he pattern of development in the Asia- Pacific region has resulted in considerable adverse effects on the environment, includ- ing pollution, deforestation, and land degra- dation. The importance of protecting the environment from the pressure of develop- ment and population growth, the need to remedy past environmental degradations and depletion of natural resources, and the need to promote sustainable development are widely acknowledged by international and bilateral agencies as well as by the coun-

tries in the region. Thispaper briefly touches on the roles of the international agencies that deal with envi- ronmental and sustainable development issues in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly the key United Na- tions (UN) agencies and multilateral banks, as well as regional and subregional environmental programs.

Problems and emerging issues Many countries in the region have achieved compar-

atively high rates of economic growth, but in the pro- cess have exploited, degraded, and depleted resources such as land, water, forests, fisheries, and minerals. The environment has suffered as a result of agricultural de- velopment, industrialization, and urbanization, which have compounded the growth and structural changes of the countries' economies. As the consequences of envimnmental degradation be-

come evident, and as environmental awareness rises, pres- sure to rehabilitate and better manage the environment throughout Mi and the Pacific is likely to increase. There- fore, an understanding of the constraints and emerging is- sues affecting sustainable development there is essential.

Constraints to sustainable development include bio- geographic factors, policy and market failures, popula- tion pressure and poverty, weak institutions, lack of skilled and trained human resources, and lack of funds. For instance, policy and market failures have been iden- tified as major causes of environmental degradation. Log exports may not lead to deforestation, but inappropriate policies on logging do. Population growth or density per se does not lead to migration to forested areas or to forest encroachment, but the failure to provide adequate em- ployment or the absence of secure property rights over the resources will ultimately lead to resource depletion.

Population pressure, poverty, and environmental degra- dation are skongly linked, particularly in poor counbies where high population growth exacerbates the inability of the resource base to sustain the population at existing lev- els of technology development. Poverty is reinforced, which leads to further socioeconomic deterioration.

Population growth must be brought down to accept- able levels if economic growth is to be translated to im- proved living standards. Weak institutions and un- trained human resources have thwarted countries' efforts to design economic incentives for sustainable development. That is why some Asian countries may support market-based economic incentives and have adequate environmental legislation, but their institu- tions cannot adequately monitor and enforce existing statutes. Illegal practices flourish in an atmosphere of weak or nonexistent enforcement; therefore, to estab- lish a strong environmental structure, countries must strengthen and upgrade institutions involved with hu- man resources from the national to the local level.

The various causes of resource depletion and environ- mental degradation have affected all the developing econo- mies of the Asia-Pacific region. Deforestation, resulting in

2276 Environ. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 27, No. 12, 1993

K A Z l F . J A L A l Asian Develapment Bank, 1099 Manila, Philippines

erosion and the loss of biological diversity, stands out as the most critical issue. It is considered the single most seri- ous environmental problem in Malaysia, Thailand, Indone- sia, the Philippines, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and India. Urban congestion and population are critical is- sues in the Philippines, Indonesia, PRC, Thailand, and In- dia. Water resources problems-including water shortage, groundwater depletion, flooding, and water pollution--are critical in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, and India and are a moderate priority in the Philippines. Industrial pollu- tion has become very serious in PRC and India and is an is- sue in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Land and soil resource problems-including deforestation, salinization, soil erosion, and waterlogging- critical in India, Nepal, Pakistan, PRC, and the Philippines. Marine and coastal resource degradation are considered serious in Sri Lanka and the Pacific Islands; sea-level rise is a priority concern in Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands. Waste dis- posal is a major issue for developing counbies in the Pacific Islands as well as in PRC.

Selected agencies' activities Several international agencies have undertaken initia-

tives and activities in support of sustainable develop-

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ment efforts in the region. Although the main players are the govern- ments, the contribution of interna- tional agencies is crucial to supple- ment national efforts to achieve the

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countries' expectations. Interna- tional agencies involved in sustain- able development include the UN agencies and bodies, the multilateral development banks (MDBs), and the regional and subregional intergov- ernmental environment progams.

