Environmental Policies in Asia

The following sections are included:

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• About the Contributors

The deterioration of the global ecosystem, noticeably indicated by climate change, poses an unprecedented threat to human security. According to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the UN, “(W)arming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia” (IPCC, 2013 p. 3).¹ Of equal concern is the finding that “(H)uman influence on the climate system is clear” (op. cit., p. 10) as evidenced by rising concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere emphasised the need for immediate global action to reverse the current trend in climate change. Such concerns had also been raised by the Bali Action Plan of 2007 which stated that a delay in action would “significantly…[increase] the risk of more severe climate change impacts”²…

The pollution haven hypothesis which posits that investors from industrialised nations are attracted to developing countries with weak environmental laws has been a recurring theme in the literature on trade and environment, particularly in the context of competitiveness and environmental regulation (Birdsall and Wheeler, 1993; Copeland and Taylor, 2004). The basic question is whether differences in environmental standards and enforcement provide an unfair competitive advantage to some countries, and how this should be addressed. Similar questions could also be asked in the sub-national context for large federal countries: does interjurisdictional competition for investment, both domestic and foreign, manifest itself through differences in environmental standards and enforcement? If so, how should national governments respond in what has been dubbed a “race to the bottom”? This chapter attempts to address these issues by examining the legislative and institutional framework for environmental protection in the context of India's federal structure and the Indian experience with the so-called “race to the bottom” which describes the tendency of businesses to move to places where the wages are lowest and laws are weak…

The disaster and subsequent suspensions of all but two nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima mishap have resulted in renewed environmental concerns such as heightened greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions due to Japanese utilities companies having to ramp up thermal power stations at the maximum load factors to compensate for power supply shortfall. The power sector before the accident had accounted for about 30 per cent of GHG emissions in Japan. With the expected higher emissions from thermal plants, this could see emissions rise to close to 200 million tons annually from higher oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumption. That would be a blow to the pledge by former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in September 2009 to cut Japan's GHG emissions by 25 per cent by 2020. In order to achieve the target, Japan had previously planned to introduce more nuclear power plants and renewable energy power sources. To partially offset the increase in GHG emissions due to the cut in output from nuclear power stations, the government is now seeking ways to improve energy efficiency on both the business and household fronts through the deployment of more efficient facilities. The Research Institute of Innovative Technology for Earth (RITE) has estimated that the marginal abatement cost would be US$476 per ton of carbon oxide to achieve 25 per cent reduction which Mr Hatoyama had pledged (Akimoto, 2010). Abatement cost is higher in Japan compared to other developed countries due to its already high energy efficiency, leaving little room for further improvement as Table 2.1 shows. Because of this, it seems clear that Japan will need to carry out more cost effective projects abroad and make use of the offset crediting mechanism to help with global reduction of GHG emissions. This can be achieved by technology transfer through bilateral agreements with growing economies, especially those in Asia, where there is still much room to improve energy efficiency in areas such as power generation and industrial production processes including steel-making. In other words, Japan can still play a leading role in lowering of GHG emissions while partaking in economic growth in the region.

Vietnam is one of the fast-growing economies in Asia and it is going through wide ranging transformation: from an inward-looking state planned economy to one that is becoming increasingly market-oriented and linked to global markets (World Bank, 2012a). The country has made huge strides in its economic development raising living standards for millions while drastically reducing poverty among its population. Indeed, this Southeast Asian nation has risen from an extremely impoverished to a low middle-income country in an astonishing span of less than two decades. The economy grew on average by about 7.5 per cent per annum in the past decade though the rate did slip to 6.3 per cent since 2008. This is still rather commendable given the extent of the global slowdown. It achieved its middle income status nation — as defined by the World Bank as countries with a per capita income of US$1,000 — in 2008 and now harbours hopes of emulating some of its Asian neighbours with the ambition of joining the ranks of industrialised nations by 2020. Not surprisingly, Vietnam is now increasingly attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and Official Development Assistance (ODA) from donors such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan and the European Union. However, it is still a relatively poor country with an estimated 10.7 per cent of the population living in poverty in 2010, despite a marked improvement from 58.1 per cent in 1993. Much of its economic development had largely relied on the country's own natural resources, particularly agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. Such dependence inevitably puts stress on the environment due to the knock-on effects of deforestation, land degradation, overfishing, and pollution. In fact, it also seems to be experiencing the effects from climate change judging by the higher frequency and intensity of droughts, floods, tropical cyclones as well as threats from rising sea-levels, particularly in the Mekong and Red river deltas (Nguyen Huu Ninh, 2007; Nguyen Huu Ninh et al., 2014). There is certainly a need for Vietnam to devote greater attention to more robust policies aimed at environmental protection and sustainable development. In order to integrate into the UN's framework, the Strategic Orientation for Sustainable Development in Vietnam (Agenda Vietnam 21) was issued by the government in 2004. The Green Growth Strategy (2011–2020) with a vision toward 2050 is being prepared by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to be submitted to the government. With these efforts, Vietnam hopes to make greater inroads in achieving the goals of developing a greener economy in the coming decades.

