Examining the coherence of legal frameworks for ecosystem services toward sustainable mineral development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Within the context of growing economic integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), recent questions have been raised with regard to how member states employ law as a means of regional integration to promote sustainable development. Taking into account the primacy of ecosystem services for sustainability, this study examines the coherence of legal frameworks for ecosystem services among ASEAN member states toward a unified regional legal agenda for sustainable mineral development. Analyzed along three aspects of the Ecosystem Services Approach, the paper reviews the different mining related legislations and implementing regulations of member states, and examines whether there is convergence in their legal provisions for ecosystem services. The study shows that all member states provide legal mechanisms for ecosystem management in their mining operations. However, the following could be noted: 1) a lack of coherent identification and targeting of ecosystem services despite 'intermediate' services being embedded in provisions for ecosystem conservation; 2) a lack of legal provisions for integration of ecosystem services in mining impact assessments, and for ecosystem services valuation, which render environmental impact assessments, compensation structures and royalty regimes inadequate; and 3) a density of legal differentials around how states allocate regulatory authorities for ecosystem management in mining. These represent a prevailing fragmentation among member states' legal frameworks for ecosystem services, which does not create an enabling condition for legal integration in ASEAN's regional mineral strategies for sustainable development.