TECHNICAL SUMMARY

RISPO
Research on Innovative and Strategic Policy Options

APEIS-RISPO Web sites :http://www.iges.or.jp/APEIS/RISPO

June 2005

1. What is APEIS/RISPO?

The Research on Innovative and Strategic Policy Options (RISPO) was one of the three sub-projects1 of the Asia-Pacific
Environmental Innovation Strategy Project (APEIS). APEIS, an Asia-Pacific region-wide research project was registeredas a Type 2 partnership/initiative at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)2 in 20023. RISPO, together
with the other two sub-projects of APEIS, aimed to contribute to policy dialogue on sustainable development in the region
by providing knowledge-based tools.

1.1 Objectives
RISPO was a region-wide research project
conducted in collaboration with various
research institutes and key internationalorganizations working in the field ofenvironment and development in the
Asia-Pacific region. RISPO aimed tojointly develop two knowledge-based tools,
namely a Good Practices Inventory andStrategic Policy Options, which can be ofuse to policy-makers seeking better
solutions to the sustainable development
challenges they face. The final products ofthe two tools are going to be madeavailable as common regional assets inJune 2005. The primary audience/usersof these tools are policy-makers, however
RISPO invites wider audiences to further
promote international dialogue among awide variety of stakeholders and enhance
informed policy-making to lead the society
towards a sustainable path.
The lack of means of policy
implementation is one of the most serious
obstacles for promoting environmentallysound policies, especially in many
developing countries. RISPO, therefore,
focused on the innovative policies andinstruments to overcome these obstacles,

Table 1 Focuses and sub-themes
Focus

Sub-theme
Innovative financing for renewableenergy development

Economic
AspectPromotion of biomass energy use
Inter-boundary recycling market
for enhancing resource-recycling
society in Asia
Facilitating protected area
management using
community-based tourism

SocialAspectPromoting environmental
education by NGOs

Both Aspects(Comprehensive)

Promoting local/indigenous
knowledge-based sustainable
resource management
Development of environmentally
sustainable transport systems
in urban areas
Improving environmental
performance of small andmedium-sized enterprises

The other two sub-projects are Integrated Environmental Monitoring (IEM) and Integrated Environmental Assessment (IEA) which areconducted by National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan.
2 APEIS was proposed by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan in collaboration with a number of governments, research institutes, and key
international organizations in the Asia-Pacific region.
3 Duration of the RISPO First Phase was April 2002 – March 2005.
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and to develop effective policies for sustainable development. RISPO had eight thematic research areas as listed inTable 1, which are broadly divided into three groups based upon their focuses. Research under the eight sub-themes was
conducted by a group of researchers in the Asia-Pacific region.
RISPO’s research approach focused on ground-based field studies ofsuccessful examples of sustainable development practices. By taking thefield based approach, RISPO intended to complement the other two
sub-projects of APEIS and to develop a sound understanding of factors that
promote or hinder sustainable development in various settings and to describe
lessons thus learned.
Example of field studies:Interviewing Villagers on local perceptions on adaptation
to climate change in Chingra Kheli, Bangladesh
1.2. Technical Framework
The Good Practice Inventory and the Strategic Policy Options (SPOs) under the eight sub-themes have been developed
following the steps as outlined in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Steps to develop Good Practices Inventory and Strategic Policy Options

RISPO has identified four sets of minimum criteria, given the characteristics of effective environmental policies indeveloping countries. They are (i) impacts produced by SPO, (ii) five specific criteria to evaluate each policy option, (iii)ease of implementation, and (iv) applicability. These four criteria were incorporated into the standard format, in which eachindividual SPO was examined in details.
First, the SPO had to prove that it had generated the intended impact; i.e. successfully changed behaviour of target groups
as it intended. Though this sounds as a general matter of course, this criterion is quite important given the fact that there
are many policies that have not created the intended impact. In reality, however, it is not easy to get empirical evidence
that proves the effectiveness of the policy in question. There are two major reasons for this. First, reason is the fact that
there is always a certain time lag between the actual action and intended impact. For example, prohibition of use ofhazardous chemicals can result in reduction of chemical contamination only years after its implementation. Thus, to provethat a policy is effective with objective evidence may not be straight forward. In general, however, some changes in the2human response are observed very quickly, as soon as a new policy is introduced. They include, for example, theestablishment of a national coordination body, increase in government staff and budget, and special piece of legislation.
Then, subsequent impacts may be observed in the change of driving forces. Technologies adopted by targeted industry
are expected to change for more environmentally friendly ones, for example. Only after that changes in the quality of theenvironment can be detected. This time lag varies depending upon what kind of environmental target a policy has, but
generally speaking time lag is shorter for localized problems, and longer for global issues. Second, there are always
some external factors that affect effectiveness of any policy. External factors, such as political directions, economic
growth, social stability, are those that are
Policy Area (e.g. Environmentally Sustainable Transport)
beyond the scope of the SPO in question.
To which extent the policy in question is
Introduction
SPO
effective depends, in many cases, on
Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
Brief description
how external factors have manifested
Strategy 1 (e.g. Reducing Transport Demand)
Background-SPO1 (e.g. High density urban planning)themselves.
Critical instruments
Other than the impact, the SPO format(Figure 2) has identified the following fivecriteria, as mentioned above to evaluate
the identified SPOs .
i)
Sustainability
ii)
Efficiency
iii)
Effectivenessiv)
Equityv)
Relevance-SPO2 (e.g. Telecommuting)
Strategy 2 (e.g. Share of Public Transport)
Strategy 3 (e.g. Reducing Vehicle Emission)

