Transboundary Environmental Issues Research Articles

Vietnam’s Marine Environmental Security: Cross-Border Challenges and Vietnam concept

Background and objective: Since beginning of the 21st century, security in the South China Sea/East Vietnam Sea has emerged as a big problem with degraded maritime environment and serious impacts on the global and regional security and development. Because of territorial disputes and competition among countries, marine environmental security has become an increasingly complicated issue with growing challenges. However, there is no effective coordination mechanism for this problem, thus countries and international organizations must further promote cooperation to make contribution to peace and sustainable development in the South China Sea region. Vietnam is a littoral country in the South China Sea/ East Vietnam Sea with large sea area and 28 coastal provinces and cities. Marine environmental security is closely linked to the development and prosperity of the country. Currently, Vietnam has faced many challenges, such as natural disasters, degraded marine environment, marine plastic waste, sea level rise and many cross-border challenges.Methods: Approaching from the perspective of non-traditional security, especially marine environmental security, on the basis of analyzing the current state of the marine environment, a number of factors and issues raised for Vietnam, for other countries, parties...the author explains the need to raise awareness, develop plans and carry out many actions, especially cooperation between countries and parties to protect the environment.Results: Environmental security in the South China Sea is facing challenges such as natural disasters, marine environmental degradation, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, ocean plastic waste, rising sea levels and many more. Transboundary environmental issues, Marine environmental security is affected by many factors such as climate change, natural disasters, etc., but the "man-made" factor - caused by humans accounts for more. Peace and security in the South China Sea are common interests of the region and the world. South China Sea security is complex and multi-layered, with unpredictable developments. Vietnam is making efforts to address the challenges of marine environmental security, however, cross-border challenges are bigger. Marine environmental security requires cooperation from countries, international and regional organizations.Conclusion: Vietnam is proactively and actively addressing marine environmental security challenges, participating in international cooperation to resolve marine environmental security issues. Marine Environmental Security in South China Sea is required that all parties raise their awareness and actively take action towards sustainable development. Establishing the South China Sea Environmental Security Forum chaired by the United Nations or ASEAN is an urgent need.

Impact of governance and effectiveness of expenditure on CO2 emission (air pollution): lessons from four BRIC countries

PurposeThis study conducts an analysis of the interplay between governance quality, environmental expenditure of the government, and pollution emissions (measured as CO2 emissions) within the BRIC economies.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing the FMOLS model and marginal effects, we investigate the influence of governance quality and environmental expenditure on environmental quality (CO2 emissions) over the period 1996–2020. We took data for Brazil, Russia, India and China. We excluded South Africa due to its due to its small economic size relative to other BRIC economies, sluggish industrial growth and deteriorating foreign trade which gives contrast outliers to our data.FindingsResults indicate that government investments in environmental protection contribute to a reduction in CO2 emissions. However, the effectiveness of these expenditures is contingent upon the quality of governance. This underscores the significance of robust governance for realizing meaningful reductions in air pollution through environmental spending. Further, increase in GDP per capita and the industrial sector's share of GDP are associated with a significant rise in CO2 emissions across BRIC economies. Conversely, FDI and trade openness exhibit a negative impact on CO2 emissions, with this effect gaining greater resilience when accounting for governance factors.Research limitations/implicationsLike any other studies, the present study also suffers from some limitations. First, besides air quality, environmental quality encompasses multiple dimensions and various characteristics such as water purity, noise pollution, open space access, visual effects of buildings etc. But the present study included only CO2 (air quality) as a proxy of environmental quality due to various problems of data and methods. Second, CO2 (carbon dioxide) emission, which is the dependent variable in our model, is actually influenced by various quantitative and qualitative (both natural and man-made) factors. We included only nine independent variables. However, we could not include many variables due to lack of consistent data. Third, this study included only four countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and excluded South Africa which is a member of the BRICS block due to its economic size, sluggish industrial growth and deteriorating foreign trade which gives contrast outliers to our data set of the four BRIC countries. Therefore, the future research may be carried out by addressing those issues for better understanding of the environmental problems, governance and policies thereon.Practical implications(i) Establish environmental governance committees – The four BRIC countries including South Africa should form a committee comprising government, civil society, and private sector representatives for comprehensive oversight and collaboration in environmental governance. (ii) Invest in capacity building for environmental institutions – Allocate resources to enhance environmental institutions' capacity through training, data improvement, and enforcement strengthening. (iii) Implement green procurement policies – Encourage green procurement in government agencies to drive demand for eco-friendly products and services, promoting sustainable practices. (iv) Incentivize green technology development – Offer tax credits or subsidies to stimulate green technology adoption, including renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. (v) Promote sustainable urban development – Prioritize sustainable urban strategies like public transportation investment and green space promotion to mitigate urbanizations' environmental impacts. (vi) Enhance cross-border cooperation – Foster collaboration on transboundary environmental issues among four BRIC nations including South Africa, including joint research and policy responses. (vii) Promote green finance and investment – Mobilize green finance to support sustainable development projects through instruments like green investment funds and bonds.Originality/valueThis study distinguishes itself by offering a unique analysis of both individual and combined effects of governance and environmental expenditure on environmental quality. Additionally, it encompasses various dimensions of governance, an aspect rarely explored in the BRIC countries.

TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AS A SUBJECT OF TEACHING IN UNIVERSITITES

The paper presents the results of the research on teaching transboundary environmental pollution issues within the economics of nature use framework in Ukraine’s universities. The methods of in-depth analysis of the data source, structural, semantic and comparative analysis, and qualitative content analysis were applied for studying the syllabuses of the related curricula. According to the research results, the syllabuses mainly focus on urgent issues of environmental pollution in Ukraine and its regions, and sometimes they concern environmental challenges for enterprises. Transboundary pollution of the environment is considered indirectly in the context of global environmental issues and international cooperation. The relevant issues are presented much more comprehensively in the environmental safety curricula. The approach seems reasonable. However, it substantially restricts the consideration of the environmental economics as an integral field of knowledge. Another observation is that teachers mostly ignore such an important component of the environment as biodiversity when elaborating the syllabuses and curricula.

The likely impact of the BBNJ Agreement on the architecture of ocean governance

In June 2023, governments agreed to a new treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). Unlike most other multilateral environmental agreements that typically emerge in response to newly identified transboundary environmental issues, the BBNJ Agreement steps into an already crowded institutional landscape as a global authority with broad objectives. The challenge facing this new legal instrument is unique. It must transform the architecture of ocean governance by harmonizing existing institutions, frameworks, and bodies (IFBs) while respecting their autonomy. This study examines the numerous references to IFBs in the treaty text to shed light on how the BBNJ Agreement might affect the dynamics with and among existing IFBs. The findings suggest that the BBNJ Agreement represents a new model for multilateral environmental agreements. It relies on its capacity to orchestrate incumbent IFBs and forge a new polycentric order centered around its treaty objectives. Its institutional power is likely to be constrained by the obligation to involve relevant IFBs in its decision-making processes. But the primary strength of the BBNJ Agreement lies in the normative authority it has established. Its objectives are effectively promoted within IFBs, potentially taking precedence in the event of serious or irreversible harm to marine biodiversity. When fully implemented, the BBNJ Agreement has the potential to redefine the relationships among existing IFBs and improve their coherence for more holistic ocean governance.

ATSEA: A Regional Collaboration to Address Transboundary Threats to Ecosystems for Human Well-Being in the Arafura and Timor Seas

The Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) are home to a wealth of both living and non-living marine resources, including major fisheries, significant oil and gas reserves, extensive coastal and marine habitats, and globally-significant populations of migratory, rare, threatened, and endangered marine species. These resources provide goods and services valued at more than US$7.3B to neighboring nations, annually. The waters of the ATS are bounded by Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Australia; and significantly, are defined as a ‘semi-enclosed seas’ under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS places a responsibility and an obligation on countries bordering enclosed and semi-enclosed seas to cooperate in resource management, the protection of the marine environment and marine scientific research. Recent assessments indicate that the marine environment in the ATS region is in serious decline, primarily as a result of over-harvesting and other direct and indirect impacts of anthropogenic stresses and global climate change. Transboundary issues such as unsustainable and illegal fishing activities, marine and land-based pollution, marine habitat and biodiversity decline, and climate change negatively impact fishery resources, ecosystem quality, and human well-being. Over the past 2 decades ATS littoral countries have progressed toward transboundary management of the region. This paper elaborates on the current status and threats to coastal and marine resources in the ATS region and in particular, the major efforts of the four littoral ATS countries to address transboundary environmental issues at the regional, national, and project site levels through the US$9.7M, 5-year, UN GEF-funded ATSEA-2 program. A key result of the ATSEA Program is regional collaboration that supports stakeholder engagement for meaningful resource management and protection is essential for the sustainable use and development of marine resources in the ATS.

LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR FACING ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION CRIMES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JORDANIAN LEGISLATION AND INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

Objectives: The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of legal frameworks, both domestically and internationally, concerning environmental pollution. By examining these frameworks, the study aims to understand how they address the multifaceted problem of environmental pollution and identify potential solutions. This research holds significance in the context of increasing environmental degradation worldwide.
 
 Methods: To achieve the stated objective, this study employs a multidisciplinary approach. It involves a thorough review and analysis of domestic legislation related to environmental protection in various jurisdictions. Additionally, international treaties, agreements, and conventions addressing environmental pollution are examined. Furthermore, scholarly literature and legal documents pertaining to environmental law and policy are reviewed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
 
 Results: The findings from this research provide valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of existing legal frameworks for addressing environmental pollution. Analysis of domestic legislation reveals variations in approaches to environmental protection across different jurisdictions. Similarly, examination of international agreements highlights the importance of cooperation and coordination in addressing transboundary environmental issues. The discussion of findings will address the practical implications for policymakers, legal professionals, and environmental organizations, with a focus on identifying strategies to strengthen legal mechanisms for combating environmental pollution.
 
 Conclusion: In conclusion, this study underscores the critical role of legal frameworks in addressing environmental pollution at both domestic and international levels. By providing a comprehensive analysis of existing legal mechanisms, this research contributes to broader efforts aimed at mitigating environmental degradation and promoting sustainable development. Moving forward, it is essential for policymakers, legal professionals, and stakeholders to collaborate effectively to strengthen and enforce environmental laws, ensuring the protection of ecological systems, public health, and social well-being.

Pakistan needs an equitable investment in the health system and collaborative efforts

Pakistan needs an equitable investment in the health system and collaborative efforts

TRANSBOUNDARY ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION OF KAZAKHSTAN AND RUSSIA: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

The article examines interstate cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia on transboundary environmental issues. An analysis of the environmental policy of Kazakhstan and Russia is carried out, and the key norms of the two countries’ environmental legislation are examined to determine the foundations and mechanisms for solving shared environmental problems. The role and ongoing policy of Kazakhstan’s central state body in the environmental protection sphere as a tool for solving environmental problems is determined. The main reasons for the environmental problems of the Ural and Ishim river basins and the biological diversity of the border areas of Russia and Kazakhstan are discussed. Priority prospects for environmental cooperation are highlighted in relation to the countries’ common transboundary environmental problems, including cooperation potential within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Space.

Canada–United States Environmental Relations during the Trudeau-Trump Years: A Story of Divergence and Resilience

ABSTRACT More than any previous presidential transition, the 2016 election of Donald Trump gave rise to fears on both sides of the border as to what consequences might follow for the state of the environment. In Canada, by contrast, the 2015 election of a Liberal government was widely expected to produce a significant increase in both environmental spending and regulation. Divergence in the environmental policies of the two countries and friction over transboundary environmental issues appeared likely. Three years after the election of President Trump, the environmental policy conflicts between Canada and the United States are fewer and less fractious than many anticipated. Moreover, the consequences for Canada of the Trump administration’s weaker concern for the environment also have been less dire than many predicted. In short, the environmental relationship between Canada and the United States has proved to be more resilient than expected. Two main factors are responsible for blunting the bilateral effects of an undeniable and wide gap between the Trudeau and Trump governments on the environment. One involves the nature of environmental policy, characterized by high levels of technical and scientific complexity, multiple stakeholders, and the important role of subnational governments. The second factor involves governmental structure. In particular, the American system of divided powers makes it more difficult than Canada’s more centralized, prime ministerial system of government to change the direction of policy.

