Balancing Trade Growth and Environmental Protection in the ASEAN: Case studies from the Mekong subregion

This report examines the tension between trade liberalization and environmental sustainability in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), highlighting how infrastructure development and illegal trade undermine ecological protections and proposing regional coordination mechanisms to address wildlife trafficking and climate change.

• The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is transitioning toward closer integration with external markets and trade orientation, but this process creates a conflict between trade/investment liberalization and environmental protection.
• Environmental sustainability in the GMS is threatened by formal trade regimes, illegal trade in timber and wildlife, and the development of transportation infrastructure, which has caused soil erosion and increased pressure on forest resources and wildlife.
• Despite an increase in environmental policies, GMS environmental ministries often lack the capacity to enforce regulations, and the region lacks legally binding and enforceable environmental commitments for intraregional trade and investment.
• To combat illegal wildlife and timber trade, the report recommends that GMS countries negotiate a new protocol to the Cross-Border Transport Agreement and coordinate enforcement through ASEAN-WEN, including the creation of a single database for conservation laws and harmonized marking standards.
• Regarding climate change, the report suggests that trading mechanisms and projects undergo climate risk assessments and that the ASEAN Secretariat mainstream climate change into the ASEAN Institutional Framework for Economic Cooperation.

APA

Dosch,, J. (2010). Balancing Trade Growth and Environmental Protection in the ASEAN: Case studies from the Mekong subregion. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/balancing-trade-growth-and-environmental-protection-asean-case-studies-mekong

Chicago

Dosch,, Jörn. Balancing Trade Growth and Environmental Protection in the ASEAN: Case studies from the Mekong subregion. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/balancing-trade-growth-and-environmental-protection-asean-case-studies-mekong.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dosch, |first1=Jörn |title=Balancing Trade Growth and Environmental Protection in the ASEAN: Case studies from the Mekong subregion |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=28 June 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/balancing-trade-growth-and-environmental-protection-asean-case-studies-mekong |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dosch2010balancing, author = {Dosch,, Jörn}, title = {{Balancing Trade Growth and Environmental Protection in the ASEAN: Case studies from the Mekong subregion}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/balancing-trade-growth-and-environmental-protection-asean-case-studies-mekong}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }