Page 126 - The Ethics of ASEAN

The Ethics of ASEAN

occupies only 3% of the earth’s surface but has 20% of plant and animal biodiversity of
the planet. So, from the UN perspective, ASEAN has an ethical responsibility to the rest
of the world to reverse the destructive effects of development that make the life support
systems of our planet unsustainable. The United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP
15) in Montreal in December 2022 was good news for ASEAN. The ethical commitment to
protect biodiversity will be recognized by concrete financial incentives and direct economic
compensation for preserving its wealth of plants, animals, genetic material and ecosystems.
Dr Marie Kristerie Baleva represents the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity whose role
is to facilitate cooperation and coordination among the ten ASEAN Member States on
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and ensure a fair and equitable
sharing of its benefits. Biodiversity ethics is about the provisioning, regulating, cultural,
and supporting services that contribute to the well-being of human communities. Dr
Baleva describes a science-based ethics using value indicators that value nature beyond
quantitative measurement but also points out that economists are also revaluing nature and
setting an economic value on what nature supplies to humanity in terms of the goods and
services we all rely on.
Ian Benedict Mia notes that despite the immense value that biodiversity brings to
ASEAN, the region has lost around 95% of its original habitat, while ecosystem services
required for food, water, recreation and tourism have steeply declined. Although the region is
set to become the fourth largest economy in the world, ASEAN risks losing 35% of its gross
domestic product (GDP) by 2050 to climate change. He concludes that the transboundary
nature of ASEAN’s ecological regions means that biodiversity ethics cannot be considered
the property of any Member State alone.
Anjulie Razak makes the important point that the emerging regional ethics of
biodiversity are focused on the work that needs to be done immediately but the benefits
of taking action are long term. She reminds us that ASEAN’s region-wide ethical principles
are already embedded in traditional cultures of the region and are the natural rights of
indigenous cultures. The long term benefit of taking ethical action to preserve ASEAN’s
treasure of biodiversity is now more obvious because populations and cities are already
suffering from climate change and the impact of biodiversity loss.

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