GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific


and fuel management policy need to be incorporated into the management of outdoor air quality. In most cases, air-quality monitoring and evaluation are cross-sectional and regional, so regionally cooperative plans to reduce air pollutants in the sub-regions should be encouraged and integrated with other closely related sectors.


In order to address climate change and air quality, renewable energy technology, in both innovation and policy, must be sought tirelessly across the region and adequately backed by policies and incentives. The development of an enabling entrepreneurial climate and of replicable cost- competitive technologies is desirable. The development and sustainable application of smart grids for sustainable cities and communities is one of the most promising trends in the Asia and the Pacific region, led by a number of countries including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea and Singapore. It is imperative to actively promote these good examples with international collaboration and joint efforts to halt the rising trend in air pollution and reduce the impacts of climate change.


Comprehensive and systematic local management tools to reduce water resource stress


Good governance in water management is critical to securing water resources, quality and efficient use. Policies in the water sector do not solely apply to water demand and supply; policy tools must be integrated with other sectors including land- use planning, agriculture and energy. Localized water quality and pollution management needs to ensure the sustainable use of water resources, and a high level of participation by stakeholders and decision makers is expected to empower sustainable water use (WWWAP 2012).


Important regional bodies such as UN-Water, UN ESCAP, the Asia Pacific Water Forum, Asian Development Bank (ADB), UNEP, Global Water Partnership, Network of Asian River Basin Organizations and Water Environment Partnership in Asia can assist countries to achieve water security by promoting access to safer freshwater resources and sanitation, conservation, reuse, recycling, rainwater


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harvesting, sustainable groundwater extraction, improved technology for wastewater management and restoring and enhancing ecosystem services through regional cooperation (including transboundary initiatives and interagency working groups), use of traditional knowledge, and management with community participation. The water-food-energy nexus, highlighting synergies and trade-offs between each resource, is a useful approach to their management. Linking climate change and natural disaster policy is particularly important for countries that share water resources across boundaries and experience frequent flood damage (Middleton and Dore 2015; ADB 2012). Policy tools to encourage legal dialogue and capacity building to form regional conventions are needed to provide a common management system with transparency and security (Brander et al. 2012).


The complex mix of geographic, environmental, political, economic and social issues across Asia and the Pacific has often generated tangled environmental issues, which require improved sub-regional cooperation. Various multilateral environmental goals have identified the need to act in a more focussed manner. The responses towards addressing those goals have been mixed and the countries have faced implementation challenges. However the new agreements and the success stories create lot of opportunities and directions for the countries to minimize the widening gap between policies and their implementation. Sustainability of the success stories is contingent to the nexus of innovative developmental policies and environmental health of the region.


Globalization, revolutions in information technology, mobility and improving regional-level cooperation have enabled cross-fertilization of ideas, approaches, and policy tools and enabled their transfer from one territory to another. The mobilization of resources should not be limited to financial funds, but should incorporate technology, skills and know-how (IGES 2012; SPREP 2012). In the past the region has benefited significantly from improved connectivity to enhance environmental awareness and undertake collective action and the momentum needs to continue with renewed vigour in the future.


Credit: Shutterstock /Vaclav Volrab„ See references for Chapter 3


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