Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 57 of 57 BACK | NEXT I. The Changing Environment II. Driving Forces of Change III. Options and Opportunities IV. Toward Policy Integration V. Call to Action Regional Policy Recommendations Sector-specific Actions Conclusions

Asian Environment Outlook 2001 : V. Call to Action

---

Conclusions

Based on exploration of the environmental symptoms plaguing the Asia and Pacific region, environmental trends are alarming and previous institutional and policy approaches appear to have had limited success. But trends can be changed! The region still has the opportunity to follow a different economic-environmental pathway, one that builds a clean urban-industrial economy from the bottom up and avoids much of the costly, inefficient, and embattled institutional and technological experience of industrialized countries. In much of the developing countries of the Asia and Pacific region, affordable options are still available to prevent long-term or permanent damage to most natural resources and the urban environment. Abundant opportunities exist for redirecting the underlying driving forces of change, create new and effective institutions, establish markets for ecosystem services where none exist today, and integrate environmental policies into mainstream economic planning and management. Only then a sustainable future for the Asia and Pacific region can be realized.

The AEO series identifies a future focused on policies that integrate environmental concerns with economic development to reduce poverty, improve environmental quality, and support sustainable livelihoods for all people in the region. In this context, an abiding political will is essential to translate rhetoric into action. Political will, policy integration, and development by design will become meaningless slogans unless all stakeholders act in concert to ensure long-term sustainable development in the region. The potential result is development that conforms with the principles of natural capitalism, exhibits concern for the long-term stability of the environment, and leads to meaningful social development. ADB anticipates that AEO 2001 and future AEO Series reports (see Box 5-2) will be able to document the positive changes occurring in the Asia and Pacific region, thereby making a real difference. Nothing less than our collective future depends on it.

Back Energy Sector	Asian Environment Outlook 2001