Analytical Background Paper(s)Analyses on GP; Political implications derived fromGP and other empirical data

Impacts
Evaluation
Implementation issues
Applicability & limitation

GPI
GP
GP
GP

Figure 2 Structure of Strategic Policy Options

Sustainability is an important criterion, particularly when discussing policies for sustainable development. In RISPO,
sustainability is defined as “whether the impacts can be maintained for a long time without external assistance.” As the
SPOs suggested in terms of national policies, external assistance in most cases means contribution from international
governments, agencies and other international finance institutions. Policies failing to meet the sustainability criterion tend
to be short-lived, as they will become ineffective once such external contribution ends.
Second, efficiency is defined as “the relationship between outputs and the resources used to produce them. An efficient
activity maximizes output for a given input, or minimizes input for a given output.” As efficiency, defined this way could be
difficult to prove for certain policies identified under RISPO, figures from related Good Practices (GPs) could be used as areference for efficiency.
Effectiveness is defined under RISPO as “the extent to which objectives have been achieved and the relationship between
the expected impacts and observed impacts of the selected instruments.” In short, this criterion examines if a policy
developed has generated intended impacts, and if so, to what extent.
The fourth criterion is equity. It is defined as: (i) equity in opportunities to receive the benefits from the policy, and (ii)equity in bearing costs accrued to the policy implementation, paying due attention to socially disadvantaged population.
As poverty is the most important policy issues in many developed countries, equity could be a critical criterion.
In RISPO, relevance means “relevance of the identified objectives of a policy to strategies of sub-themes and national
development goals”. This is explained in the background section of each sub-project.

3Besides the five criteria outlined above, two other factors that were also considered important in RISPO included:
Ease of implementation, as many policies introduced in developing countries face implementation barriers. For example,
policies which lack proper implementation arm within the government have little hope for success. Indeed without proper
institutional capacity in terms of staff, funds, technologies and information, no policy can be implemented.
Applicability for each SPO proposed was examined. Applicability referees to the possibility of successful application of
the proposed SPO in different countries of the region. As differences exist between countries in terms of seriousness ofthe problem in question, level of economy, understanding of people affected, and technologies to be applied, there is no
guarantee that successful policies in one country are also successful in another country.
Besides the criteria outlined above,RISPO aimed at producing SPOs which are innovative in terms of instrumentssuggested, uniqueness of policy options or policy mix. Innovativeness as defined by RISPO is:
Basic ideas:(i) Policies that turn burden into opportunities and weakness into strength(ii) Policies that can introduce new ideas and mechanisms that can prove to be effective
Specific suggestion:(iii) Policies that utilize market mechanisms(iv) Policies that will promote enabling and catalytic roles of governments(v) Policies that improve the use of existing capacities for the betterment of the environment (infrastructure, institutional
mechanisms)(vi) Policies that harness synergies of the various stakeholders and among countries
Innovative Policies in Developing Countries’ Context:
Traditionally, environmental policies were mostly based upon regulatory instruments (i.e. command and control). This was
because environmental matters were regarded as technical issues that could be dealt with by controlling a rather limited
number of large industries. Consequently, independent but technically oriented environmental bodies were createdoriginally by many developed countries. This pattern has been in one way or another emulated by many developing
countries. However, as the environment becomes one of the three pillars of sustainable development, and global
environmental issues have come to the center stage of international political arena, a lot of new developments have takenplace in the design of environmental policies.
Challenges developing countries are confronted with regarding the environment are formidable. Traditional environmental
issues such as pollution have to be addressed, but at the same time, new types of environmental issues caused by themodern life style (e.g. global environmental problems) have to be also coped with. In fact, this situation necessitates
innovative environmental policies, which fit into strengths and weaknesses of developing countries in the region: e.g. lack ofexpertise, funds, equipment, etc. on the down side, and advanced technologies available now, and policy lessons obtained
in developed countries on the up side.
As innovativeness means something new, innovative environmental policies should be understood as a relative concept.
Those innovative to Country A may not necessarily be so to Country B. A policy applied for a long time to “Sector A” could
be innovative to “Sector B” if it generates something new for that sector. What is important is the fact that the proposed
policy is effective under local socio-economic and other factors specific to a country to be applied. In other words,
environmental policies innovative to a developing country have to properly take into account, among others, nature andscale of the issue in question, as well as local socio-economic conditions and other settings.
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2. What has APEIS-RISPO achieved?
2.1. Major Outcomes
The Good Practices Inventory (GPI) and the Strategic Policy Options (SPO) are two major outcomes of RISPO. The GPI
and the SPO database are already available on the RISPO website.
Good Practices Inventory (GPI)GPI is an easily searchable database on the RISPO website, consisting of a total of 146 good practices examples that arerich in lessons and potential for replication or application. Good (or unsuccessful) practices identified and analyzed byeach research team are compiled into GPI. Information on each good practice includes critical and innovative instrumentsthat make the practice successful, lessons learned, and potential for application. The users can easily search usefulpractices on the RISPO web-site (http://www.iges.or.jp/APEIS/RISPO/index.html).

Figure 2 Search Interface of Good Practices Inventory and Example of Good Practice

Figure 3 Distribution of Good Practices

5Strategic Policy Options Database
SPOs are packages of policy options for sustainable development in the selected sub-themes. Strategies have beendeveloped by the eight sub-themes to recommend directions to policy-makers for achieving sustainable development indifferent policy areas. Innovative policies to promote development strategies are identified as SPOs. Each SPO
highlights critical instruments required for its implementation, expected and observed impacts, evaluation, implementation
issues, and its applicability and limitation. A total of 81 SPOs from the sub-themes have been developed and stored in
the SPO database on the RISPO web-site (http://www.iges.or.jp/APEIS/RISPO/index.html), which is user friendly.

Figure 5 Webpage of SPO Database-overview of sub-theme and list of SPOs
(Example of Environmentally Sustainable Transport)(
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2.2. Outcomes of eight Sub-themes
2.2.1. Innovative Financing for Renewable Energy Development
Meeting the challenge of large scale commercialization of renewable energy (RE) products and services would require 1)
breaking down high initial costs of RE systems; 2) increasing competitiveness against traditional fossil fuels including by
removing or redirecting subsidies; 3) ensuring access to consumer and industry financing; and 5) ensuring sustainability
without public aid and subsidy. This research has explored innovative modes of delivery in four areas of financing which
are likely to be primary sources for financing the development and commercialization of RE in the mid-long term period:
government finance, international funding mechanisms (including clean climate initiatives), private sector finance (including
financing through energy service companies); and micro-credit and community-based financing.
Good Practices
Eighteen (18) good practices from China and India were documented and analyzed, in collaboration with the Energy
Research Institute of China and The Energy and Resources Institute of India. The good practices cover a range ofinnovative financing mechanisms including: mechanisms of combination of government and community financing in India;
market development for solar lantern in post-subsidy regime in India; the experience of the first CDM project in RE in China;
and funding of rural electrification through international bidding-based government procurement in China.
Strategic Policy Options
Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
The analysis of good practices indicated thatmost policies for the promotion of RE involved
Strategy
Strategic Policy Options
some form of subsidy, either direct or indirect.
Competitive biding for minimum subsidy
This is confirmed by extensive international Optimum use of public funds
Combining subsidy with loan ownership
practice. However, it is well understood that
Renewable energy promotion fundsustainable market development is illusionary
Market-based institutional financeas long as it solely depends on subsidy.
RESCO approach to financing
The challenge on the side of policy andEnhancing private sector financing Renewable energy feed-in-tariff
decision-makers is to optimize, with a view ofRenewable portfolio standards
sun-setting, RE subsidies. This involves a
CDM and other clean climate initiatives
number of possible options ranging fromcompetitive approaches to the provision of Leveraging consumer financeMicro-credit and self help group financing
subsidy; models of combining subsidy with
Community-based green power purchasing
loan ownership through a shift from capitalsubsidy towards interest-rate subsidy; to public financial support that is able to drive long-term private investment. Given
that many RE technologies have matured and that the market is expanding, there must be a greater role of the private
sector and increasing financing by financial institutions, equipment suppliers; utilities; electricity suppliers; and investors.
Public policies for enhancing private sector financing are expected to shift some of the investment costs away from theinvestor (e.g. to the public sector); to guarantee a certain market size (e.g. renewable energy portfolio standards); or toguarantee a certain price for renewable sources of energy (e.g. RE feed-in-laws). In many cases, these different
approaches are applied in conjunction. Renewable energy service companies (RESCOs), equipment suppliers andvendors intervene on two aspects of the financing structure: i) in downsizing high initial costs of systems and ii) in serving
as financial intermediaries in consumer bank loan procurements as well as guarantees for securing loans. Suchinterventions reduce risks for the banking sector, enabling consumers’ access to loans. As lending mechanisms united tocollaterals, credit history, and loan guarantees required in the formal banking sector, micro-credit and self-help groupfinancing have proved certain willingness to pay premium process for “green power”. Though so far dominated byinstitutional consumers, this emerging willingness to pay more for RE, could be nurtured through market mechanisms suchas tradable permits and other forms of direct or indirect incentives such as tax rebates.

