Technology, Industry and Economics

UNEP encourages decision makers in government, local authorities and industry to develop and implement policies, strategies and practices that are cleaner and safer, make efficient use of natural resources, ensure environmentally sound management of chemicals, reduce pollution and risks for humans and the environment, enable implementation of conventions and international agreements, and incorporate environmental costs.

In Asia and the Pacific region, we assist the delivery of global level programmes while keeping the focus on

• Using the preventive Cleaner Production (CP) approach to improve resource-use efficiency in industry and reduce pollution emission.
• Facilitating knowledge development and dissemination on alternative economic development approaches, and integrated resource/waste management.
• Introducing tools and practices for changing consumption patterns.
• Assisting country government in compliance with Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

To ensure effective delivery of UNEP activities in the region, the following strategies are applied:

• Building capacities of governments and environmental communities;
• Developing professional networks and partnerships;
• Engaging business to improve sustainability performance.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction from Industry in Asia and the Pacific (GERIAP)

UNEP is implementing a $US2.5 million project aiming to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce energy costs from industry in Asia and the Pacific region - with support from the Government of Sweden. With dynamic industrial growth, GHG emissions are projected to rise steeply.

The four-year project is being implemented in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. A secretariat at UNEP in Bangkok coordinates the project through focal points in national institutes or government agencies with experience in cleaner production and energy efficiency.

The focus is on the iron and steel, pulp and paper, cement, ceramics, and chemicals sectors -  as the major energy users they are the foremost emitters of greenhouse gases.

The project involves capacity building in national institutions and industry; energy assessments in participating plants to identify and implement options to reduce energy, and a review of national policies and other factors that might influence industry to reduce GHG emissions. The final output of the project is the “Energy Efficiency Guide for Industry in Asia,” with a methodology, company case studies, technical information on energy equipment, option checklists, and a contact and information database. The Guide will be launched in January 2006 as a hard copy summary, a CD-ROM and on www.energyefficiencyasia.org, and has been partly translated into Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, Sinhala, Thai and Vietnamese.

Sustainable Consumption in Asia (SC.Asia)

The Sustainable Consumption in Asia project, supported by the European Union, aims to identify best practices in promoting sustainable consumption in Europe and Asia, and to build knowledge and capacity in Asian countries to adopt them. Practices could include:

• consumer information campaigns
• product testing, eco-labelling
• legislation, economic incentives
• corporate environmental policies
• advertising

The ultimate goal is to enable Asian governments to implement the United Nations Guidelines on consumer protection section on sustainable consumption.

The project partners include UNEP, Consumers International, the Danish Consumers Council and the Centre for Environment and Development (Sri Lanka). Various European approaches will be studied (Denmark, France, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdoms) as well as those in Asia (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam).

The project was successfully completed with the publication of Guidance Manual: Advancing Sustainable Consumption in Asia. The project delivered a Regional Cross-Learning Seminar in March 2005, participated by stakeholder representatives from 14 Asian countries. The results of Asia and Europe reviews and case studies were presented at the seminar.

Supporting the Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (APRSCP)

The APRSCP is a network of organizations and professionals dedicated to the promotion of sustainable consumption and production via a prevention approach with the national cleaner production centers (NCPC) and national CP roundtables as its backbone members. UNEP has been one of the main supporters of APRSCP through its support to NCPCs and directly roundtable conferences. The 6th Conference of APRSCP took place in Melbourne, Australia on 10-12 Oct. 2005. As always, the roundtable provided a good collection of state-of-art methodologies, tools and practices and suggests for the way ahead. Represented by advisory board members, UNEP is actively working with APRSCP board to strengthen this regional network and its capacity in facilitating the change of production and consumption patterns.

Demonstrating circular economy practices in Guiyang, China

UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) has been working together with the municipality government of Guiyang to pioneer circular economy practices since 2003. Following the principle of closing the loop of resource-flow, UNEP and Guiyang government jointly implement practices that integrate the economic development with natural resource conservation through a multi-phase project. The project has demonstrated cleaner production practices in companies, awareness raising campaign for sustainable consumption, and government’s roles in implementing circular economy. The policy reinforcement component is under implementation with the support of European Union. The demonstration of conservation-based business development is under preparation. The intended outputs of the project include case studies, guidelines, policy interventions, training materials, as well as conservation-based business development in Guiyang.

 The Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

Under the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments, developing countries that are Party to the Protocol must reduce and then phase-out both the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances. CAP enables UNEP, as one of the implementing agencies of the protocol, to provide compliance assistance to developing countries in the regions. UNEP supports these efforts through:

• information exchange
• training programmes – particularly in refrigerant handling and alternatives to methyl bromide
• legislation
• control and monitoring - particularly of illegal trade (through training customs officers)
• development of  codes of good practice
• national recycling and recovery initiatives
• regional networking and harmonization, and awareness raising.

The recent programme highlights are:

• Initiated subregional dialogues with Nepal, China and Mongolia on specific border illegal trade issues
• Drew up a strategy for regional awareness raising  - in the final stages of preparation.
• Organized the first regional Ozone Day
• Developed awareness materials which included a South Asian booklet “SHIELD: South Asia’s Compliance with the Montreal Protocol”, toolkits for National Ozone Units, videos and training materials
• Enhanced efforts to curb illegal trade through regional meetings, national workshops with other Implementing Agencies and bilateral partners.

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