Part 1

• Parliamentary Speech, Democratization, and the “Green Agenda” in Malaysia Sebastian Dettman Singapore Management University

  Despite the increasing salience of environmental and climate change issues (the “green agenda”) in the global context, the study of how (and whether) elected officials discuss such issues has been limited in Southeast Asia. In countries like Malaysia, we may expect that such discussion is less likely given that it is largely absent from political campaigns, historic patterns of economic development, and a small environmental movement. Nevertheless, increasingly competitive politics in the context of its gradual democratization may offer new space for such issues to enter debate. This paper examines the discussion and framing of the green agenda in Malaysia’s parliament. Using records of parliamentary debates from 2004-2023, I analyze the salience of the green agenda in parliamentary speech, and how these issues are framed by Malaysian MPs. The analysis finds that the green agenda makes up a relatively small proportion of legislator attention relative to other economic and political priorities. However, such issues became more salient in the context of increasingly competitive politics after 2008, and the election of MPs who championed environmental issues in parliament. The findings add to scholarship on the relationship between democratization and attention to environmental and climate change issues.

• Cyclone Mocha as a Theater of Power: Competing State-making in Post-Coup Myanmar’s Climate-Vulnerable Landscape Justine Chambers Danish Institute for International Studies

  In the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index, Myanmar is ranked 2 out of 183 countries most vulnerable to extreme weather events. The ability of local communities to mitigate and respond to climate change has been severely hampered by decades of authoritarian rule, agrarian land struggles, and long running armed conflicts, which have worsened since a military coup in February 2021. On 14 May 2023, a devastating category 5-level cyclone struck Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine state, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. The Rohingya, already a stateless and historically oppressed population, bore the brunt of the disaster. Strikingly absent from the military-controlled media was any acknowledgment of the Rohingya’s plight, as the focus remained on celebrating the junta’s disaster response, donations, and purported care for civilians. The junta committed a coup in 2021, ousting the democratically elected government, and has since killed thousands of civilians in its unsuccessful efforts to quell the widespread pro-democracy resistance. Despite this reality of violence and oppression, the junta strategically utilized Cyclone Mocha to project power through orchestrated displays of generosity and efficient disaster management. In a parallel effort, the ethnic armed organization, the Arakan Army, and its civilian wing independently conducted disaster preparedness and relief operations. The parallel National Unity Government (NUG) also made efforts to fundraise for victims of the cyclone. These initiatives garnered donations from various pro-democracy resistance groups. This paper explores the appropriation of a ‘natural disaster’ by both an authoritarian regime and opposing movements. We posit that this competitive appropriation serves as a manifestation of pluralized state-making, wherein responses to climate change-induced crises become inherently politicized. Within the context of Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar, this politicization is deeply entwined with the broader conflict between the junta and resistance groups, each contending for state-like control over people and territories, albeit with divergent political aspirations. Amidst this competitive and politically charged landscape, already marginalised Rohingya communities are left extremely vulnerable and face an uncertain future.

• Discursive (anti-)politics of climate change in Cambodia: Obscuring responsibilities, delaying transformative change? Johannes Vogel Mira Käkönen Australian National University

  As Barry (2002: 270) noted, politics is both “about contestation, and the containment of contestation.” This paper focuses on attempts at depoliticisation and examines the role of policy discourse and framing in rendering climate change governable in Cambodia. Analysing key policy documents such as the ‘Cambodian Climate Change Strategic Plan’ (2014), ‘Addressing Climate Change Impacts on Economic Growth in Cambodia’ (2019), and Long-Term Strategy for Carbon Neutrality (2021) it highlights various forms of discursive anti-politics (Swyngedouw 2013; 2022) through which attention is deflected from potentially contentious processes that exacerbate vulnerabilities as well as from more transformative action (Mikulewicz 2020, Ribot 2022). Climate governance is one of the last domains in which Western donor organisations have had a strong discursive influence (Beckwith 2021, Frewer 2022, Käkönen et al. 2014, Vogel 2023). The paper thus also asks how the recent Chinese engagement has shaped the discursive domain of climate policies and initiatives. Moreover, we exemplify key forms of discursive anti-politics with two infrastructure and flood related cases. First, we show how Chinese dams upstream on the Mekong as well as Chinese dams in Cambodia are framed in terms of climate-friendliness and how attention gets deflected from the ways they intensify water-related vulnerabilities. Second, we highlight how the way urban floods in Phnom Penh are framed in terms of climate change expediently shifts attention away from wetland encroachments related to real-estate speculation that involves Chinese investors as well as powerful local tycoons.

