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Asia and the Pacific

The policy background
MEAs and non-binding agreements
Laws and institutions
Economic instruments
Industry and new technologies
Financing environmental action
Public participation
Environmental information and education
Social policies
Conclusions
References

Europe and Central Asia

KEY FACTS     Although the Convention to Combat Desertification is extremely important to the region, there is little interest from governments, civil society or NGOs in giving it priority.   Due to coverage by local mass media, the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty is known even to poor farmers in the remotest parts of Bangladesh and West Bengal in India.   China has some 2 900 environmental protection bureaus, more than 2 000 environmental monitoring stations and about 1 850 stations for monitoring and enforcing compliance. Nearly 100 000 people are directly employed in environmental protection.   Economic instruments in Thailand have saved 295 MW of peak demand, 1 564 GWh of energy a year, reduced CO2 emissions by more than 1 million tonnes and resulted in consumer savings of US$100 million a year.   The Republic of Korea has sponsored potable water supply systems and wastewater system improvement in several countries and intends to expand environmental assistance in the future.   Several Japanese companies have now taken voluntary actions on pollution control which include stricter standards than the national ones.   NGOs have emerged as major players and partners in development and conservation activities, performing a multitude of roles including environmental education and awareness-raising among the public.   The region's major strategy in attacking environmental problems should now be to combine command and control actions with economic incentives, with massive public consultation to gain widespread public acceptance for improved environmental policy actions.

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