Among early UN efforts was the International Biological Program, which was initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO] in the 1960s. Its central theme was bi- ological productivity and human welfare. Other UN agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organiza- tion, the World Health Organiza- tion, the World Meteorological Or- ganization, and the International Atomic Energy Agency were also involved in programs dealing with environmental problems, although they were not necessarily classified as environmental programs at the time.

In 1972, the UN Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm brought environmental problems to the forefront; as a direct result of that conference, the Gen- eral Assembly established the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Since then, UNEP has been the lead global agency in initiating and coor- dinating environmental actions im- plemented by various agencies and bodies within the UN family. Some of UNEP's major past activities in- clude the accumulation of scientific information on the greenhouse ef- fect: the promotion of worldwide interest in deforestation and marine pollution: assistance in the formula- tion of a plan to counter desertifica- tion and regional marine pollution: and the development and conclu- sion of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, the Montreal Protocol on Sub- stances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and regional conventions and protocols on coastal and marine environmental conservation.

UNEP and the World Health Or- ganization have collaborated for more than a decade through UNEP's global environmental monitoring systems, which monitor water and air quality worldwide. UNEP also initiated the Global Resources Infor- mation Database, located in the Asia-Pacific region, which involves a network of regional centers that assemble, process, and distribute

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environmental databases on re- gional and global scales.

The Regional Commissions of the UN system also started focusing their activities on environmentally sound economic and social devel- opment at an early stage. In 1973, the UN Economic and Social Com- mission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) convened a meeting of rep- resentatives of countries and inter- governmental bodies active in envi- ronmental preservation in the region; these representatives pre- pared the Asian plan of action on the human environment. To inte- grate environmental considerations into the Commission’s activities, the Environmental Coordinating Unit was created in the Secretariat with the assistance of UNEP in 1978. Environmental programs and work priorities are focused on four major elements: institutional and legislative aspects of environmental protection and management, pro- motion of environmental aware- ness, management of the terrestrial ecosystem, and the protection of marine and related ecosystems.

Through ESCAP and the UN De- velopment Programme, country- wide projects on deforestation and promotion of cooperation in train- ing and research on desertification control were initiated under the De- sertification Control in Asia and the Pacific Program. ESCAP also has as- sisted coastal and marine countries; promoted regional cooperation through its coastal environmental management plan; established a re- gional network of journalists, the Asian Forum of Environmental Journalists; assisted several coun- tries in developing and strengthen- ing environmental legislation and institutions; and organized two ministerial conferences, one for the Pacific in 1982 and the other for Asia in 1985, which strengthened the political will to cooperate on en- vironmental matters; convened re- gional, subregional, and national workshops and seminars on the en- vironment; and published technical guidelines and reports, including the well-known “State of the Envi- ronment Report on Asia and the Pa- cific” (1985, 1990).

The UN Development Programme has also actively promoted sustain- able development activities in the region, directly and through other international and UN agencies. More recently, the UN Development Programme’s role has been strength- ened by the mandate it received from the United Nations Conference

on Environment and Development to undertake activities relating to Capacity 21, a program in support of Agenda 21 that assists countries to formulate policies and legislation and to build up indigenous capacity for sustainable development.

Other UN agencies’ activities Other UN agencies and bodies

that provide specialized sustain- able-development assistance in the region include the United Nations Centre of Science and Technology, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, UNESCO, the United Nations Industrial Develop- ment Organization, the Interna- tional Labor Organization, the Inter- national Maritime Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, and the International Atomic En- ergy Agency.

Another category of international agency active in environmental ac- tivities in the region is the MDBs. Since the early 1970s, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have attempted to deal with the environmental effects of their respective projects. In 1990, 10 in- stitutions, including UNEP, the World Bank, and the Asian Devel- opment Bank, adopted environmen- tal policies and procedures relating to economic development, thereby clarifying the necessity for environ- mentally sound development. The Secretariat is in the form of a com- mittee called the Committee of In- ternational Development Institu- tions on the Environment. The MDBs have prepared guidelines to integrate environmental concerns at different stages of program and project planning and appraisal.

