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Beyond the Arbitral Ruling: A Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment in the South China Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2019

Amiel Ian VALDEZ
Amiel Ian VALDEZ*
Affiliation:
De La Salle University, Manila, Philippinesamiel.valdez@dlsu.edu.ph
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Abstract

The South China Sea is a common resource where ASEAN Member States derive multiple uses. Nevertheless, the competing claims and conflicting interests of ASEAN nations and other claimants, such as China, raise the issue of transboundary harm within this sea and the sustainability of its resources. This paper argues that, despite the absence of a region-based transboundary environmental impact assessment [EIA] regime covering the South China Sea, ASEAN Member States are bound by their commitments under the Law of the Sea Convention and other binding agreements, as complemented by customary international law, which provide guidance in applying a transboundary EIA over a shared resource. The South China Sea Arbitration particularly sets the minimum requisites of not only preparing an EIA, but also communicating the EIA results to relevant international organizations. Here, ASEAN can play a vital role as a platform through which where EIA communication can be channelled.

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Articles
Information
Asian Journal of International Law , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , July 2019 , pp. 251 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © Asian Journal of International Law, 2019 

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Footnotes

*

Assistant Professorial Lecturer 2, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines. The author is also an Attorney at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Philippines. He is grateful to Professor Jacqueline Peel of Melbourne Law School for her valuable inputs, and for encouraging the author to submit this research paper for publication.

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110. Ibid., at [64].

111. Ibid., at [100].

112. Ibid., at [146].

113. Ibid., at [101].

114. Ibid., at [105].

115. Ibid., at [156].

116. Ibid., at [104].

117. Ibid., at [104].

118. South China Sea Arbitration, supra note 2 at [2].

119. Ibid., at [911].

120. Ibid.

121. Ibid., at [920]. China describes the natural simulation approach as one which “simulates the natural process of sea storms blowing away and moving biological scraps which gradually evolve into oasis on the sea”.

122. Ibid., at [921].

123. Ibid., at [991], [993].

124. Ibid., at [948]. (citations omitted, emphasis added).

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137. Ibid.

138. Ibid., at [941].

139. Ibid., at [944].

140. Ibid., at [959].

141. Ibid., at [964].

142. Ibid., at [987].

143. Ibid., at [989].

144. Ibid.

145. Ibid., at [990].

146. Ibid., at [978–83].

147. See Construction of a Road, supra note 108 at [105], [155–6].

148. South China Sea Arbitration, supra note 2 at [947].

149. Ibid., at [948] (emphasis added).

150. Ibid., at [991].

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157. Ibid., at [984].

158. Ibid.

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165. Fourth ASEAN State of the Environment Report 2009, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/wp-content/uploads/images/2012/publications/Fourth%20ASEAN%20State%20of%20the%20Environment%20Report%202009.pdf> at 49.

166. Ibid.

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169. Manuel MOGATO and Christian SHEPERD, “Australia, Japan, US call for South China Sea Code to be Legally Binding” Reuters (7 August 2017), online: Reuters <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asean-philippines-southchinasea/australia-japan-u-s-call-for-south-china-sea-code-to-be-legally-binding-idUSKBN1AN0TU>.

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171. HIRSCH, Philip, ed., Routledge Handbook of the Environment in Southeast Asia (Abingdon: Routledge, 2017) at 154Google Scholar.

172. Declaration for a Decade of Coastal and Marine Environmental Protection in the South China Sea (2017–2027) (13 November 2017), online: ASEAN <https://asean.org/storage/2017/11/Declaration-for-a-Decade-of-Coastal-and-Marine-Environmental-Protection-in-the-South-China-Sea-2017-2027.pdf> at paras. 3, 6, 8, 12.

173. Ibid., at para. 14 (emphasis added).

174. Ibid., at para. 10.

175. Agreement on the Cooperation for Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin, 5 April 1995, 2069 UNTS 3 (entered into force 5 April 1995) [Mekong Agreement].

176. WELLS-DANG, Andrew, “Prospects for Regional Cooperation on Environmental Impact Assessment in Mainland Southeast Asia” (2015) 37 Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs 406 at 424–8Google Scholar.

177. Mekong Agreement, supra note 175 at arts. 11–27.

178. Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 20 November 2007, 2624 UNTS 223 (entered into force 15 December 2008).

179. ASEAN Vision 2020, online: ASEAN <http://asean.org/?static_post=asean-vision-2020> at para. 6; see also “ASEAN to Ensure Complementarity of Community Building Efforts with SDGs” ASEAN Secretariat News (31 March 2017), online ASEAN Secretariat News <http://asean.org/asean-to-ensure-complementarity-of-community-building-efforts-with-sdgs/>.

180. Birnie et al., supra note 51 at 165.