Track Chair(s)
- Rasyikah Md Khalid, Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia rasyikah@ukm.edu.my
- Weena Jade S. Gera, University of the Philippines Cebu wsgera@up.edu.ph
- Phakpoom Tippakoon Thammasat University, Thailand, phakpoom@tu.ac.th
- Norlin Khalid, MPOB-UKM Endowment Chair, nrlin@ukm.edu.my
Goals and Objectives of the Track
Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing regions of the world economy. As an economic bloc with a combined GDP of about $3.2 trillion in 2019, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ranks as the third largest regional economy in Asia and the fifth largest economy globally. The ASEAN, established in 1967, has now constituted ten member countries, including co-founders Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and joined by Brunei, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Cambodia. However, the socioeconomic makeup and political history of its states are highly diverse. Except for Singapore, the countries in the region are either developing or underdeveloped states. In November 2022, Timor Leste was, in principle, approved to join the regional bloc as ASEAN 11th member state.
ASEAN member states commit to ensuring regional cooperation while stressing respect for national sovereignty and reaching agreements through consensus at a pace amenable to all members. According to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia of 1976, ASEAN members must respect all nations’ independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity. They will ensure that their national existence is free from external interference, subversion, or coercion, while also not interfering in the internal affairs of one another.
All ASEAN member states are committed to realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This demonstrates their commitment to sustainable development that will balance social and economic prosperity with environmental protection. The emergence of the 17 SDGs can be understood within the local and national context of, and as a response to, global problems emerging from globalization processes and increasing interconnectedness among ASEAN countries.
However, ASEAN countries have drawn heavy criticism over prioritizing development, poorly balanced development planning strategies, weak environmental regulation enforcement, corruption and terrorism. Pollution, illegal logging, and deforestation are still rampant in the region, and the governments are not responsive to the impact of climate change, particularly with the ongoing wide-scale production and use of dirty fossil fuels such as coal in the region. Some have also criticized the ASEAN palm industry as unsustainable.
A key challenge for the ASEAN is finding a path to growth that will balance the 5Ps of sustainable development, their people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. This panel welcomes contributions that examine regional policy, governance, socio-political dynamics, sustainable economy and business, and social forces, including intra-region or inter-country sustainability cooperation related to the following areas and fields:
• ASEAN and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
• Business and sustainable economic growth in ASEAN
• Issues and misconceptions of the ASEAN palm industry
• Mainstreaming climate change mitigation and adaptation in ASEAN
• Energy transition and sustainability in ASEAN
• Conflict and terrorism in ASEAN
Length and content of the proposed abstract to the track
Each proposed abstract (in connection to one of the areas pointed out above) within 300 and 500 words (including everything)
- shall be best organized (without headlines) along usual structures (e.g., intro/method/findings or results/ discussion/conclusions)
- does not need to, but can include references
- shall provide in a final section
a. to which SDG(s) and SDG-target(s) their proposed abstract especially relate to (e.g. “SDG+Target: 14.1.”).
b. a brief indication of how the proposed contribution relates to the topic of the Conference (“Half-way through Agenda 2030: Assessing the 5Ps of SDGs (people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership) “
Abstracts that do not outline points 3.a.) AND 3.b.) might be considered less relevant in the Review.
Potential publication channels
With regard to potential publications, depending on the number and quality of contributions, diverse publication opportunities will be envisaged.