 2003).
51. See also Amitav Acharya, Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia (New York: Routledge, 2001).
52. Rodolfo C. Severino, Southeast Asia in Search of an ASEAN Community (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2006).
53. ASEAN official interview, February 2, 2007.
54. Article 24 on the Rules of Procedure and Financial Rules states, "The first Conference of the Parties shall by consensus adopt rules of procedures for itself and financial rules for the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Pollution Control Fund to determine in particular the financial participation of the Parties to this Agreement."
55. After contributing to the initial seed, parties to the agreement may contribute more to the haze fund based on a voluntary basis. But the economically developed member countries and donor organizations have been reluctant to make higher contributions because Indonesia has not ratified the haze agreement.
56. Daniel Murdiyarso, "Transboundary Haze Pollution in Southeast Asia," International Forest Fire News 19 (September 1998), pp. 4-7, , accessed February 25, 2010.
57. ASEAN Agreement for Transboundary Haze Pollution (2002).
58. Aware of the lack of enforcement power, former Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim proposed a revision to the 1997 Environmental Management Law in 2001, the year the haze treaty was negotiated. In September 2009, the new Environmental Protection and Management Law (No. 32/2009) was passed. The new bill entrusted the ministry with the authority to fine or to revoke the environmental permits of companies that breach environmental regulations. Effective haze fund based on a voluntary basis. But the economically developed member countries and donor organizations have been reluctant to make higher contributions because Indonesia has not ratified the haze agreement. enforcement of this law, however, faces many difficulties because of the ministry's shortage of officials and heavy reliance on regional authorities such as governors and district heads to oversee companies' compliance.
59. Decentralization Law No. 34 of 2002, however, has curtailed the power of local governments by revoking the district head's authority to issue timber extraction and utilization permits (Izin Pemungutan dan Pemanfaatan Kayu).
60. According to Azrina Abdullah, land and forest fires were covered under the Basic Forestry Law No. 41/1999, the Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Their Ecosystem Act No 5/1990, the Environmental Conservation Act No. 23/1997, and Governmental Regulation No. 28/1985. But specific decrees and guidelines were created and implemented by the Ministries of Forestry and Agriculture. Azrina Abdullah, A Review and Analysis of Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Forest Fires in South East Asia (Jakarta: Project FireFight South East Asia, 2002).
61. Peter M. Haas, "Epistemic Community and the Dynamics of International Environmental Cooperation," in Regime Theory in International Relations, ed. Volker Rittberger with the assistance of Peter Mayer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), pp. 168-201.
62. Interview with a senior forestry expert who chose to remain anonymous, Bogor, Indonesia, November 23, 2006.
63. Both agreements are considered soft-law instruments. While the Kyoto Protocol may be considered more precise than the haze agreement, as it specifies the emissions reduction target, sensitive issues such as deforestation and land use are either excluded or insufficiently addressed in the accords.
64. Jürgen Rüland, "Deepening ASEAN Cooperation through Democratization? The Indonesian Legislature and Foreign Policymaking," International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 9:3 (September 2009), pp. 373-402.
65. Guillermo O'Donnell and Philippe Schmitter, Transition from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986);
66. Patrick Ziegenhain, The Indonesian Parliament and Democratization (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008).
67. Interview with Sonny Keraf, Jakarta, January 16, 2007.
68. According to Rinaldi et al., allegations of corruption, including those in forestry areas, have increased in virtually all regions in Indonesia after the regional autonomy laws entered into force in 2001. Taufik Rinaldi, Marini Purnomo, and Dewi Damayanti, "Fighting Corruption in Decentralized Indonesia," Case Studies on Handling Local Government Corruption (May 2007), World Bank, , accessed September 6, 2010.
69. Franz Jotzo and Salim Mazouz, "Indonesia's Climate Change Challenge: Economic Policy for Effective and Efficient Mitigation," Indonesian Quarterly 38:1 (first quarter 2010), pp. 23-40.
70. Sonny Keraf interview.
71. ASEAN official interview, February 2, 2007.
72. Singapore was the first to adopt the Muaro Jambi Regency in Sumatra, followed by Malaysia, which has worked with local authorities in Riau since 2007.
73. "Singapore and Malaysia Renew ASEAN Haze Plans," Straits Times (Singapore), June 20, 2007, , accessed September 26, 2006.
74. Miles Kahler, "Legalization as Strategy: The Asia-Pacific Case," International Organization 54:3 (Summer 2000), pp. 549-71.
75. Satellite images showing fire hot spots and smoke confirm that significant air quality deterioration in Singapore and Malaysia during the dry season (June-September) is caused by wildfires and (illegal) burning activities in Indonesia.
76. "Indonesia Lawmakers Set to Reject ASEAN Haze Pact," Environment News Network, March 14, 2008, , accessed October 5, 2009.
77. Rüland, "Deepening ASEAN."
78. Bryan D. Jones, "Bounded Rationality," Annual Review of Political Science 2:1 (June 1999), pp. 297-321, , accessed October 26, 2010.