At the regional level, MDBs have collaborated with other interna- tional and bilateral agencies as well as UN agencies in promoting sus- tainable development activities. The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, the two major mul- tilateral banks working in this re- gion, have in the past five years made loans for environmental resto- ration and technical assistance projects and have adopted specific environmental procedures as inte- gral components of their regional development activities. The Asian Development Bank is promoting na- tional strategies that include envi- ronmental considerations in eco- nomic development and systematic environmental procedures for deal- ing with loan projects. The bank is also providing technical assistance to the developing countries for in-

stitution building and increasing environmental awareness. The bank’s lending on environmental projects has reached about $1 bil- lion-20% of its total lending oper- ations. The bank also has provided $20 million of technical assistance for pollution control in the indus- trial and power sectors, biodiversity conservation, urban environment improvement, land and soil re- source conservation, and marine and coastal resources management.

Subregional programs such as the Association of Southeast Asian Na- tions Environment Programme, the South Asia Cooperative Environ- ment Programme, and the South Pa- cific Regional Environment Pro- gramme are all intergovernmental (as opposed to agency or inter- agency) collaboration efforts to deal primarily with subregional trans- boundary environmental problems. At the regional level, such intergov- ernmental collaboration is facili- tated mainly by ESCAP.

Although all of these agencies un- dertake environmental activities in line with their specific mandates, their members realize that the re- gion would benefit from inter- agency cooperation. Such coopera- tion provides not only a mechanism for sharing possible solutions to en- vironmental problems, but also an opportunity to pool resources to achieve the goals of sustainable de- velopment. Thus, coordination mechanisms have been established to prioritize problems and imple- ment environmental programs at subregional and regional levels.

At the regional level, the Inter- agency Committee on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific was established in 1991 to ensure that there is a common voice among governments and interna- tional agencies in the region on en- vironmental priorities. The Com- mittee is a unique regional body whose primary task is to help coor- dinate environmental and sustain- able development activities among some 20 international and intergov- ernmental agencies in the Asia- Pacific region. It is expected to help international agencies promote SUS- tainable development through the exchange of information and ideas and, by avoiding duplication of ef- forts, make the best use of each agency’s limited financial and hu- man resources.

Future developments Each international agency in the

region will continue to be involved

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in envuonmenm unprovemeni ac- tivities. It is expected that the UN Development Programme will con- tinue to be a prime mover in capac- ity and institution building of gov- ernment agencies in their task of promoting sustainable development as well as sustainable development network activities. ESCAF’ will pur- sue technical and advisory activi- ties as well as promote environmen- tal media activities and convene larger regional, ministerial-level meetings on environmental collabo- ration. UNEP will provide overall direction in the management and conservation of the region‘s envi- ronmental resources. The Food and Agriculture Organization is ex- pected to intensify its programs, fo- cusing primarily on sustainable ag- riculture, rural development, and concern for land degradation and tropical forest conservation. The World Health Organization will un- dertake activities related to environ- mental health and sanitation.

MDBs will increasingly assume as their primary task the channeling of financial resources and technical

suppon io environmenrai prolecis. MDB funding and technical assis- tance for environmental projects have increased several times in the past and are expected to continue to be a major source of support for en- vironmental programs in the region. The various intergovernmental en- vironment programs will continue to promote subregional cooperation among the governments on trans- boundary environmental problems and the development of appropriate legal instruments.

Sustainable development measures The root cause of environmental

problems in the Asia-Pacific region is poverty, which is caused in turn by a lack of development and by en- vironmentally unsound develop- ment. Although the countries and international agencies are commit- ted to promoting sustainable devel- opment, two measures are essential: Reduce poverty to resolve environ- mental problems associated with the lack of development, and inte- mate environmental considerations

projects (see rigure IJ. international agencies together with governments will have a major role to play in both measures, particularly in the transfer of “green” technology, in increasing and strengthening hu- man resources, and in channeling financial resources to environmen- tal projects.

Kazi F. Idd is chief of the office of En- vironment far the Asia Development Bonk in Manila, the Philippines. He re- ceived a Ph.D. and M.S. degree in envi- ronmental sciences and engineering from Harvard University and a B.S. de- eree in civil eneineerine from Dhakta -

into development programs and Universityin BoGghdesi ‘

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