The Geopolitics of Carbon Neutrality and Structural Climate Inequality in Southeast Asia

Abstract

This paper analyzes Southeast Asia’s carbon neutrality agenda within the context of structural inequality and global power asymmetry. While carbon neutrality is framed as a universal scientific goal, it operates through governance frameworks largely shaped by the interests of powerful states and institutions. Southeast Asian countries, despite their relatively low historical emissions, are expected to adopt externally defined timelines, technologies, and policy standards that often do not reflect their domestic realities. Using a political economy approach, this paper examines how instruments such as climate finance, carbon markets, and international transition partnerships function not as neutral tools, but as mechanisms that entrench dependency and limit sovereign climate planning. Through case studies of Indonesia and Vietnam, and an assessment of regional climate diplomacy, the paper reveals how foreign funding often comes with conditionalities tied to policy reforms, market restructuring, and external oversight. Rather than empowering national institutions, climate cooperation frequently bypasses local actors and inserts international frameworks into domestic governance. The analysis also interrogates how Southeast Asia’s geopolitical position intensifies these constraints, as governments are caught between the strategic agendas of major powers while lacking collective bargaining strength. Ultimately, the paper calls for a redefinition of climate justice from the Global South—one that emphasizes historical responsibility, political autonomy, and context driven transition pathways. Carbon neutrality, if it is to be just, must not reproduce global hierarchies in new forms. By situating Southeast Asia’s climate policy within a postcolonial critique, this paper offers an alternative lens for understanding and reshaping global climate governance.