  References:
  Barry, A. (2002). The Anti-Political Economy, Economy and Society, 31(2), 268–84.
  Beckwith, L. (2022). Cambodia’s resilience agenda: Understanding how local institutions and actors accept, contest and accommodate an externally driven approach, Geoforum, 128, 125–134.
  Frewer, T. (2022). The rise and fall of a climate change assemblage in Cambodia. In Marquardt, J., Delina, L.L., & Smits, M. (Eds.). (2021). Governing Climate Change in Southeast Asia: Critical Perspectives (pp. 38–55). Routledge.
  Käkönen, M., L. Lebel, K. Karhunmaa, V. Dany & T. Try (2014). Rendering Climate Change Governable in the Least-Developed Countries: Policy Narratives and Expert Technologies in Cambodia, Forum for Development Studies, 41(3), 1–25.
  Mikulewicz, M. (2020). The Discursive Politics of Adaptation to Climate Change, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 110(6), 1807–1830.
  Ribot, J. (2022). Violent Silence: Framing out Social Causes of Climate-related Crises, Journal of Peasant Studies. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2022.2069016
  Swyngedouw, E. (2022). The unbearable lightness of climate populism, Environmental Politics, 31(5), 904–925.
  Swyngedouw, E. (2013). The non-political politics of climate change. ACME An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 12, 1–8.
  Vogel, J. (2023). Glocal Entanglements of Climate Discourse in Cambodia: Postpolitical Populism and Nationalized Adaptation. Presentation at the DiscourseNet Congress #5, Valencia, July 27, 2023.

• Beyond the Ballot: Analysing Climate Change Policies of Thai Political Parties in the 2023 National Election Ladawan Khaikham Kasetsart University

  This research aims to understand the climate change policies proposed by the five main
  political parties during Thailand’s 2023 national election. Its objectives focus on the climate
  change policies proposed by political parties during Thailand’s 2023 national election and
  how these policies reflect the country’s socio-political context and environmental challenges.
  This research employed qualitative research methods and analyzed policy proposals from
  five political parties in Thai politics. They are the Pheu Thai Party, the Move Forward Party,
  Palang Pracha Rat, Bhumjaithai, and the Democratic Party. The analysis is in the context of
  the country’s unique political landscape, including urbanization, pollution, and sustainable
  development.

  This research found that climate change policies in the country remain a dynamic issue in
  Thai politics. Moreover, the effectiveness of policy implementation depends on factors such
  as coalition government parties, government budgets, private sector collaboration, and civil
  society engagement. The findings help inform policymakers, political analysts, and
  environmental advocates about climate change policy campaigns for environmental
  governance within Thailand’s democratic framework.

Part 2

• Gender-Responsive Climate Budgeting in Indonesia: Mitigating Climate Change and Advancing Gender Equality Irma Nugrahanti International Institute of Social Studies

  Like many other countries in the Global South, Indonesia is increasingly affected by the consequences of increased CO2 emissions in terms of a changing climate and rising temperatures. These include sea-level rise and flooding, intensifying forest fires, threatening Indonesia’s biodiversity and ecosystem, and increased risk to human health in Indonesia due to more limited availability of clean water and food. This climate change crisis is expected to impact men and women differently due to their status and role in Indonesian society. Generally, in times of crisis, the gender inequality gap is widened because of women’s more limited access to resources and services, which determines their ability to recover and be resilient. Recognising that the climate change crisis disproportionately affects men and women in Indonesia, this research highlights the importance of conducting a comprehensive analysis of the integration of gender lens in Indonesia’s climate budgeting policies and practices at the national and regional government levels, specifically at public expenditure management. The objective is to explore the extent to which gender-responsive climate budgeting goes beyond statistical analysis and allocation of resources to also serve as an instrument to evaluate the outcome of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions. The research focuses on the structure and implementation of these budget practices and policies, assessing the influence of gendered power dynamics on these fiscal practices. Further, it explores the extent of local actor involvement in Bogor’s gender-responsive climate budget discourses and assesses the contribution of gender-responsive budgeting to enhancing community knowledge, resilience, and effective participation in climate change efforts while capturing diverse gender experiences and narratives surrounding adaptation and mitigation responses. This study uses a comprehensive qualitative methodology that includes policy analysis, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions to explore the nuanced relationship between budgetary procedures and policy, political, social, and gendered power dynamics in Jakarta and Bogor regency. This study aims to make a substantial contribution to the academic discourse on gender and climate change budgeting policy, offering pivotal insights for promoting gender equality in climate action in Indonesia.

