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Asian Environment Outlook 2001
III. Options and OpportunitiesInvestments in environmental improvement, especially those related to improved health, yield positive benefits in reducing poverty and economic vulnerability. The challenges of shifting to a pathway of sustainable development are substantial. Indeed, it is fair to say that a transformational policy approach is required. Improvements in energy, materials, and pollution-reduction technologies will offset some of the problems associated with projected future growth in population, but increased industrial output and consumption will cause and exacerbate environmental problems well beyond what can be addressed by incremental gains in existing policy approaches. For at least some of the major environmental problems, especially increased materials and energy consumption, there are few policy alternatives or models of success currently available in the Asia and Pacific region or elsewhere in the world. Two fundamental principles apply to the relationship between economic development and the environment in the Asia and Pacific region. First, environmental improvement and enhanced economic productivity can go hand-in-hand within the region. The false premise of “grow now and clean up later” is neither a necessary nor a desirable approach to managing the economy-environment relationship. Significant improvements in environmental performance can be achieved at low economic cost. Evidence suggests that strengthened environmental regulation is not associated with declining economic competitiveness (and may indeed enhance competitiveness through impacts on technological innovation). Investments in environmental improvement, especially those related to improved health, yield positive benefits in reducing poverty and economic vulnerability. Capturing these “win-win” opportunities is a first step toward improved environmental performance. Second, much of the region’s environmental degradation and pollution occurs as a result of market failures, process inefficiency, lack of integrated planning, corruption and rent-seeking behavior not enforcing environmental laws, and lack of training and institutional capacity. The cost of correcting these failures can be relatively low, and such corrective actions can yield major environmental benefits. This raises the questions as to why the rate of adoption of new policy approaches has been slow and relatively uneven within the region and what can be done to address this problem. For most environmental challenges facing the Asia and Pacific region, the outlines of an alternative policy approach are visible. Just as the current development trajectory and driving forces of change in the Asia and Pacific region present challenges, they also provide opportunities to shift to a different trajectory of sustainable development. This chapter identifies six opportunities for intervention: (i) the widespread adoption of existing, proven policy approaches across a broad spectrum of activity, from population to water supply management; (ii) new urban-industrial investment opportunities; (iii) development and widespread deployment of new technologies; (iv) advances in energy use and supply; (v) strengthening of the drivers of improved environmental performance through enhanced information availability and education, use of the courts, and resource pricing; and (vi) enhanced inclusive governance and institutional reform. The chapter ends with a look at opportunities for a better future.
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