Trade and Environmental Diplomacy: Strategic Options for ASEAN

Efforts to incorporate environmental side agreements in global and regional trade regimes suggest two trends that ASEAN countries must contend with: (1) the reduction in the scope of sovereign countries to deal independently with environmental issues, and (2) the increasing use of trade measures to address environmental concerns. ASEAN can choose either to adopt a defensive stance, by slowing down the onset of these trends, as expressed for example in their reactive position on the issues pertaining to tropical timber and tuna exports, or take a proactive position, which means being actively involved in the process of framing international trade-related environmental standards. The authors argue that the adoption of a proactive strategy would enable ASEAN to become a significant player in the design of trade and environmental regimes. In the process of participation, the ASEAN countries would gain enhanced access to international support for efforts to improve their environmental policies and institutions, to make their firms conform to international production standards, and to become effective partners in the development of eco-labeling procedures.