• Decarbonisation friction: Spatial processes and the politics of just energy transition in the communities undergoing critical mineral development Ahmad Hidayat Geger Riyanto Inaya Rakhmani La Husen Zuada Rini Astuti ANU Sujatha Raman Yeremia Lalisang

  In this article, we explore the conceptual and empirical space opened up by Anna Tsing in her book Global Friction to propose what we call decarbonisation friction. We borrow Tsing’s notion of friction to highlight the interconnection between spatial and political processes in clean energy transition that shape the experiences of communities undergoing critical mineral development. Using a case study of nickel extraction - an essential energy transition mineral - in Morowali, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, we hope to contribute to the nascent literature on the just transition in the global South. We also engage with Tsing’s concept of “zones of awkward engagement” to make sense of what happens when Indonesia’s elite fossil fuel actors participate in the clean energy transition and use the decarbonisation concept to advance their interests. We analyse the friction that arises when different competing economic, political, and social interests co-exist and rub awkwardly in the wheels of decarbonisation. Understanding decarbonisation as “zones of awkward engagement” also allows for the possibility of recognising the agency and desires of the local communities. These communities may not necessarily oppose critical mineral development despite adverse socio-environmental impacts. Instead, they are actively finding ways to be incorporated into the project as a strategy for managing decarbonisation friction. By doing so, we aim to highlight that just energy transition in the global South is not a single and coherent concept but rather unravels in messy and complex ways.

• “Just Transition from Below”; Intaran Bergerak Movement in Bali Against Gasification in Indonesia Fathun Karib National University of Singapore

  The paper proposes a concept called “Just Transition from Below” and questions the conventional approach of Just Transition (JT) to labour and employment opportunities in Northern countries. It is crucial to redefine the Just Transition concept in global South countries, addressing limitations and biases present in the approach taken by the North. One of the critical assessments in the JT framework is on the question of justice for whom? This paper examines the impact of mainstream Just Transition discourse in Indonesia on marginalized communities in Bali and explores their experiences. The Just Transition concept is closely related to decarbonization, energy transition, and clean energy concepts, and the Indonesian government at both national and provincial levels has begun to implement these concepts in policies and practices. It will focus on gas as one of the energies considered for the transition and how the gas project in Bali generates resistance from the local community in Intaran village. By framing gasification as clean energy, the government establishes legitimacy to expand gas production in various regions to meet the country’s electricity needs. The paper will examine the case study of gas expansion in Bali and how the Balinese responded to the project by generating the Intaran Bergerak Movement. Although the Bali provincial government claims that Bali needs energy supplies and that gas is clean energy, the Balinese people resist constructing a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal. By taking an example from Bali, this study explores how the transition from coal to gas as a short-term plan and part of the Just Transition narrative in Indonesia is contested and does not adequately represent marginalized groups in Indonesia.

• The promises and pitfalls of human rights-based approaches to climate change in Southeast Asia Dirk Tomsa La Trobe University

  In 2022, the UN General Assembly elevated the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment to a universally recognised human right. In the relevant declaration passed by the General Assembly, climate change is identified as a serious threat to the effective enjoyment of human rights, for both current and future generations. This nexus between climate change and human rights is also increasingly evident in the struggle for climate justice in Southeast Asia. Especially in Indonesia and the Philippines, where environmentalists have well-established links with the human rights movement, climate activists have raised rights claims through high-profile litigation cases against governments and fossil fuel corporations. Taking two of these cases as a starting point – the National Inquiry on Climate Change conducted by the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines and the Ibukota Coalition’s lawsuit against the Indonesian government about air pollution in Jakarta – this paper analyses the challenges and opportunities associated with this growing emphasis on human rights in the struggle for environmental and climate justice in Southeast Asia. While acknowledging the significance of the two cases and their potential for generating greater public awareness for climate justice, the paper cautions that favourable litigation outcomes do not necessarily lead to tangible policy changes and that broader political opportunity structures for promoting human rights-based approaches to climate change in Indonesia and the Philippines remain unfavourable after years of democratic decline during the presidencies of Jokowi and Duterte.

Abstract