2023 Volume 2022 Issue 2 Pages 1-12
Transboundary haze pollution is almost an annual event in Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) has been in effect since 2003 with the aim of preventing and monitoring transboundary haze pollution in the region. Recent studies appear to agree that the AATHP is considered a weak regional agreement, due to it being designed according to the ASEAN Way. This current study uses two concepts of incremental institutional change, namely layering and conversion, to explain how ASEAN managed to institutionally adapt to address transboundary haze pollution, despite being constrained by the weak agreement during the period 2003-2020. The results show that both before and after Indonesia ratified the AATHP, ASEAN gradually adapted its institution through layering by introducing new elements, including additional actors, meetings and initiatives. After Indonesia ratified the AATHP, ASEAN also adapted its institution through conversion by reinterpreting the articles of the AATHP through the key strategy of the Haze-Free Roadmap. These two institutional processes led ASEAN to strengthen its practices to gradually build capacity for greater cooperation in addressing transboundary haze pollution.