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2.2.2. Promotion of Biomass Energy Use
This research, which focused on biomass energy development, was important from three perspectives: energy related
environmental problems, energy security; and local economy. In Asian countries, there is still an excessive demand anddependence upon commercial fossil fuel or traditional biomass energy use reasons being; first, the fact that storage anddelivery of traditional biomass energy is easy compared to other renewable energy sources. Biomass resources, commonly
burned for cooking and heating, are used in rural area in an inefficient manner, mainly due to lack of infrastructure and local
markets for supporting delivery, financing, operation and maintenance of efficient technologies. The second reason is thefact that fossil fuels are cheaper than renewable energy sources. Developing appropriate technologies to efficiently
extract energy from biomass resources and innovative policies to use and store the produced energy in more efficient ways
could help in developing the biomass energy market. Promoting efficient supply and use of biomass energy has
significant potentials to mitigate energy related environmental problems such as air pollution and climate change. At thesame time, it offers a sustainable energy supply, and simultaneously supports local economic growth. This project aimed
to develop strategic policy options (SPOs) to transform energy use in Asian countries from traditional biomass currently in
use to innovative biomass energy use.
Good Practices
Eighteen (18) good practices (GPs) were collected in collaboration
with participating research institutes in two countries: Thailand andIndia. The practices cover various policy areas in relation tobiomass energy development, including technology development,
information based capacity development and financial supports.
These cases basically imply that appropriate selection of instruments
as well as appropriate technology development for local resourcesplay key roles for the success in market development of biomassenergy, suggesting the importance of considerations in those areas.

©PDTTT

Fluidized bed boiler superheated steam, Thailand

Strategic Policy Options
Recognizing that innovative policies
should be formulated paying attention to awide range of barriers and issues which
the Asian countries are facing withpromotion of biomass energy, this projectfocused on the prevailing issues such asenergy related environmental problems,
energy security and rural economy.
Based upon the identified issues, threestrategies and aggregated SPOs for eachstrategy were derived by examining thecollected GPs collected. In addition,
taking into account specific biomassenergy development in two countries,
different sets of policy options identified
under this study were combined to identify
reasonable policy scenarios and assess
policy impacts in collaboration with NIES.

Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
Strategy
Strategic Policy Options
Biomass energy development for energy and industrial
Strategy1:
sector through voluntary agreement
Mitigation of energy
related environmental Innovative biomass technology development anddissemination through consortium
problems
Localised recycle system for waste utilisation
Efficient and environmentally-friendly logistic systemapplication for potential increase of biomass resource
Strategy2:
Biomass energy resource management based upon
Strengthening
integrated information systemenergy security
Biomass based hybrid renewable energy development
Efficient policy-making system through collaboration
among competent authorities
Market development by razing awareness forperspective users and investors
Employment opportunity development by training
biomass technician with IT-enabled information
Strategy 3:
dissemination network
Revitalization of
Biomass town: providing modern energy services
rural economy
through multiple biomass use
Promotion of interactive technology development for
local biomass resources
Community-based financial mechanisms for modern
biomass energy to rural areas82.2.3 Inter-boundary Recycling Market for Enhancing Resource-Recycling Society in Asia
The inter-boundary market on recyclable materials in the Asia region has been expanding sharply in recent years, due tothe increasing demand for resources caused by the continuous high economic growth in the region as a major
manufacturing center of the world. Particularly increment of import volume of recyclables in China has been remarkablein recent years, which have been a major driving force of rapid growth of the inter-boundary market in recyclables. On theother hand, the growth of inter-boundary movement of recyclable materials has caused illegal dumping, unsuitable
treatment through illegal trade on waste, which have led to significant negative impacts such as environmental burden anddamage to human health. The inter-boundary market, however, has a potential to contribute to promotion ofrecycling-based society in the region. This research aimed at developing strategic policy options (SPOs) for promoting anenvironmentally and economically viable inter-boundary market for recyclable materials so that they maximize
environmental and economic benefits from inter-boundary trade of recyclable materials.
Good Practices
A total of twenty three (23) GPs of domestic efforts forpromoting recycling as well as inter-boundary trade ofrecyclable materials have been collected from Thailand,
Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, India, Taiwan,
Brazil, UK, Germany, Korea and Japan in collaboration
with Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) andManagement Association of the Philippines (MAP).
(Picture: Producing excellent designed bag from wasted
aluminium package for packed beverage at Kilus
Foundation, Manila, the Philippines)© Philippine Business for the Environment

Strategic Policy Options
The ultimate goal of promoting the inter-boundary market for recyclables is to improve efficiency of resource use in theregion. In this regard, fostering the domestic market is necessary in order to maximize energy and resource efficiency,
and also to avoid neglect of treatment of special recyclables in the domestic market while the inter-boundary market ispromoted. Based on this viewpoint, three strategies were identified which aim at enhancing both regional as well as
domestic markets for recyclables and for improving the supply capacity of recyclables. In addition, a strategy for regional
cooperation was identified, while focused on eliminating illegal and inappropriate activities from the market and promoting
exchange of information, technology and human resources. A total of seven SPOs were formulated under the threestrategies.
Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
Strategy
Promotion of efficient
market for recyclables
Improvement for Supply
Capacity of recyclables
Establishment of System
andNetworks
for
Promotingregional
cooperation on recycling

Strategic Policy Options
Increasing the use of recyclables over virgin materials
Greening supply chain by enhancing recycling supply chain
Private sector involvement and improvement of informal sector in waste management systems
Strengthening of National and Local Policies for 4R(Reduce, Reuse, Recycling, and Recovery)
Extended Producer responsibility(EPR) and EPR-like systems on recyclables and Durable goods
Standardization and harmonization of Systems and Others for Recyclables
Regional Network of Recycling Zones
Regional information system and supportive IEC Information, education and Communication)
Programs on waste management, recycling and Inter-boundary trade of recyclables

92.2.4. Facilitating Protected Area management using Community-based Tourism
Protected areas are popular destination for nature tourism which unavoidably, creates both positive and negative impacts.
Tourism is one of the largest and the fastest growing industry in the world. The tourism industry has had positive impacts
on destination countries, such as economic growth, generation of foreign exchange, expansion of the service sector,
creation of employment opportunities, diversification of the economy, and transportation and infrastructure development.
But it has led to negative environmental, social and cultural impacts as well. Attention has been paid in recent years todevelop sustainable tourism that increases positive tourism impact and reduces negative impacts in protected areas.
Against this background, this strategic research endeavoured to address two challenges: (a) to collect and analyze thesituation of community-based tourism (CBT) in protected areas through “Good Practice Inventory” cases, and (b) toformulate strategies and strategic policy options (SPOs) for facilitating protected area management using CBT.
Good Practices
Thirteen (13) good practices were collected from Thailand (4),Indonesia (5), India (1), and Japan (3) in collaboration withparticipating research organizations. The practices showedvarious challenges for promoting protected area management
through incorporation of community-based tourism, including social
capacity for tourism business, empowerment of communities forsustainable development, and mechanism for conservation of
resources.
© M. Takahashi, IGES

Main entrance gate for the Protected Area at KHAO YAINational Park in Thailand

Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
Strategic Policy Options
Based on a wide range of good practices, this project
mainly examined the mechanism of protected area
management in national parks in the context ofcommunity-based tourism, in order to draw lessons
especially the successful approaches to tourism inprotected areas of the Asia-Pacific region, and todevelop policy recommendations for actively
involving communities living in or around protectedareas in its management. More importantly, thisproject focused on using tourism as an effective tool
for protected area management that should lead tobetter protection of natural resources and biodiversity
within the protected areas as well as enhancement oflocal community livelihood. Thus, three strategies
for realizing protected area management wereidentified including the strategy on “Improve natural
resources conservation systems in protected area”
which is a strategy for the establishment of effective
management system of protected areas. In all six
SPOs were developed to lead to sustainable
protected area management.

