LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated that $26 trillion needs to be invested in infrastructure from 2016 to 2030 to maintain economic momentum in Asia, including $14.7 trillion for power and $8.4 trillion for transport. 7 The Linear Infrastructure Safeguards in Asia (LISA) project, launched in 2020 and funded by USAID, identified extensive overlap between planned linear infrastructure routes and areas of high biodiversity value in Asia. 8

One of the key drivers of linear infrastructure investment in Asia is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which involves the development of overland trading routes to “assist mainland China and participating countries to hedge against the inherent geopolitical risks of single trade routes.”9 Since 2013, nearly half of the investment from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the BRI has been directed to ASEAN member states.10 The value of investment by PRC companies in ASEAN member states has increased by 85 percent since the BRI began.

In 2017, the government of the PRC produced guidance to align BRI projects more closely with the vision of “ecological civilization” advanced by President Xi Jinping.11 The new guidance requires that BRI investors and proponents comply fully with national environmental impact assessment (EIA) law and policies, as well as with transboundary EIAs and strategic environmental assessments (SEAs). Although the BRI guidance is considered voluntary for ASEAN countries, it has created a broad framework for recommendations and regulations in ASEAN to promote greener development and highlights risks that linear infrastructure development poses to biodiversity, wildlife, and habitat.

The ASEAN Charter provides a legal framework and shows a political commitment to addressing common challenges through information sharing, regional integration, and multilateral agreements. The ASEAN Community Vision 2025 commits the ASEAN member states to realize “a rules-based, people-centered ASEAN Community, where people enjoy human rights and fundamental freedoms, higher quality of life, and community building benefits.”12 However, the guidelines need further clarity and specific mechanisms to ensure that they are effectively implemented.

12 ASEAN Community Vision 2025, https://www.asean.org/wp-content/uploads/images/2015/November/aec-page/ASEAN-Community-Vision-2025.pdf (paragraph 4)