[Trilateral Summit Briefing] ③ Environmental Security and Trilateral Cooperation: Implications and Future Tasks of the Trilateral Summit

I. Sustainable Development Through Climate Change Response: Key Agenda of the Trilateral Summit

At the Trilateral Summit held in Seoul on May 27, 2024, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang issued a joint declaration to institutionalize and vitalize cooperation. To regularize and institutionalize the summit and ministerial meetings among the three countries and to deepen cooperation among their citizens, six areas of cooperation were declared: people-to-people exchanges, economy and trade, health and aging, science and technology, disaster relief and safety, and sustainable development through climate change response.

Sustainable development through climate change response is a key joint agenda of the trilateral summit. The three countries have agreed to cooperate in addressing climate change and achieving the international community's vision of sustainable development and the concrete goal of carbon neutrality (Net Zero). Particularly noteworthy is the emphasis on the nexus and cooperation between climate change and water. The announcement of cooperation with Mongolia under the framework of "Trilateral + X" to address fine dust as an environmental issue is also significant. Furthermore, the emphasis on cooperation to finalize the plastic treaty in Busan in November 2024 is timely. While specific measures to address the climate crisis were announced, the lack of discussion on the nature of cooperation among the three countries is a task that needs to be addressed in the future.

Among the six areas of cooperation, disaster relief and safety are closely related to climate change adaptation. The three countries, including China, are experiencing increasing damage from climate-related disasters. It is necessary to add climate disaster and adaptation as an agenda alongside counter-terrorism consultations and cooperation on drug-related crimes concerning disaster relief and safety. In particular, cooperation between businesses and local governments of the three countries in jointly responding to the climate crisis and disasters needs to be vitalized.

II. Environmental Security: Strengthening Awareness and Institutions

The three countries must strengthen their awareness and institutions regarding environmental security to respond to climate change and environmental crises. Environmental security is a concept that recognizes environmental issues as a security concern and seeks solutions as international understanding of the seriousness of environmental problems expands. The concept of environmental security emphasizes that resource depletion and environmental pollution can trigger interstate conflicts and refugee flows, negatively impacting national security. It also points out that traditional security responses centered on sovereign states are insufficient to solve global environmental problems. In other words, it argues that a new approach is needed, combining national security and human security through international cooperation, to address environmental issues. Since environmental problems naturally transcend artificial borders, it is difficult to solve them with a state-centric security approach. Furthermore, an approach that prioritizes national interests can exacerbate regional and global ecosystems.

The threats posed by environmental degradation can be broadly categorized into two: depletion and pollution. Depletion encompasses the reduction of resources, energy sources, and food, as well as the extinction of flora and fauna on Earth. Pollution refers to the damage or destruction of nature resulting from human activities and economic activities. Depletion and pollution threaten national security through three pathways. First, when the deterioration of environmental quality adversely affects health and the economy. Resource depletion and environmental pollution can pose significant risks to citizens' lives and health, negatively impact economic activities, and hinder economic growth. Second, environmental degradation can lead to interstate conflicts. Resource depletion can trigger competition among nations for resource acquisition. Such conflicts can lead to territorial incursions and armed conflict. Environmental pollution can also spark severe disputes between neighboring countries over demands for compensation or restoration for river, sea, or air pollution. Third, depletion and pollution can trigger human migration. Depletion and environmental pollution can displace people from their homes, leading to cross-border migration and interstate conflicts and disputes.

Despite these environmental security threats, there is little clear evidence that countries in Northeast Asia seriously recognize and are responding to the importance of environmental security. Concurrently, joint cooperation and efforts to resolve pollution and depletion issues in the region are relatively insufficient. Compared to other regions such as the European Union or North American countries, the awareness and cooperative institutions for environmental security in the three countries appear relatively lacking. Multilateral regional environmental agreements and the establishment of concrete regional environmental governance can serve as opportunities to mainstream environmental security issues and lay the foundation for environmental security cooperation. It is necessary to strengthen awareness and institutions regarding environmental security, taking advantage of the regularized trilateral summits.

