Asia's local leaders could play key role in global accountability

The 2008 global financial crisis instigated a cascade of events that still frame many of the world's foremost political tensions. Simmering beneath the daily headlines lie protracted disputes over which private and public actors caused the problems, and thus who should now pick up the tab.

The scope of debate is enormous, but it likely pales next to the consequences of other global problems like climate change, ocean acidification, air pollution, and even income inequality. Like the financial crisis, these issues call attention to the need for new notions of global accountability across public and private sectors. Much of the resolution will hinge on finding a workable path in Asia.

Two trends underscore why Asia is so important. The first is economic fundamentals. By 2030, Asia is projected to contribute the biggest regional increment to global economic activity and form the biggest single share of the world economy.

According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates, the five countries of China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Korea will alone add more than US$36 trillion in real annual output. This is double the US$18 trillion of growth projected across all the OECD countries of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand combined. Short of dramatic changes in technology, these leaps will hugely intensify humanity's ecological footprint.

Second, private sector actors are playing an ever greater role in affecting global policy outcomes. Firms have lobbied governments to negotiate good terms on international deals. But corporates are increasingly seen as outright partners in tackling global challenges.

In some cases, global companies are even willing to fill political leadership gaps, which was evident in the lead-up to last year's UN Rio+20 sustainability summit. Some of the most prominent summit-linked announcements came from firms, such as Microsoft's commitment to achieve carbon neutrality. Of course, many companies resist needed intergovernmental reforms to protect vested interests. But citizens around the world are asking global governance to keep step.

World leaders have roughly two years to figure out new rules of the game. By September 2015, all countries are slated to set new targets to guide international economic, social and environmental efforts.