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

The document examines the gap between legal frameworks and the actual implementation of environmental procedural rights in Southeast Asia. It identifies challenges such as ambiguous disclosure requirements, lack of enforcement in public participation during Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and barriers to judicial remedies. The brief highlights community-driven alternatives like counter-EIAs and the role of legal networks in strengthening the judiciary to protect vulnerable groups and environmental defenders.

• Ambiguous disclosure requirements and the prioritization of commercial interests over public interest hinder the right to information. In Indonesia, one in three information requests to the Central Information Commission between 2010 and 2016 was rejected, often concerning plantation data and land acquisition compensation for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
• Public participation in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) often lacks enforcement and meaningful engagement. In seven out of ten Southeast Asian countries, regulations do not fully require project proponents to comply with public participation results. In Thailand, consultations have been held at inconvenient times or locations, and participation often ceases once the EIA is approved.
• Community-led 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 Southeast Asian countries have established specialized environmental judicial bodies, these often function as administrative designations rather than statutory bodies, leaving them with limited resources and capacity. Furthermore, the legal system is sometimes used to criminalize environmental defenders through Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).
• Legal advocates are addressing judicial gaps through capacity-building networks and the development of guidelines to protect SLAPP victims, such as those created by lawyers in Indonesia. Additionally, independent grievance mechanisms—supported by international financial institutions like the World Bank and ADB, or NGOs in Australia, Japan, and South Korea—serve as alternatives to formal litigation.

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} }