Global warming induced by anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become a growing focus of global attention. Green and low-carbon development has emerged and evolved as a new concept. This is noticeable from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to the Kyoto Protocol, to the contentious post-Kyoto negotiations to escalating discussions on development and emission rights. It is imperative for China to make the necessary transition from reliance on high-carbon emitting conventional fossil fuels to a low-carbon template for its future development…

It has been widely acknowledged that China, one of the world's fastest growing and most populous countries, has been facing some serious environmental challenges since the 1950s. This has led to environmental degradation especially since its opening-up and reform policy in the late 1970s (Smil, 1980; Boxer, 1989; Sanders, 1999; Ross, 1998; Zhang et al., 1999; Ho, 2003). This policy has driven its continuously phenomenal economic growth, transforming it into the second largest economy in the world. As a result, China was ranked 116th among 132 countries assessed for environmental sustainability in 2012 (Emerson et al., 2012). To address the environmental challenges, China has begun to create a comprehensive domestic framework, institutionally and legislatively, since the 1970s. Hence, it has already established its environmental governance which “comprises the rules, practices, policies and institutions that shape how humans interact with the environment” (UNEP, 2009). However, this does not follow that China's environmental challenges have been tackled successfully and effectively and that China's environmental situation has been improved greatly. In reality, the scale and seriousness of its environmental problems persisted even in the 2000s…

The topic of sustainable development drew renewed vigour at the Rio+20 Summit in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, two decades after the historic United Nations Summit on Environment and Development in the same Brazilian city in 1992. There were several noteworthy achievements in the 1990s from the relatively swift negotiation to the quick adoption of the UN treaties in areas relating to climate change, biological diversity and bio-safety. The current global economic malaise in developed countries and social inequalities between and within countries has highlighted the failure of living up to the commitment made by many countries towards the paradigm shift towards more sustainable economic models in terms of production and consumption patterns. More worrying, Rio+20 actually witnessed many developed countries retreating from their responsibility of providing the means for developing countries to fulfil the sustainable development agenda¹…

Small firms present a conundrum for policymakers in many developing countries. On the one hand, their low capital requirements, relatively high labour productivity and high employment make them a very attractive proposition, especially in those contexts where they can serve as a major source of export earnings (Beck and Demirguc-Kunt, 2006). On the other hand, the very flexibility and informal character of their structure and operations generate challenges when it comes to regulating them, especially in countries where other governance challenges abound, which often end up with greater incentives for many small enterprises to stay hidden in the shadow economy. From an environmental standpoint to the extent that small firms are associated with manufacturing, packaging or other forms of material processing, they are significant multi-point sources of pollution that are often difficult to track, license or regulate (Blackman, 2000)…

The 1972 Stockholm Environmental Conference marked the first formal commitment by the government of Indonesia to address the environmental issues it had to deal with in the 1970s. Now 40 years on, Indonesia is at the right juncture to reflect on its environmental institutional history, the lessons learned and confront the unfinished and on-going business of environmental management. In moving forward, the country faces many challenges, some of which are even larger than those it had to confront in the past. But first, here is a quick review of how far Indonesia has progressed over the last four decades.

The following sections are included:

• Sustainable Cities
• Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for Cities: The Singapore Experience
• An Overview: Singapore
• Future Challenges
• The Singapore Blueprint for Environmental Sustainability
• Evaluation and Critique
• Conclusion
• Endnotes
• References

Advances in economic growth have helped to mitigate many of the historical risks that humanity once faced. Human lifespans drastically increased over the past century, thanks to improvements in various technologies. However, there are some countries and regions which are still facing numerous critical risks and issues that can interfere with sustainable development. The increasing pace and levels of consumption that have brought about remarkable global economic growth in recent decades have also caused a fair amount of degradation to the environment thereby raising threats to human society itself. In particular, massive fossil fuel consumption, widespread destruction of forests and other similar phenomena have led to elevated concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) and palpable climate change. These will have a serious, veritable impact on natural resources and human societies if left unchecked, especially in Asian regions where the fevered pace of economic growth and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are expected with worldwide implications…

This century is the ‘Asian century’ — of that there can be no doubt. Indeed, as Asia regains its primacy in the world economy, a position it has occupied for much of human history (certainly from 1 AD) barring the last 300 years, it is more meaningful to speak of the re-emergence of Asia. A key motivation for this volume is this re-emergence, centred on the rapidly growing economies of China and India, but in no less measure on other already developed as well as rapidly growing economies of Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, to name a few. In fact, with regard to rapid economic transformation, countries such as Singapore and China have in recent times, witnessed the most dramatic rise in per capita incomes in human history, with the former going from a third world to a first world country within the span of one generation…

The following sections is included:

• Index