Regional Organizations and Challenges of Climate Change: Which Lesson from ASEAN?

This article examines ASEAN’s institutional and legal responses to climate change, assessing whether the Organization has effectively fulfilled a regional coordinating role for its Member States. Southeast Asia is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions, exposed to typhoons, sea-level rise, droughts, and transboundary hazards, making regional cooperation particularly urgent. The article traces ASEAN’s gradual engagement with climate change from the 2007 Singapore Declaration onward, analysing both the institutional framework – including the Working Group on Climate Change and the newly established ASEAN Centre on Climate Change – and the extensive body of soft law instruments adopted over the years, covering mitigation and adaptation initiatives in the areas of renewable energy, disaster risk reduction, food security, and climate finance. ASEAN’s external climate relations with the UN, the EU, China, Japan, and the United States are also considered. The article ultimately concludes that ASEAN has consistently opted for a flexible, non-binding approach rooted in the so-called “ASEAN Way” – prioritising sovereignty, consensus, and non-interference – which, while maintaining regional cohesion, has produced diluted commitments insufficient to meet Paris Agreement targets. Strengthening cross-sectoral coordination, improving implementation mechanisms, and fostering public-private partnerships are identified as essential steps to overcome this structural impasse.