Sovereignty and Trans-Boundary Environmental Issues: A Search for Co-Existence

With no international uniformity and ambiguity in matters of jurisdiction in cases of cross-boundary environmental issues, the concerns for the same have taken a centre-stage. The need for having a clear perspective and a legal framework on environment related issues specifically in relation to jurisdictional aspect in trans-boundary claims has to be dealt with. But any debate of such nature will touch upon the concept of State Sovereignty. The debate for having a universal jurisdiction is quite new and that of extending it to the cases of environment is even more new and thought provoking. The environmental degrading activities of one State may affect the neighbouring State(s) too, which would thus involve various legal and political consequences. And one such consequence will be in relation to the territorial sovereignty. International law concerns have tried to strike a correct balance between the international responsibility towards environment and the principle of State Sovereignty. This article is an attempt to evaluate the evolving international environmental law jurisprudence in the above mentioned backdrop. In this the responsibility to protect and preserve the environment of the States is to be studied while taking into account the issues relating to sovereignty. It is to be analysed as regards how far obligations can be placed upon a State so as not to undermine the absoluteness of its Sovereignty.

Regional convergence in environmental policy arrangements: A transformation towards regional environmental governance for West and Central African ports?

Environmental policy-making in West and Central Africa, with implications for the region's ports, is usually dominated by state actors that also represent the nation-states at regional inter-governmental co-operation. The ports share common and transboundary environmental problems, but fall under diverse political and decentralisation systems. Also, in spite of regional inter-governmental co-operation there is disagreement between regional environmental policies and those for the ports at sub-national level. The port authorities are largely absent in environmental negotiations with outcomes ignoring their contributions. However, institutional reform of the ports from the year 2000 onwards has seen the port authorities gaining greater autonomy as public non-state actors and beginning to involve in environmental policy-making. This paper seeks to understand how environmental policy-making and governance is transforming in West and Central African ports. By combining the policy arrangement approach, the main analytical tool for the paper, with the concept of regional convergence, interaction processes among key actors involved in port environmental policy-making in West and Central Africa are studied. The study finds a developing innovation of joint environmental policy-making arrangement in which West and Central African port authorities, from sub-national level, are engaging directly with regional inter-governmental and Environmental Non-Governmental Organisation actors. The developing innovation by-passes institutionalised state-led environmental policy-making arrangements, with the potential for transforming environmental governance of West and Central African ports. It is concluded that non-state actors, when given flexible manoeuvring, can be innovative in overcoming diverse statist political dynamics in dealing coherently with transboundary environmental issues within a territorial region. However, state actors remain key as linking pins in transboundary environmental policy and governance.

월경성 환경오염문제에 관한 한중 인식 차이와 협력 분석 : 평화적 갈등 해결 논의를 중심으로

월경성 환경오염문제에 관한 한중 인식 차이와 협력 분석 : 평화적 갈등 해결 논의를 중심으로

On Developing an Inter-Agency Trust Scale for Assessing Governance Networks in the Public Sector

ABSTRACTThis article presents the development and validation of a psychometric scale for assessing public sector inter-agency trust. The instrument is grounded in contemporary trust theory and methodologically adapted from a measure developed for private sector alliances. Tested using four discrete studies of governance networks, each addressing transboundary environmental issues such as climate change and fisheries, the scale exhibits reasonably valid psychometric properties while also enabling visualized analysis of networked trust distributions. Based on this work, we outline further research needs with a view to stimulating greater trust research in governance networks and facilitating more collaborative and innovative policy outcomes in the public sector.

“Yes to Peace”? Environmental peacemaking and transboundary conservation in Central America

The use of transboundary conservation as tools for improving interstate relations has become a widely supported initiative in nature conservation. The rationale follows the environmental peacemaking hypothesis, which argues that seemingly neutral environmental issues can provide a sound basis for cooperation between states. The paper investigates the hypothesis’ premise through the case of International System of Protected Areas for Peace (Si-A-Paz), a transboundary protected area shared by Costa Rica and Nicaragua. In recent years, both countries have been involved in a number of border conflicts within Si-A-Paz and linked to the use of the San Juan River, contested land areas, and oil resources. The case of Si-A-Paz shows that transboundary environmental issues can provide arguments for maintaining or even strengthening conflicts rather than fostering peace between states. The case also shows the emergence of environmental issues as a new arena for geopolitical play, where actors not only justify their actions through an environmental discourse but also, the environmental discourse is stretched to include a variety of issues through which actors can obtain international support. The events in Nicaragua and Costa Rica raise questions about the role of transboundary conservation as a peacebuilding tool.

