Transglobal Leadership as a Framework for Environmental Policy Diplomacy in Addressing Transboundary Forest Fire Impacts: Evidence from Malaysia and Indonesia

Transboundary forest fires remain one of Southeast Asia's most persistent ecological and diplomatic challenges. Despite the mechanisms in place under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP), regional responses remain largely voluntary and norm-driven with limited enforcement capacity. The study proposes transglobal leadership as a strategic framework to strengthen cross-border environmental policy diplomacy. The research uses a qualitative descriptive approach complemented by bibliometric mapping of scientific publications for the period 2015–2025. Empirical data was collected through the analysis of policy documents, official reports of the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia, ASEAN publications, as well as various academic studies relevant to the governance of forest fires and cross-border haze. This research identifies the evolving intellectual landscape of transglobal leadership and its application to environmental governance. The findings show that effective cross-border haze management requires five core leadership values, namely strategic global vision, adaptive resilience, ethical responsibility, collaborative diplomacy, and knowledge-based innovation operationalized through adaptive, integrative, and collaborative mechanisms. Empirical evidence from Malaysia-Indonesia cooperation shows partial progress in institutionalized coordination and shared environmental norms, but also highlights the need for more binding accountability and the strengthening of polycentric governance. The study concludes that integrating transglobal leadership values into ASEAN's environmental diplomacy has the potential to transform regional haze management from reactive coordination to proactive, collaborative, and knowledge-based ecological governance.