Opinion | How Asia’s failure to cooperate is killing its rivers and oceans

Asia’s relationship with the ocean represents one of the most complex environmental contradictions of our time. The region is home to some of the world’s largest maritime economies, with China, Japan, South Korea and India among those leading the global shipping, fishing and marine trade. It contains about 60 per cent of the world’s coastal population, and those people depend on the region’s coastal zones for their livelihoods, food security and economic survival.

The 2025 UN Ocean Conference last week in Nice, France offered a stark illustration of this contradiction. While some Asian nations have made impressive pledges – such as South Korea committing to sustainably manage all of the ocean areas under its jurisdiction by joining the 100% Alliance and India’s push for swift ratification of the High Seas Treaty – the fundamental drivers of ocean degradation across Asia remain largely unaddressed.

The conference highlighted Asia’s potential for leadership while simultaneously exposing its dangerous shortcomings in protecting marine environments. The most glaring failure lies in plastic pollution, where Asia’s rivers serve as conveyor belts of waste into global oceans. Around 90 per cent of river-transported plastic in our oceans can be traced back to just 10 rivers, eight of which are in Asia, with the Yangtze, Ganges and Mekong among the worst offenders.

Despite India’s advocacy at Nice for a binding agreement to end ocean plastics, domestic policies remain woefully inadequate. India’s plastic recycling rate is just 8 per cent, meaning most plastic waste ends up in landfills or waterways. Similar patterns exist across Southeast Asia, where rapid economic growth has long outpaced waste management infrastructure.

Asia’s fishing practices represent another critical failure point. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing remains rampant throughout Southeast Asian waters, while China’s distant-water fishing fleets and South Korean bottom trawlers continue destructive practices despite mounting international criticism.