Transboundary and Global Environmental Issues: The Role of asean

AbstractThis contribution focuses on the challenges that regional organizations face as they are increasingly confronted with, and need to respond to, transboundary and global environmental problems. Ever more frequently, environmental issues that begin as matters of national concern rapidly become transboundary in scope. As exemplified by the outbreak of avian flu, integrated national, regional and international efforts are necessary to tackle transboundary environmental issues which, by their very definition, call for a coordinated effort. This article will concentrate on the impact of transboundary environmental challenges on the objectives and functions of the Association of South East Asian Nations (asean).

TRANSBOUNDARY ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION: UNDERSTANDING THE INTRICACIES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Faced with the enormity and urgency of international environmental problems the world has experienced a political awakening. Although environmental issues are not new for international relations, world leaders have increasingly brought environmental issues from the sidelines to the centre of their negotiation agendas. International conferences and treaties regarding global warming and ozone depletion are but few signs that the world has entered a new age of environmental diplomacy in which environmental issues will share centre-stage with more traditional economic and military concerns. In response to this concern governments, legislatures, and the courts have produced a labyrinth of draft bills, amendments to existing legislation, regulations, drafts of international treaties, and judicial decisions, all creating legal controls of pollution. In order to ascertain scientific information and technological data royal commissions, presidential enquiries, governmental departments, and international agencies have undertaken extensive research programs. Paralleling these developments, international environmental law has started to become a new and an emerging academic discipline. A growing number of commentators, diplomats, and practitioners are concentrating on transboundary and global environmental issues. There has also been a significant increase in the number of law schools all over the world that have started focussing towards this subject. The regime of international environmental law is mainly composed of treaties, customs; general principles of international law and opinio juris. In an attempt to use customary international law to protect the environment, commentators have spent the last two decades in elaborating the rules of state responsibility and liability specifically to address the issues related to transboundary pollution. States have begun to build on this liability regime towards the development of international agreements designed to prevent harmful environmental activity.

Transboundary Risk Governance Rolf Lidskog, Linda Soneryd, and Ylva Uggla . Sterling, VA:Earthscan, 2010. 155 pp. ISBN: 978-1-84407-791-5, $96

Transboundary Risk Governance <i>Rolf Lidskog, Linda Soneryd, and Ylva Uggla</i> . Sterling, VA:Earthscan, 2010. 155 pp. ISBN: 978-1-84407-791-5, $96

The Climate Commons and a Global Environmental Organization

The Climate Commons and a Global Environmental Organization C. Ford Runge (bio) Over the period 2000 to 2008, the United States maintained a largely hostile posture toward multilateralism, ranging from military adventurism to rejection of international norms for human rights and climate change. Its support for the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations was undercut by a failure to live up to global commitments to foreign assistance (the Millennium Challenge) and protectionist and retrograde 2008 agricultural legislation. If this experience shows America anything, it is that renouncing its role as a constructive multilateral leader (dating to 1945) has been a disaster for its foreign policy and the esteem in which it is held. This desultory period is now at an end, and a fresh start can be imagined in which U.S. leadership over multilateralism returns. One of the most pressing challenges relates to global climate change and atmospheric carbon emissions. This issue is emblematic of environmental challenges that are transboundary in nature, in which sovereign nations must coordinate effective interventions with one another. These issues of global commons, of which the climate commons may be the most urgent, may provide an opportunity to push forward an agenda of institutional change. The specific change considered here is the creation of a Global Environmental Organization (GEO), which can give authority and responsibility to multilateral climate negotiations. My argument is that the creation of new multilateral institutions responding to global environmental challenges such as climate change is imperative. Fortunately, though these institutions would be new, their rationale and even their structure can be guided by experience with multilateral trade and commercial transactions, notably the World Trade Organization (WTO) and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) system and the International Labor Organization (ILO).1 Just as the GATT/WTO emerged from the postwar conferences [End Page 139] as a rules-based response to global commercial interdependence, and an earlier ILO from global labor solidarity, so multilateral responses to environmental challenges reflect a growing recognition of nations' ecological interdependence, and a need for rules to coordinate their responses to these global challenges. This chapter is organized in five sections. First is a brief review of the trade-environment nexus and the rationale for global environmental rules over climate that can coexist with trade regimes. Second is a specific proposal for a GEO, a major responsibility of which would be to coordinate nations' responses to climate change. Third is an appraisal of the implementation of a GEO. Fourth is special consideration of the role of developing countries. A final section offers conclusions. The Trade-Environment Nexus In the last two decades, strident criticisms have been leveled at multilateral institutions such as the WTO, describing them as faceless international bureaucracies with programs harmful to the environment.2 Although hostile to multilateral institutions, these criticisms raise the question: If not these institutions, then what others? Though many criticisms of the global economy and global institutions may have merit, it is hard to think of a future in which trade and global institutions, or issues of environment, will play little or no part. Accordingly, the task is to redefine objectives in a global economy, and to restructure institutions to meet these objectives, especially the urgent challenge of climate change. The climate change debate has played out, like many other transboundary environmental issues, as a multilateral negotiation over a protocol agreement, the Kyoto Protocol of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) adopted December 11, 1997, which entered into force in February 2005. As of May 2008, 182 parties had ratified the protocol, including 36 developed and 137 developing countries (the United States is the only developed country not to have ratified it). Kyoto commits countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases (GHGs) or to engage in emissions trading to offset such commitments. Partly due to a failure of leadership by the United States, and partly due to exemptions written into the agreement for developing countries, especially large GHG emitters such as China, the protocol has been roundly criticized. [End Page 140] This chapter argues that successful multilateral environmental agreements on climate change, as well as many other transboundary environmental issues, may require...