Strategies

Strategic Policy Options

Establish co-management system of
CBT in protected areas
Improve natural resources
conservation system inprotected area
Introduce clustering and ranking ofprotected area management system
Develop and disseminate tourism codeof conducts for visitors and tour
Foster low-impact tourism operatorsin protected area

Implement interpretation programs inprotected areas

Encourage capacity building programs
Enhance socio-economic for members of local community
benefit from the protected
benefits
distribution
area to local communities Improvemechanisms from protected areas
tourism to local economy

102.3.5. Promoting Environmental Education by NGOs
Environmental Education (EE) by NGOs has increased its importance in the Asia-Pacific region. To provide adequate EE
to the citizens in the region, what is crucial is effective mobilization, promotion and utilization of non-governmental
resources. The recent growth of NGOs in Asia has enhanced the rationale for the initiatives to promote EE by making themost of non-governmental resources, especially that of NGOs. Through this research, successful prototype ‘policy
options’ and ‘good practices’ for undertaking environmental education by NGOs have been identified and analyzed forfacilitating information sharing and the replication of similar initiatives. The cases analyzed in Indonesia havedemonstrated the dynamism associated in planning, undertaking and assessing EE by NGOs that provide useful insightand lessons to other countries particularly those at the equivalent level of EE development and implementation.
Good Practices© Prigi Arisandi, ECOTON

Children’s fieldwork,
Surabaya, Indonesia

Eight (8) good practices (GPs) were collected in collaboration with RMI-theIndonesian Institute for Forest and Environment, which is a NGO based in Bogor,
Indonesia. The practices covered NGO activities in formal, non-formal andinformal education settings. It included practices to provide elementary andsecondary school students with education ‘in’ the field (environment) /experimental learning. These practices have proved that NGOs with field
experiences can be a good environmental educator who supplements
knowledge-based learning in the classroom. Each practice also showed ideas
and ingenuity of NGOs in promoting EE.

Strategic Policy Options
Based on the GPs, three strategies were
Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
identified to promote EE. A total of seven
SPOs were developed which aimed at
Strategies
Strategic Policy Options
supplementing
or
addressingthe
SPO for Improving the delivery of Environmental
weakness(es) in each sector of learning;
Education at Primary and Secondary Schools
and/or promoting their strengths. Based on
Enhancing Formal SPO for Integrating ICT in environmental
the lessons learned from the SPOs, some ofeducation policies
Education withthe key generic elements can be delineatedNon-governmental SPO for Establishing Environmental Study
as vital factors for successful environmental
Resources
Centre at University
education by NGOs: i) human resources are
SPO for Enhancing Teacher Education/ Training
essential in ensuring the effective delivery of
EE, ii) institutional capacity development, iii)
SPO for Enhancing Environmental Education in
the use of information and communication Promoting Non-formal Continuing Education
technology, iv) networking of stakeholders Education by NGOs SPO for Networking Multi-stakeholders
and NGOs, v) partnership and resource
Promoting Informal SPO for increasing Opportunities formobilization, vi) monitoring and assessment
Learning
Environmental Learning through the Mediaof EE impacts, and vii) benefit sharing
among multi-stakeholders which still need to befurther bolstered to forge the partnership andincreasethe impacts of EE.

112.2.6. Promoting Local/Indigenous Knowledge-based Sustainable Resource Management
The LINK study aimed at illustrating the importance and potential for its application in a contemporary context in bothdeveloping and developed countries. It also aimed at exploring the potential contribution of LINK and its related practices tosustainable development in the Asia and Pacific region. The
objectives of the sub-project included i) developing criteria
for sustainable utilization of environmental goods andservices at the community level; ii) identify and collect goodpractices (GPs) based on local/indigenous knowledge thatwould lead to sustainable utilization of environmental goods
and services; iii) examine rationality and effectiveness ofsuch practices; iv) identify socio-economic andenvironmental factors enabling such practices; v) examine
the applicability/replicability of such knowledge and
Dr. Corazon PB.Claudio, Trustee of the Asian Institute ofpractices; and vi) develop strategies to promote
Journalism and Communication, The Philippines
preservation and dissemination of such practices.
Good Practices
Various LINK-based agricultural, aquacultural and forest
management practices in Bangladesh, China, Japan,
Vietnam and Thailand were closely examined. The GPs
collected from the five project countries revealed that
LINK is still actively practiced and has tremendous
potential and applicability in the present day context. The
GPs also demonstrated clearly that indigenous
knowledge alternatives have far higher chances of
up-take by local people because they are in keeping withlocal socio-cultural norms and because in general they
are more affordable and sustainable. In all, 15 GPs
have been collected in the course of the three years.

Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
Strategies

Strategic Policy Options

Building
LINK-focused
institutionalframework

Build & strengthen national institutions

Mainstreaming
LINK

Strategic Policy Options

Network stakeholders & develop
partnership
Incorporate LINK into education
curricula
Build LINK into cross-sectoral policy
development
Empowering LINK communities
Recognise “market” value of
LINK-based goods and services

Promoting/
Eleven (11) SPOs were developed under the sub-project
enhancing LINK
Preserving cultural heritage as a basis
addressing the four strategies outlined in the adjoining
for LINK preservationtable. The SPOs developed aim at enhancing thepromotion of LINK-based sustainable resource
Enhance adaptation to climate change
management in the region. Both scientific and traditional
knowledge needs to be drawn upon to produce a good
Integrate LINK in agricultural policy
Applying LINK tomix of policy options for local communities coping withsome increasingly complex environmental problems. sectoral programmes
Integrate LINK in forest policy
Also, practical importance of LINK demands that theinstitutional setting where such knowledge is embedded
Embody LINK in coastal resource
management policy
needs to be strengthened and people possessing suchknowledge need to be empowered.

122.3.7. Development of Environmentally Sustainable Transport Systems in Urban Areas
Transport sector provides vital services in the urban areas. At the same time, it is causing serious urban problems
including accidents, congestion, air pollution and noise due to road transport, energy consumption and consumption of landand other natural resources for the production of vehicles and infrastructures. In addition, urban transportation is one of
the largest emission sources of CO2 which causes climate change. These negative effects persist and will worsen in
many urban areas in the Asia-Pacific region under the current trend of urbanization. This research aimed at developing
strategic policy options (SPOs) for environmentally sustainable transport (EST) in the cities of the Asia-Pacific Region.
Good Practices
Twenty two (22) good practices (GPs) were collected from cities in Asia and Latin America: Beijing, Shanghai (China),
Kathmandu (Nepal), Singapore (Singapore), Bangkok (Thailand), Seoul (Korea), Sapporo, Fukuoka (Japan), Curitiba(Brazil), Bogotá (Colombia), and Quito (Ecuador) in collaboration with participating
research organizations. The GPs covered various areas of sustainabletransportation, including integrated land use planning, public transport, bicycle
lanes, traffic demand management such as road-pricing, car-free day, carsharing, environmental education on car use, regulations of emissions fromgasoline vehicles, and alternative fuel vehicles. Among the critical instruments
used in those practices, economic instruments, awareness raising, partnerships,
technologies, design, planning and management played crucial roles.
Car-sharing in Fukuoka, Japan
Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
Strategic Policy Options
Strategies
Strategic Policy Options
Based on a wide range of GPs, strategies were Reducing Transport Regional system of cities, Compact city and
Demandidentified to tackle major factors of transport thatsmart growth, Information Technology based(Objectives: avoiding
cause environmental problems. Transport leads to urban sprawl; reducing communication and services to reducetransportation needenvironmental degradation because: (1) people need
necessity of trips)
to travel longer distances or more frequently due toRail-based mass rapid transit, Bus Rapid
urban sprawl (quantity); (2) people use automobiles
Transit, Improved bus routes and services,
Increasing Public
to meet the travel demand since the supply ofCommunity vehicles, Promotion of special
Transport Sharealternatives to automobile use such as publiclanes for walking and cycling, Car free(Objectives: improving
transportation is not sufficient and/or people prefer public transport and zones, Number plate bidding system, Carsharing, Entrance regulation to the city
automobiles to public transport (balance); and (3)NMT; reducing
centre (Number plate regulation), Parking
each vehicle emits significant amount of air pollutants ownership and use of policy, High occupancy vehicle lanes, Road
automobiles)
pricing, Travel awareness initiative for wise
and CO2 (quality). To address these three factors,
use of automobiles
three strategies, namely reducing transport need,increasing public transport share, and reducing Reducing Emissions
emissions from vehicles were developed. For eachfrom Vehicles(Objectives: reducing Vehicle
emissionstandard
andstrategy, SPOs were developed as listed in the table.
emissions from
Inspection/Maintenance,
Vehiclefuelconventional fuelstandard, Greening fuel tax, Promotion of
Scenario analyses was conducted to develop vehicles, introducing high efficiency vehicles, Promotion of
packages of SPOs reflecting the real situations of the alternative fuel vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles, Intelligent transport
selected three cities i.e. Bangkok, Beijing and Taiyuan reducing loss due to system (ITS), Public awareness raising onbottle neck/congestion, environmentally friendly driving(China) and to assess the applicability of the SPOs
reducing loss due toand instruments in these cities.
driving practice)13

