Promoting the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE)

This policy brief analyzes the implementation of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE) in Southeast Asia. While legal frameworks exist, the document identifies significant gaps in procedural rights: information is often withheld due to commercial interests, public participation in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) is frequently superficial, and environmental courts face resource constraints and the risk of being weaponized via SLAPPs. The brief highlights community-led alternatives to EIAs and the role of independent grievance mechanisms and judicial capacity-building as key levers for improvement, noting the development of a regional ASEAN Declaration on RtHE as of December 2024.

• The right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE) is a universal human right recognized by the UN General Assembly in 2022. Its advancement depends on procedural rights: access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice and remedies.
• In Southeast Asia, the implementation of the right to information is hindered by ambiguous disclosure requirements. Authorities often prioritize commercial and business interests over public interests, leading to the rejection of requests for environmental data, such as plantation maps and land acquisition compensation schemes in Indonesia.
• Public participation in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in Southeast Asia often lacks meaningful enforcement. In 7 out of 10 countries, regulations do not fully require project proponents to comply with public participation results. In Thailand, consultations have been criticized for occurring at inconvenient times or locations, or involving false signatures.
• Community-driven alternatives to formal EIAs have emerged to ensure more meaningful participation. These include Community Health Impact Assessment (CHIA) in Thailand, counter-EIAs in the Philippines, and community-led natural resource mapping, which was used in Lao PDR's Sekong Basin to successfully dismiss a sand mining proposal.
• While countries like Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia have created specialized environmental courts or judge certifications, these mechanisms often face resource and capacity constraints. Furthermore, the legal system is sometimes used to criminalize environmental defenders through Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
• To address gaps in the judiciary, legal advocates are utilizing capacity-building networks and providing financial support, such as court fee waivers, for vulnerable groups. Additionally, independent grievance mechanisms provided by international financial institutions (World Bank, Asian Development Bank) and NGOs in Australia, Japan, and South Korea serve as supplements to litigation.
• As of December 2024, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is developing the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment, which is intended to provide a regional entry point for countries to advance RtHE.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2025). Promoting the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE). https://www.sei.org/publications/right-to-healthy-environment-southeast-asia/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Promoting the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE). 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/right-to-healthy-environment-southeast-asia/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Promoting the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE) |date=8 April 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/right-to-healthy-environment-southeast-asia/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2025promoting, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Promoting the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (RtHE)}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/right-to-healthy-environment-southeast-asia/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }