The driving forces for different environmental issues vary across the
Asia-Pacific region, but are fundamentally related to population levels.
The driving forces are a result of the dynamic interplay of socio-economic,
institutional and political, and technological activities. Although high
economic growth is being achieved in many countries in the region, poverty
is still a problem at the root of several environmental problems. Impact
on the environment caused by the developed and the newly industrialised
countries in the region, as well as the unsustainable use of natural resources
by those countries (and other developed countries outside the region) have
also been considerable (NEPA- communication).
Social
Population Growth
Asia and the Pacific is the most populous region of the world with
58 per cent of the total global population concentrated in about a quarter
of the global land surface. Population size, growth rate and distribution
have contributed significantly to shaping the environment in this region.
The impact of population on the environment is primarily through the use
of natural resources and production of wastes. The countries likely to
face environmental stress, because of demographic trends (both population
growth rate and densities) in the coming decades, are the Maldives, Pakistan
and Bangladesh, closely followed by Nepal, Viet Nam, India and the Philippines.
The major forms of environmental stress in many of these countries are
loss of biodiversity and water and air pollution. The high population growth
greatly accelerates consumption rates in this region when compared with
other regions of the world; for example the daily demand for water in the
city of Beijing has increased almost one hundred fold during the three
decades between 1950 and 1980 (WRI/UNEP/UNDP, 1990).
Other major environmental impacts associated with a rapidly growing
population are related to the increased pressure on arable land, such as
expansion of human settlements, clearing land for cultivation, intensive
agriculture for intensified food production and overgrazing. Similarly,
there is a strong correlation between the population growth rates and deforestation
rates.
MigrationMigration from rural to urban areas has contributed
about 40 per cent of urban population growth during the period 1970–90
in most developing countries of the region (ESCAP, 1995a). The major environmental
problems arising from the process of urban development in the region are
increasing pollution levels due to concentrated discharge of residual wastes,
i.e. gaseous, liquid and solid wastes, into the environment and the destruction
of fragile ecosystems. Deforestation is also a major problem associated
with urban expansion; for example fuelwood meets 50 per cent of the cooking
energy needs of the urban population in many countries (ESCAP, 1995a).
Coastal areas with sensitive ecosystems have also suffered from the continuing
pressure of urbanization in the region. In the Pacific sub-region, urban
areas are running short of fuelwood as coastal mangroves and inland forests
are depleted. In Tuvalu, pressure on the coastal environment has also resulted
from the migration of people from the outer islands to the dense shanty
areas in the capital city on the Fogafale Islet (Thistlewait and Votaw,
1991).
Economic
The developing countries of Asia and the Pacific have the distinction of
being the fastest growing, i.e. economically, group of countries in the
world with an average economic growth rate in GDP of 7 per cent during
the period 1991–94 compared with the world economic growth rate of 1.1
per cent during the same period (ESCAP, 1995a). Although growth of this
order and magnitude has been instrumental in reducing the incidence of
poverty, particularly in the East Asia and ASEAN regions, it has also been
accompanied by serious environmental problems (ESCAP, 1995a).
Industry
The environmental impact of industry has become increasingly evident
from natural resource depletion (fossil fuel, minerals, timber), water
(BOD, COD, suspended solids), air (CO2, CO, SPM, SO2)
and land contamination (solid waste, toxic and hazardous waste), health
hazards and degradation of natural ecosystems. Industrial sources contribute
a relatively high share to air pollution in this region because the main
source of industrial energy is fossil fuels with a high proportion of coal,
and the major air polluting industries, such as iron, steel, fertilizer
and cement, are growing. Water polluting industries in the region are also
expanding very rapidly. For instance, in China in 1992, approximately 64
per cent of the total wastewater generated was from the industry sector
(ESCAP, 1995a). Both the quality and quantity of industrial solid waste
present problems for the environment. For example, China has had the most
waste-intensive production processes in the region; in 1990, over 2 kilograms
of industrial waste were generated for every US dollar (in constant 1980
prices) of industrial production (ESCAP, 1995a). However, since 1990, the
rate of waste generated has slowed down and even decreased in the case
of industrial solid waste.(NEPA-communication)
Transport
During this century the transportation sector has become a key accelerating
factor for economic growth as well as for environmental degradation. Transport
activities have a wide variety of effects on the environment, such as air
pollution and noise from road traffic, oil spills from marine shipping,
and the depletion of natural resources. In a few cities in the Asia-Pacific
region the heavy concentration of road networks and vehicles has resulted
in high levels of pollution. Road transport, for example, accounts for
a major share of the air pollution load in cities such as Delhi (57 per
cent), Beijing (75 per cent), Manila (70 per cent) and Kuala Lumpur (86
per cent) (WRI/UNEP/UNDP, 1994). Port and harbour projects
mainly impact on sensitive coastal ecosystems. Their construction affects
hydrology, surface water quality in the coastal zones, fisheries, coral
reefs and mangroves to varying degrees. Countries like the People’s Republic
of China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Papua New Guinea are making substantial investments in the expansion
of maritime transport. These countries are also carrying out dredging operations
to maintain transportation facilities at ports (UN, 1994).
AgricultureAgriculture in the Asia-Pacific region has
witnessed accelerated structural changes in the past 40 years. Direct impacts
on the environment arise from farming activities which contribute to soil
erosion, land salinization and loss of nutrients. It has been estimated,
for example, that about 25 per cent of the soil degradation in the Asia-Pacific
region has occurred directly from agricultural activities. Shifting cultivation
has been an important cause of land degradation in many countries of the
region including Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia,
the Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon
Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam (Dent et al., 1992).
In addition, natural habitats are being destroyed, degraded and depleted,
with the loss of countless wild species. The largest demand for water within
the region presently comes from agriculture; more than two-thirds of the
water abstracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers in the region is used
for irrigation. There is also considerable evidence that the leaching of
fertilizer into water bodies is a significant source of water pollution.
In particular, excessive levels of nitrates and other nutrients from fertilizer
application are a major cause of eutrophication in surface waters throughout
the region. The use of fertilizers in the region increased from 11 million
tonnes in 1968–70 to 52 million tonnes in 1988–90 (FADINAP, 1992) and in
1990 the average consumption of fertilizer was 125 kilograms per hectare
(ESCAP, 1995a). Only four countries, the Republic of Korea, Korea DPR,
China and Malaysia, exceeded the average. The intensification of agriculture
in recent years has also been accompanied by the extensive use of pesticides
(herbicides, insecticides and fungicides). However, data on unintentional
pesticide poisoning is not currently available for this region.
Tourism
Over past two decades, there has been impressive growth in tourism
within the region. This growth has generally led to the creation of additional
employment, an increased flow of foreign exchange, increased infrastructural
development and the restoration of cultural, religious and heritage sites.
Out of the 500 million world-wide international tourist arrivals in 1993,
14.5 per cent (72.4 million) were registered in the Asia-Pacific region,
compared with only 1.3 per cent in 1960 (WTO, 1994a; WTO, 1994b; WTO, 1994c).
However, the growth in tourism has also resulted in significant negative
environmental impacts, particularly in relation to important ecosystems,
namely mangroves, forests and coral reefs, etc.
Impacts on the physical environment are largely related to tourism infrastructure
development (including resorts, hotels and coastal zone management activities)
inducing soil erosion, landslides, sedimentation, water pollution, etc.
Unplanned development of infrastructure too close to the shoreline has
affected natural coastal processes leading to beach erosion in some places,
particularly Fiji, Indonesia, Maldives, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. However,
with the introduction of EIA, such unplanned developmental activities have
been stopped. Coral reefs are one of the main tourist attractions in the
region. Damage to coral reefs from sedimentation is widespread, particularly
in Thailand where 51 per cent of coral reefs are under threat (ESCAP, 1995a).
Mangrove forests in Thailand, Fiji and the Philippines are also currently
under threat from tourism-related development and associated activities,
including direct encroachment from hotel and resort construction, exploitation
for fuelwood and clearance for shrimp farming (OEPP, 1996).
Trade
Promoting liberal trade while maintaining and strengthening protection
of the environment and natural resources is one of the great policy challenges
of the decade. There has been a widespread inflow of polluting industries
and hazardous waste from developed nations, and also an outflow of raw
materials and resource intensive industrial products to developed countries.
The direct effects of agricultural trade liberalization on Asian environmental
resources are not yet clear. However, increasing product prices are likely
to lead to a greater demand for agro-chemicals. The demand for water could
also rise, which is an important consideration in countries with seasonal
water scarcity, such as Thailand. Studies of the impact of trade on land
resources have shown a positive correlation between the rate of forest
conversion and crop prices (Barbier and Burgess, 1992). Similarly, the
principal, direct environmental impact of manufactured goods and their
export, is industrial pollution. While almost 75 per cent of total world
exports from polluting industries originate from industrial countries,
the South-East Asian share of total world exports of polluting industry
products increased from 3.4 per cent in 1965 to 8.4 per cent in 1988. This
increase reflects the region’s rapid expansion in manufactured goods exports.
South Asia’s share (based on India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) rose from 2.1
per cent to 2.8 per cent over the same period (Low and Yeats, 1992).
Institutional
In the Asia-Pacific region, government responsibility for the environment
rests with environment ministries, with a division or a unit in another
ministry, with independent environment agencies or with departments created
to assist the environment ministries. Most of the environmental institutions
in the developing countries of the region are relatively small and suffer
from unsatisfactory staffing and financial resources. Command and control
is the main environmental policy instrument in the region. Strategic environmental
planning, legislation and regulatory standards and planning procedures
are the most commonly used tools for environmental control. The least used
instruments are those related to economic incentives. Environmental institutions
often have no power to audit the environmental performance of sectoral
institutions; thus they are attempting to strengthen performance by developing
additional tools or by improving existing ones. Two major shortcomings
with regard to the greening of industry and business in the region are
the weak monitoring and enforcement capabilities of environmental institutions
and the lack of green consumerism.
Moderate progress has been made during the last five years on the effective
implementation of the EIA process in the countries of the region. The overall
quality of EIA studies suggests a need for more legislation, regulations
and guidelines to support and guide the process. There is also an urgent
need for the creation of government environmental management units that
can enforce the EIA procedure. In addition, the federal system of some
governments makes it difficult to enforce EIA for activities related to
resource exploitation. This is because these activities are, usually, under
the jurisdiction of a provincial government, whereas EIA is enforced by
federal agencies. Institutional strengthening measures (which include training
of key professionals, especially engineers and economists, on EIA techniques)
are also needed to make the EIA procedure a more effective instrument for
sustainable development in the region. In India, for example, there was
an initiative to place responsibility for EIA with the State Governments
but most projects are now once again under the responsibility of a unit
in the Ministry of Environment and Forests because many States lacked the
institutional capacity to handle EIA for large and complex projects (ESCAP,
1995a).
There are also many problems associated with the use of risk assessment
by developing countries, including the lack of trained personnel and comprehensive
databases (whether industrial, medical or environmental).
There is a modest level of participation by the developing countries
of the region in international agreements whereas for the least developed
countries it is low. In most cases, the reason for non-implementation is
inadequate availability of the professional and administrative expertise
and resources that would be required for the formulation and implementation
of relevant domestic legislation. |
