earticle

영어

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the United Nations (UN) and regional collaboration in tackling climate change and environmental security in East Asia. East Asia plays critical roles in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. In order to seek environmental sustainability, the aspect of so-called planetary boundaries also should be taken into consideration, by assessing the thresholds of climate change, biodiversity loss, nitrogen cycle, and others. However, compared to the active economic regional integration, transboundary cooperation in environmental management is rather weak. Despite the regional environmental agreements, the actual implementation and the impacts are quite limited. In East Asia, regional environmental initiatives did not evolve into formal institutions. Cases of the Montreal Protocol and Mekong River transboundary management are examined to draw concrete lessons for effective regional frameworks. Elements for success are to embrace scientific rigor and flexible legal framework for implementation, trade provisions, give support to developing countries through multilateral processes, including the UN and the broader framework for cooperation, including not only the environment, but also socio and economic bargaining. The participation of the super powers in the agreement is also crucial. The environmental concerns should be reflected in the existing regional trade and economic frameworks in the region.