| A recent trend in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region has been
the strengthening of governance structures for environmental protection.
A large number of environmental institutions have been established in the
public sector, including environmental ministries. Independent environment
agencies or departments have also been created to assist the environment
ministries. Institutional strengthening of these recently established environment
agencies is required to help them to fulfil their mandated roles. The main
environmental policy instruments applied in the region are command and
control policies and strategic environmental planning (ESCAP, 1995). Legislation,
regulatory standards and environmental planning procedures related to public
works, particularly Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), are the most
commonly used instruments of environmental management. Good examples are
found in China (See Box 1) and Malaysia. The Malaysian Environmental Quality
Act and several other sectoral Acts, for example, regulate most forms of
pollution and enhance environmental quality and management (Malaysia, 1992,
and 1993). Recently, there has been a conscious effort to develop new,
environmentally friendly technologies and to incorporate environmental
considerations in production processes. An example is the National Environmental
Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in India and the Ebra Corporation
in Japan which specializes in developing technology to combat air pollution.
Since the Earth Summit in 1992, great emphasis has been placed on regional
environmental co-operation. Examples of this include such inter-governmental
bodies as ASEAN, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD), the Mekong River Commission and the South Asia Cooperative Environment
Programme (SACEP). The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)
and the Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), with
assistance from members of the Interagency Committee on Environment and
Sustainable Development, prepare regular regional State of the Environment
(SoE) reports every five years.
The July 1993 Meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment
(ASOEN) (representing Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand) agreed to development a new "ASEAN Strategic Plan
of Action on the Environment (1994–1998)" with various objectives. Environmental
co-operation within ASEAN is thorough and may provide a model for other
regional organizations.
The South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (covering Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the
Islamic Republic of Iran) continues the implementation of an Action Plan
known as "SACEP’s Strategy and Programme (1992–1996)" covering key areas
of activity, namely capacity building and awareness raising; systematic
information exchange and intra-regional technology transfer; training on
environmental management and institutional development; regional co-operation
in management of mountain ecosystems, watersheds and coastal resources;
and wildlife and wildlife habitat conservation in the region.
The South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme was established in
1993, covering 22 Pacific Island countries and territories, with the aim
of enhancing institutional capacity to serve its members. It has also initiated
an "Action Plan (1991–95)", which is a regional strategy covering many
aspects of environmental assessment, management and law within the sub-region.
The Mekong River Commission (representing
Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Viet Nam and Thailand)
is an inter-governmental organization responsible for co-operation and
co-ordination in the use and development of the water resources of the
Lower Mekong Basin. In 1991, an Environment Unit was established within
the Technical Support Division to deal with the environmental issues in
this sub-region.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (representing
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan),
which was established in Nepal in 1983, continues implementation of its
different programmes to attain environmental stability, sustainability
of mountain ecosystems and poverty eradication in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas.
Some examples of the national, sub-regional and regional initiatives
that are being taken in specific environmental sectors in the region are
discussed in more detail in the following sections. |
