STRENGTHENING CAPACITY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN THE … · Transboundary Haze Pollution –Possible political and legal settlement to the issue of transboundary haze pollution ASEAN

©DevelopingEnvironmentalLawChampions,Train-the-Trainers(TTT)Program2016.AllrightsreservedbyADBandIUCNAEL.

PresentedbyRose-LizaEisma-OsorioUniversityofCebu

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STRENGTHENINGCAPACITYFORENVIRONMENTALLAWINTHEASIA-PACIFIC:DEVELOPINGENVIRONMENTALLAWCHAMPIONS

CebuCity,22-26August2016Session11:CaseStudyofTrans-boundaryHazePollutioninASEANCountries



ObjectiveofthisCaseStudy(1)Toexamine:– The(in)effectivenessof domesticlawsandregionallegalarrangementsuchastheASEANAgreementonTransboundaryHazePollution– PossiblepoliticalandlegalsettlementtotheissueoftransboundaryhazepollutionASEANCountries;– Possibleappropriateremediesornonlegalresponsestothevictimstatescausedbytheforestfiresfromtheirneighbouring countries.

(2)Tounderstand:–Howtousethecomparativelawcase-studiesforanalysingthestrengthsandweaknessesoftheAgreement

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BACKGROUND• Theuseoffiresforlandclearingby‘traditionalfarmers’isacommonpracticein

Asia,buttheynevercausetrans-boundaryhazepollutioninthepast.• Theuseoffiresforlandclearinghasbecomeabigregionalproblemin

SoutheastAsiawhenthebig/industrialpalm-oilplantationstartedoperatinginearly1980’s.

• Every dry season ‘April to August’, Indonesia emits toxic haze in its owndomestic boundary and its neighbours, namely: Malaysia, Singapore & BruneiDarussalam.

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BACKGROUNDvRegionalResponsestothetrans-boundaryhazepollution:ASEANAGREEMENTONTRANSBOUNDARYHAZEPOLLUTION

StatusofsignatureandratificationØ Signedon10June2002inKualaLumpur;Enteredintoforceon25November2003

ØAll10ASEANarepartiestotheAgreement (8membersexceptPhilippinesandIndonesiaratifiedtheAgreementaround2003-2006)– Philippines:ratifiedon1Feb2010,depositwithapprovalbyASEANSecretaryon4March2010

– Indonesiaratifiedon14Oct2014,depositwithapprovalbyASEANSecretaryon20Jan2015

Source:http://haze.asean.org/status-of-ratification/••

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BACKGROUNDØMajorobligationsofPartiesare:– tocooperateindevelopingandimplementingmeasurestoprevent,monitor,andmitigatetransboundaryhazepollutionbycontrollingsourcesoflandand/orforestfires,developmentofmonitoring,assessmentandearlywarningsystems,exchangeofinformationandtechnology,andtheprovisionofmutualassistance;

– (ii)torespondpromptlytoarequestforrelevantinformationsoughtbyaStateorStatesthatareormaybeaffectedbysuchtransboundaryhazepollution,withaviewtominimising theconsequenceofthetransboundaryhazepollution;

– (iii)totakelegal,administrativeand/orothermeasurestoimplementtheirobligationsundertheAgreement

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Big’firesinASEAN1982-831987

1991-19921994-1995,1997-1999March2000

2002RiauandWestKalimantaninJune2004

September-Octoberof2006.6


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MostFirescameFromConcessionAreasofLargePlantationsinIndonesia


2013Fires9

Kalimantan,Indonesia:FireLocationsSeptember14,2015

Source:NOAA

2015Fires


IndonesiaExportsHazetoMalaysia

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ToSingapore

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SuspectedHazeinCebuCity(October24,2015)


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EMB-7DirectorWilliamCuñado saidthatwiththenewambientairmonitoringresult,itisnowuptoeachindividualtowhetherornottousethemask,butsaidEMB-7continuestorecommendtheuseofN95dustmaskandgogglesespeciallyamongthosewithheartorlungdiseasesandchildren.http://www.cebudailynews.inquirer.net/72228/haze-no-moreOctober27,2015


Bagtasa's carefulanalysisofsatelliteimagesshowedthatthehazefromIndonesiafiresdidindeedreachthePhilippines—acrossVisayas andMindanao,infact—butwastoothintobewidelynoticeableinmostareasexceptCebu."Duetothelocationof(Kabayan)anditsslownorthwestmovement,itcreatedapathwayforacoupleofdaysforthehazetoreachpartsofthePhilippines,“hesaid.

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http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/539618/scitech/weather/why-only-in-cebu-mysterious-haze-explained#sthash.M6F0Ebl0.dpuf,October5,2015


WhatisHAZEPOLLUTION?

• Hazepollution,asdefinedintheASEANTransboundaryHazePollutionAgreement(“THPA”),means:“smokeresultingfromlandand/orforestfire,whichcauses“deleteriouseffectsofsuchnatureastoendangerhumanhealth,harmlivingresources,andecosystemsandmaterialpropertyandimpairorinterferewithamenitiesandotherlegitimateusesoftheenvironment.”

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EffectsofHaze

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§ ThegovernmentofficesandschoolswereclosedduetoblackandtoxichazefromforestfiresinRiauandSumaterain1997-1998,2013,2014and2015.

