ASEAN, explained.
Firefighters try to extinguish a peatland fire in a palm oil plantation, Riau Province, Indonesia (Afrianto Silalahi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Southeast Asian nations could transform from climate-vulnerable bystanders into unified diplomatic leaders.
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ASEAN and China need their own climate compactASEAN and China need their own climate compact
As the next round of annual global talks on climate change approaches, the European Union and China last month jointly issued a climate declaration underscoring their commitment to submit 2035 emissions targets, accelerate green technologies, and uphold the principles of multilateral climate governance set out in the 2015 Paris agreement. Such commitments should not be the preserve of only two major powers. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China should also issue a joint climate compact – concretely mapped, collectively designed, and Paris‑aligned.
China and ASEAN already share a well‑established corpus of cooperation, from clean energy to climate resilience. In their joint strategic statements, they reaffirm commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and embrace the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, including support for capacity building, technology transfer, and finance for mitigation and adaptation. China has pledged to back the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change and launch projects on low‑carbon community development and climate‑resilient cities.
Yet there is no binding ASEAN‑China emission pledge, no region-wide submission of sectoral nationally determined contributions, and no joint results tracking mechanism.
The EU‑China statement – affirming their intention to submit 2035 targets covering all sectors and greenhouse gases before COP 30 – is a model of clarity and discipline. ASEAN suffers from patchwork national pledges that lack coherent timelines and coordination. If ASEAN and China were to craft a shared climate compact, they could synchronise national trajectories, leverage financial and technical cooperation, and establish shared reporting protocols that reinforce accountability.
ASEAN’s vulnerabilities to coastal storms, heat waves, supply chain disruptions, and food insecurity demand unity.
Already ASEAN is laying groundwork for cross‑border renewable energy projects. The revival of the ASEAN Power Grid points to an aspiration for shared regional electricity trade, enhanced by renewable sources. A joint statement could integrate and accelerate this vision, committing to shared deployment of solar, battery storage, and transmission infrastructure – enhancing energy security and emissions reduction in a single stroke.
ASEAN–China agriculture cooperation demonstrates joint ambition in sustainability. The two parties have jointly committed to scaling up sustainable, low‑carbon, circular agriculture, and enhancing biodiversity, pollution control, and smart‑farming transitions under existing frameworks. But these initiatives remain fragmented. A climate compact could consolidate such efforts, aligning them with energy transition targets and explicitly linking agricultural mitigation and adaptation into a broader climate governance framework.
The "family photo" from the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference with China, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. in July (Malaysia Minister of Foreign Affairs via ASEAN Secretariat)
Perhaps most importantly, issuing a joint climate statement would signal major diplomatic leadership amid global fragmentation. When the EU and China came together in July, despite tensions over trade, rare earth access, geopolitics and Ukraine, they underscored climate action as a rare area of cooperative diplomacy. ASEAN and China could similarly claim a space in climate governance – not as pitted blocs, but in symbiosis. Such a compact would elevate ASEAN’s standing from passive platform to unified partner, offering global climate diplomacy a Southeast Asian dimension.
Sceptics may see ASEAN as wary of climate treaties – for example, its legally binding haze agreement only emerged in 2002 after lengthy resistance to relinquishing sovereignty. The so‑called “ASEAN Way” prefers non‑interference, consensus building and minimal institutionalisation. That approach may have constrained bold climate action. But ASEAN’s own Centre for Climate Change, now in development, offers an institutional basis for coordination; ownership over such a compact would preserve ASEAN centrality while granting legitimate scope for collective discipline.
Timing is favourable. ASEAN led last year’s COP 29 collective statement, reaffirming Paris commitments, principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, and highlighting the slow progress in climate finance and emissions cuts. China‑ASEAN dialogue frameworks already endorse sustainable development, clean energy, and capacity building. What is missing is a synchronized deliverable – a jointly endorsed ASEAN‑China compact, dated, measured, and designed to deliver substance before the world meets again in Brazil at COP 30.
ASEAN’s vulnerabilities to coastal storms, heat waves, supply chain disruptions, and food insecurity demand unity. China’s growing climate diplomacy investments and ASEAN’s growing institutional coherence present the ingredients for success. A jointly issued climate compact, mirroring the structure of the EU‑China declaration, would bind ASEAN and China together in a shared trajectory of emission targets, green finance, technology access, and adaptation support.
The ASEAN‑China climate compact would mark a transformation from aspirational statements to operational ambition. It would shift from national silos to regional alignment. Passive resilience would give way to active leadership. Just as the EU and China chose climate cooperation as a stabilising signal amid tension, ASEAN and China can choose to lead, anchored by the Paris Agreement and propelled by shared urgency. In doing so, Southeast Asia would become not only a region at risk – but a region of climate governance.
About the author
Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat
Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat Director of China-Indonesia Desk at Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) in Jakarta.
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