Introduction: Global Governance and Global Administrative Law in the International Legal Order

Globalization and the rise of global governance are transforming the structure of international law, though much of this transformation takes place beneath the surface of the international legal order and often goes unnoticed. From the perspective of classical, inter-state, consent-based international law, global governance may still appear merely as a quantitative increase in international legal instruments, sometimes coupled with stronger enforcement mechanisms and accompanied by some changes in procedures of treaty-making. Yet central pillars of the international legal order are seen from a classical perspective as increasingly challenged: the distinction between domestic and international law becomes more precarious, soft forms of rulemaking are ever more widespread, the sovereign equality of states is gradually undermined, and the basis of legitimacy of international law is increasingly in doubt. Global administrative law, the focus of this symposium issue, approaches cognate changes from a particular angle. It starts from the observation that much of global governance can be understood as regulation and administration, and that we are witnessing the emergence of a ‘global administrative space’: a space in which the strict dichotomy between domestic and international has largely broken down, in which administrative functions are performed in often complex interplays between officials and institutions on different levels, and in which regulation may be highly effective despite its predominantly non-binding forms. In practice, the increasing exercise of public power in these structures has given rise to serious concerns about legitimacy and accountability, prompting patterns of responses to those concerns in many areas of global governance. Accountability problems are addressed through greater transparency, through notice-and-comment procedures in rule-making, and through new avenues of judicial and administrative review, in a vast array of disparate areas, such as global banking regulation, Security Council sanctions administration, the international administration of refugees or the domestic regulation of transboundary environmental issues. Global administrative law proposes drawing together these dispersed

Planning across boundaries for the conservation of the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion

The Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) is an outstanding ecoregion situated within the center of global marine biodiversity. Three countries—Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines—share, and directly benefit from, the rich resources of the SSME. The deterioration of environmental conditions in the ecoregion indicates that the resource extraction has exceeded the natural capacity of this marine ecosystem for recovery. Shared boundaries, ecosystem dynamics and resources, as well as transboundary environmental issues (including human migration) justify an ecoregion approach to conserve the SSME. In 1999, the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature and its partners launched the SSME Conservation Program. The Program adopts a two-pronged approach: planning for the conservation of the SSME and the implementation of immediate conservation actions on the ground. The ecoregion planning process involves the formulation of a Biodiversity Vision—a 50-year conservation goal—and the development of a stakeholders’ Ecoregion Conservation Plan (ECP) based on the ecoregion's Biodiversity Vision. Notable was a shift from a non-government organization-facilitated to a government-led planning process, and the establishment of interim governance mechanisms to ensure coordination in the development of the ECP. These interim mechanisms that operate within country and across countries during the planning phase of the SSME Program are perceived to evolve into formal institutional arrangements that are appropriate for the implementation of the ECP.