§ Humanpopulation– healthimpacts

§ EconomyofaffectedCountries–lowerproductivity- loss

§ Visibilityimpairment§ Reductionairquality§ Transportation/Accidents


ECONOMICLOSS

ADBandBAPPENAS(IndonesianNationalDevelopmentAgency)summarisedthateconomiclossdueto1997-1998fireswasUS$9,298million(Indonesia),US$321million(Malaysia)andUS$69.3millionfor(Singapore);

Thereisnocomprehensivedataabouteconomiclossexperiencedbythe4countriesfromforestfiresin2000-2014.

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RelevantFacts

• SomePalmoilcorporationsoperatinginIndonesiaareMalaysianandSingaporeanor/andhaveheadquarterinMalaysiaorSingapore.

• TheuseoffiresisprohibitedbyASEANHazeAgreementandtheNationalLawofIndonesian,MalaysiaandSingapore.

• TheFormerPresidentsofIndonesia(Soeharto,MegawatiandSusiloBambangYudhoyono)haveformallyapologisedtotheHeadofStateandthepeopleofMalaysia,Singapore,andBruneiDarussalamfortheharmtheyexperience;

• Inthelast20years,IndonesianGovernmentfailedtoeffectivelyenforceditsnationallawtobringthecompanieswhoburntheirconcessionstoJustice.(Itisonlylately,theIndonesianGovernmentshowssomekindofseriousnesstoprosecutecompaniesinvolvedinforestfires).

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TotalareaofOilPalmPlantation

• 8MillionHectares(2013)• 13MillionHectares(2020)

• MostofthemarelocatedinSumateraandKalimantan(Borneo)

(Source:MinistryofAgriculture,2013)19


Indonesia’sPalmOilProductionandExports

2010 2011 2012 2013Production 21.8 23.5 26.5 28.0Export(MT) 15.6 16.5 18.1 21.0Export(USD-Billion)

16.4 20.2 21.6 N/A

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Sources:FAO,IndonesianPalmOilProducersAssociation(Gapki)andIndonesianMinistryofAgriculture


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RelevantLaws• 1985ASEANAgreementontheConservationofNatureand

NaturalResources• 2002ASEANAgreementonTransboundaryHazePollution• LawNo32/2009EnvironmentalManagementandProtectionAct

(Indonesia)• GovernmentRegulationNo.28of1985onForestProtection.

(Indonesia)• LawNo18/2013onPreventionandEradicationofForest

Degradation(Indonesia)• EnvironmentalQualityAct,1974 (Malaysia)• TransboundaryHazePollutionAct,2014(Singapore)


CleanAirActofthePhilippines(RA• Section4– RecognitionofRights– TheStateshallberecognizedandguaranteedbytheState:

a)Therighttobreathecleanair;xx xe)Therighttobeinformedofthenatureandextentofthepotential

hazardofanyactivity…andtobeservedtimelynoticeofanysignificantriseinthelevelofpollutionandtheaccidentalordeliberatereleaseintotheatmosphereofharmfulorhazardoussubstances;

xx xh)Therighttobringactionincourtforcompensationofpersonal

damagesresultingfromtheadverseenvironmentalandpublichealthimpactofaprojectoractivity.

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SomeImportantFeaturesofTHPA• Article7.Monitoring

1.EachPartyshalltakeappropriatemeasurestomonitor:a)allfireproneareas,(b) alllandand/orforestfires,(c)theenvironmentalconditionsconducivetosuchlandand/orforestfires,and(d)hazepollutionarisingfromsuchlandand/orforestfires.x x x

3.TheParties,intheeventthattherearefires,shallinitiateimmediateactiontocontrolortoputoutthefires.

• Article27.SettlementofDisputesAnydisputebetweenPartiesastotheinterpretationorapplicationof,orcompliancewith,thisAgreementoranyprotocolthereto,shallbesettledamicablybyconsultationornegotiation.

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TheASEANWayofDoingThingsMotto:"OneVision,OneIdentity,OneCommunity

BangkokDeclarationof1967– coalitionofnations.TheASEANCharterwhichenteredintoforceon15thDecember2008bestowedalegalpersonalityuponASEAN.

ASEANCoordinatingCouncilcomprisingtheASEANForeignMinisters,amongothers,coordinateswiththethreeASEANCommunityCouncilstoenhancepolicycoherence,

efficiencyandcooperationamongthem.

FormerASEANSecretaryGeneralRodolfoSeverino (1999),said“theStatemembersofASEAN,unlessconsented,cannottakelegalactionsagainstState-partieswhichare

responsibleforcommittingtransboundarypollution.”24


Reflection• Whatkindoflegalactionsthatcanbeused

bythevictimstatestohold‘resourcecountry’/stakeholdersresponsible?

• Whatkindofpositiveengagement/appropriatesolutionthatcanbe“accepted”byIndonesiaandvictimStatestoresolvethisproblem?

• Whatarethelimitations/challengesfortheenforcementofforestfirecasesinIndonesia/Malaysia?

• Whatlessonscanbelearntfromthiscasestudy?

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STRENGTHENING CAPACITY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN THE … · Transboundary Haze Pollution –Possible political and legal settlement to the issue of transboundary haze pollution ASEAN