III. Trilateral Cooperation Tasks on Transboundary Environmental Issues in Northeast Asia

Although not discussed in depth at the recent trilateral summit, transboundary environmental issues are urgent tasks for the three countries in Northeast Asia to cooperate on moving forward. In Northeast Asia, the most representative transboundary hazardous substances include air pollutants such as fine dust, radioactive materials and waste transported through seawater, and viruses transmitted through humans or animals. Furthermore, there is a risk of hazardous substance transport that may arise in the future due to industrialization. As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of disasters such as heavy rain and heatwaves, the risk of pollutant movement also increases due to potential failures or destruction of hazardous substance facilities located on the coastlines of Northeast Asia in the future. In addition, various hazardous substances, such as plastics and heavy metals transported by seawater, can also be sources of environmental disputes among countries in the Northeast Asian region due to their transboundary movement. Moreover, even after COVID-19, the world remains exposed to the risk of infectious disease outbreaks caused by the movement of viruses from neighboring countries. As the risk of hazardous substances flowing in from adjacent countries may increase, it is necessary to develop emission reduction policies through international cooperation to protect public health and life and reduce property damage. In this process, the establishment of dispute resolution mechanisms through international cooperation and institutions is required to resolve disputes related to emission reduction and movement in other countries.

Due to the geopolitical characteristic of sharing the sea but not having contiguous land borders, the element of infringement of environmental rights due to the transboundary movement of pollutants has the most dominant impact among interstate environmental disputes for the three countries. The transboundary movement of fine dust, radioactive materials, and viruses is highly likely to occur frequently in the future and is a policy area where risk management is urgently needed as it threatens public health.

IV. Trilateral Cooperation Tasks on Energy in Northeast Asia

Energy, environment, and climate change are inseparably linked. The three countries, to varying degrees, have a high import dependency on energy sources and are concentrated with energy-intensive industries, possessing a vulnerable energy security environment in addition to domestic and external energy supply instability. Furthermore, competition among the three countries over energy resources continues to intensify. In contrast, energy cooperation among the three countries has not seen significant progress due to political, economic, and institutional obstacles. Therefore, it is necessary to establish institutions to vitalize trilateral energy cooperation and, as a preliminary step, share successful experiences of various energy cooperation initiatives.

Cooperation among the three countries regarding energy security can enhance economic and security efficiency by creating overlapping networks across various energy sources. Potential areas for energy cooperation in Northeast Asia include joint stockpiling and operation of crude oil and natural gas, and joint development of renewable energy.

Cooperation for energy security among the three countries in Northeast Asia will focus on cooperation in renewable energy technologies and markets, beyond securing traditional fossil fuels. In particular, cooperation and competition among the three countries are intensifying in areas such as solar power, wind power, grids, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles. Therefore, it is a time when discussions and institutions are needed to strengthen trilateral cooperation in renewable energy and reduce unnecessary competition.

V. Implications and Future Tasks of the Trilateral Summit for Climate Change Response

Future environmental cooperation in the Northeast Asian region needs to foster reciprocal relationships among participating countries in terms of proactively responding to potential future risks. However, environmental cooperation for proactive response has limitations as it cannot be enforced after future environmental conflicts arise. Therefore, mechanisms are needed to ensure the robustness of cooperative relationships, and it is necessary to establish institutions that strengthen existing cooperative relationships regarding transparent information exchange among the parties. Furthermore, rather than pursuing environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia independently, it may be more effective to build comprehensive cooperative relationships in socioeconomic areas, such as cooperation in scientific and technological development and economic fields. For example, cooperation among countries is essential in the process of developing and securing COVID-19 vaccines, including scientific and technological development and vaccine production, which can positively contribute to forming reciprocal international relations. Therefore, as an international cooperation strategy to prevent future environmental disputes, it is proposed to comprehensively include measures for strengthening individual countries' emission reduction and safety management standards, along with cooperation in scientific and technological development and economic fields to resolve related issues. Moreover, if the regional scope of cooperation is expanded from Northeast Asian countries to the Asia-Pacific region, the role of a third-party mediator can be expected, which could effectively resolve environmental disputes in Northeast Asia.

In addition, cooperation among the three countries in renewable energy technologies, markets, and infrastructure can serve as an opportunity to drive climate change response and innovation amidst competition. To achieve the sustainable development goal of reducing carbon emissions, active investment, market expansion, and technological development in renewable energy among the three countries are essential. Following the Trilateral Summit, cooperation measures are needed to find a balance between domestic demands for protecting national industries and technologies related to renewable energy and electric vehicles, and economic efficiency. ■

■ Lee Tae-dong_Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Yonsei University.

■ Editor: Park Han-soo_EAI Research Fellow

    Inquiries: 02-2277-1683 (ext. 204) | hspark@eai.or.kr