Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 26 of 57 BACK | NEXT I. The Changing Environment II. Driving Forces of Change III. Options and Opportunities Adoption of Proven Policy Alternatives Development Investment Opportunities New Urban-Industrial Investment Opportunities Development and Deployment of New Technologies Advances in Energy Use and Supply Strengthening the Societal Drivers of Improved Environmental Performance Civil Society and Public Pressure Globalization and Environment Courts Enhanced Inclusive Governance and Institutional Reform Regional and International Governance Building Opportunities for Policy Integration IV. Toward Policy Integration V. Call to Action

Asian Environment Outlook 2001 : III. Options and Opportunities

---

Globalization and Environment

Although economic globalization is bringing new pressures to bear on natural environments in the Asia and Pacific region, other aspects of globalization are strengthening countervailing forces. The internationalization of civil society networks is strengthening voices for environmental protection at the national level (Zarsky and Tay 2000). It is likely that these voices will increasingly use a common language of environmental governance principles such as those articulated during the Aarhus Convention, which will soon come into force in Europe (Petkova and Veit 2000).

Along with public pressure, significant opportunities are associated with strengthened market pressure. Globalization of trade and the elimination of trade barriers are placing unprecedented pressures on even domestic industries to achieve a competitive position through greater efficiency and responsible environmental management. The opening of markets and linking of trade and industrial policy to export incentives can provide a powerful incentive for industry to draw on its capacity for innovation to achieve greater resource efficiency with accompanying reduction of wastes.

As global and regional trade liberalization progresses, enterprises will increasingly be held accountable by consumers and shareholders for their environmental behavior. Asia and Pacific companies partnering with foreign firms will have opportunities to access new and clean technologies but will also find themselves bound by stricter international environmental standards. The challenge will be to shape environmental institutions to take advantage of the positive influences of globalization and to reduce or offset the negative consequences.

Market-based incentives are also at the heart of various certification schemes being extended to the Asia and Pacific region. Under such schemes, companies whose operations are independently certified as meeting certain social and environmental criteria are able to market their products at a premium to “green” consumers. For example, the SmartWood Program of the US-based Rainforest Alliance has a mission to “reduce the environmental damage caused by wood harvesting and to maximize the positive impacts of commercial forestry on local communities by awarding its seal of approval to responsible forest managers.” The SmartWood Program has so far granted that seal of approval to commercial forestry operations in six countries in Asia.

Although Business Councils for Sustainable Development were set up in several countries in the region in the wake of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), there is still considerable potential for voluntary initiatives in the region, particularly in natural resource sectors (see Box 3-9). In business environments where political concerns for environmental advocacy, enforcement of environmental regulations, and consumer awareness are all limited, opportunities for green enterprises may also be limited (Ganzi and others 1998). For example, the potential for voluntary timber certification programs to influence the forest products industry on a large scale depends on the development of credible and transparent monitoring capacity as well as consumer demand for these products in the Asia and Pacific region.

The international community has increasingly celebrated the emergence of an independent civil society in the Asia and Pacific region and its role in environmental governance (see Box 3-10). Donor agencies, for example, have provided aid on the condition that civil society participate in various environmental decision making forums, ranging from environmental impact assessments (EIA) to consultation on new legislation affecting natural resource sectors (Seymour and Dubash 2000). Delegation of natural resource management roles from governments to NGOs or to community-level committees that are not elected or otherwise downwardly accountable cannot be assumed to automatically improve environmental governance.

Civil society organizations have acknowledged the issue of equality of access to information because many poor and developing countries are disadvantaged by the lack of telecommunication infrastructure. Some NGOs are now engaged in expanding access to knowledge and information technologies by helping people build and acquire essential tools and skills. Among these, the Global Knowledge Partnership, an informal partnership of public, private, and nonprofit organizations coordinated by a small secretariat at the World Bank Institute, helps people and communities acquire knowledge and communication tools such as telephones and computers.

Back Civil Society and Public Pressure	Next Courts