Catalog

Box 3-1. Proven Environmental Policies in the Region

• Licensing New Facilities. Singapore has demonstrated how facility licensing can be used as a point of effective policy intervention to improve the environmental performance of new industrial investments. From the late 1970s onwards, access to promotional privileges provided by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and to factory space and infra-structure services in industrial estates was predicated on the ability of investors to meet the Singapore’s tough air and water emissions standards. Because of this, Singapore has been able to grow rapidly without experiencing significant declines in ambient air and water quality. Moreover, much of this happened during a time (1972 through 1990) when many were concerned that multinational corporations were relocating their production facilities from countries with tough emissions standards to those with weak or nonexistent standards.

• Cleaner Production in Environmental Infrastructure. An ADB loan was provided to the Government of Thailand in December 1995 to assist the Government in undertaking the Samut Prakarn Wastewater Management Project. The project adopted an integrated approach that tackles wastewater pollution both at the source and final treatment points, representing a significant attempt to proactively minimize wastewater pollution. First, the project is helping industries to adopt pollution prevention practices and improve on-site management. So far, over 300 industries have committed to participate in the Cleaner Production for Industrial Efficiency (CPIE) program aimed at reducing wastewater generation, energy use, and pollutant loads by 20 percent. Second, a polluter-pays principle has been adopted to provide industry with incentives to reduce pollution while sustaining a viable operation. Industry will bear 80 percent of the costs of treating wastewater; the remaining 20 percent will be split between commercial and residential beneficiaries. Third, the project provides support for revisions to environmental regulations to control industrial discharges. Taken together, these initiatives represent a significant attempt to proactively minimize wastewater pollution. Initial activities have focused on integrating cleaner production into normal business management (rather than simply proposing technical fixes) to ensure long-term impacts. Based on the results from first 83 industries in the CPIE, if they achieve their goals, annual reduction will be 840,000 cubic meters of water, 256,000 cubic meters of wastewater, and 44,600,000 kWh of electricity usage. The total annual cost savings from these reductions is approximately $2.35 million. Benefits to Royal Thai Government include increased tax revenue, decreased reliance on international experts, improved relationship with industry, improved public image, and reduction in waterborne and airborne illness and deaths.

• Community-Based Resource Management Strategies. Community-based forest management has been adopted as the national strategy for the management and sustainable development of forest resources in the Philippines. To date, more than 500,000 ha of well-stocked, national forests have been turned over to communities, mostly of indigenous peoples. Community involvement in multisectoral forest committees has proven a potent weapon against large-scale illegal logging in the Philippines. Decentralized forest management systems are also being successfully adopted in Nepal and Papua New Guinea. Reforestation programs have had considerable success in reducing the loss of forest cover in Thailand and elsewhere and forest regeneration has been significant in Orissa and West Bengal. In several countries, there have also been significant experiments with community-based irrigation management programs.

• Water Pricing. To control inefficient water use among domestic users, water pricing has been an effective instrument. For example, in Bogor, Indonesia, a rise in the cost of water for domestic use from $0.15 to $0.42 per cubic meter encouraged a 30 percent reduction in consumption. Similarly, in Bangkok, introduction of a groundwater fee led to reduced use and a lowered groundwater pumping rate.

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Sources: Douglas and Lee 1996; Brunner and others 1999; Lynch and Talbott 1995; Poffenberger and McGean 1998; Poffenberger 1999