Regional grouping must jointly shoulder the responsibility to curb pollution
Experts on environmental-protection law from Europe and Asia were invited to speak. Those from Germany and the Netherlands reasonably stated how their nations' environment benefited from being part of a common political and economic entity.
In the case of Germany, Professor Hans Jarass from Munster University said that while German environmental law makes "questionable concessions" to polluters, becoming part of the European Union meant that over the past 10 years, things have improved due to EU-wide legislation such as the EU Flora and Fauna Act.
Putting it bluntly, Jarass told the audience that the European Union has introduced environmental regulations that would otherwise not have existed in Germany today.
On the other hand, while Germany has more stringent environmental protection standards than most other EU member states, Germany tries to lift the overall standard of the whole bloc as well.
This is true in the case of automobile emission standards and Jarass rightly pointed out that "environmental pollution doesn't stop at the border".
Another country that experienced a positive impact from having environmental laws at both the national and regional level is the Netherlands. Professor Wybe Douma, a senior expert on European and international trade law, who lectures at the University of Groningen, said European environmental laws have helped promote a more integrated approach in dealing with the environment.
Today, while one-third of the environmental laws in the Netherlands are purely national, two-thirds of them are influenced by the EU's, he said.
As for exports destined to be sold in the euro-zone, the high level of EU environmental laws means that countries like China and Thailand must comply with stricter EU laws such as safety standards for children's toys and more environmentally friendly chemical components for products.
Douma admits that for such laws to be really effective and in order to have a more global impact on the environment, a kind of level-playing field is needed. The best way is to agree on global concessions on the issue, which he concluded is not easy.
Looking at our Asean region, which is prosperous compared to most parts of Africa, we have to shoulder as much responsibility as we can to minimise pollution and protect the environment.
To merely copy what the EU states are doing when it comes to environmental standards may not suit Southeast Asia at this stage of its economic development.
However, as Asean has moved towards promoting human rights at the regional level, we also need to discuss more about our common environmental challenges.
The drying-up of the Mekong River is but one of the issues that affect a number of nations in the Asean region. It serves as a reminder that most environmental issues must be tackled in a transnational, regional or even global manner.
Environmental problems, whether pollution or environmental degradation, man-made or otherwise, will increasingly have to be tackled at the regional level as problems become more daunting in scale and magnitude.
The Asean secretariat should then try to learn more from the EU in this regard. Commitment from member states to come up with a binding Asean environmental law is needed, no matter how modest it may appear in the beginning.