2.2.8. Improving Environmental Performance of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) account for a substantial part of the economy in Asia and the Pacific. Theireconomic activities largely affect domestic manufacturing and foreign trade through their export products, as well as
fluctuations in the employment rate. At the same time, the environmental impacts of SMEs are becoming increasingly
serious. Yet, environmental performance of SMEs is far below the satisfactory level in most countries in the region due tofinancial constraints, and poor access to relevant information and technologies. It is in this regard that identification of
relevant policies for improving SMEs’ environmental performance is one of the priorities in countries of this region.
Good Practices
Nineteen (19) cases were identified as good practices (GPs) and were analyzed todelineate elements for success. They included “Implementing Environmental
Management Systems for SMEs, ” “Enhancing Energy and Environment Performancein Small-scale Pipe Fitting Units in the State of Punjab (India) through the Adoption ofBetter Operating Practices,” and “Industrial EcoWatch System.” Collected cases
showed that awareness/capacity building has been a critical instrument for theirsuccess, suggesting the importance of support in that area.
Strategic Policy Options
Glass factory in Firozabad, India
In recognition that policies are formulated in response to social issues, the SMEs
sub-project paid attention to major problems which SMEs are confronted with as well as the underlying causes of those
problems such as financial constraints, limited access to relevant information and technologies, lack of self capacity to
attract financial sources, poor communications with public authorities, weak business operations and so forth.
In accordance with the identified problems, policy goals, strategies, and strategic policy options (SPOs) were derived
through examination of the good practices collected. In all a total of five strategies and eleven SPOs has been developed
under this sub-project.
Framework of Strategies and Strategic Policy Options
Strategies
I: Minimizing the cost for theenvironment
throughresource
efficiency

II: Mobilizing the necessary resources
III: Promoting access to information
through partnerships and networking
IV: Disseminating the concept of
economic benefits created byenvironmental performance
V: Utilizing external pressure forincentives

Strategic Policy Options
Promoting adoption of Environmental Management System (EMS) for SMEs
Promoting resource sharing and application of shared facilities through industrial
clustering and networking
Developing research, development and demonstration programs for adoption ofcleaner technologies in small and medium enterprises
Promotion of energy and waste exchange centres
Improving SME access to finance
Applying partnerships for inter-city technical cooperation
Accelerating information dissemination through local support and local NGOs
Strengthening roles of industry associations for information flow and active
communications
Facilitating consulting services to improve environmental performance
Greening supply chain with the prospect of social responsibility
Initiating media campaigns to stimulate green market

14

3. How can the APEIS/RISPO products be applied for policy formulation/implementation works?
APEIS/RISPO products provide policy-makers the database of past experiences and policy guidelines as knowledge-based
tools for policy making. The Good Practices (GPs) supports policy makers to learn from past experiences. A total of
146 GPs have been collected under the RISPO project during the past three years. The Strategic Policy Options (SPOs)
guide the policy makers to examine strategies for sustainable development and policy options to move towards thestrategies. Under the eight sub-themes of RISPO, a total of 81 SPOs have been developed.
3.1. Interactive Workshops
The RISPO project also recognized the importance of interaction with policy makers. Over the three years RISPO
researchers had various interactions with policy-makers through opportunities such as local workshops, international
conferences, research coordination committee meetings and interactive workshops to disseminate the findings of the
sub-projects. Interactive workshops were held in March 2005 by the two sub-teams on “Innovative financing for renewableenergy development” and “Promotion of Biomass Energy” in India; the sub-team on “Inter-boundary recycling market forenhancing resource-recycling society in Asia” held an interactive workshop in the Philippines in January 2005 and the
sub-theme on “Local/ Indigenous knowledge for sustainable resource management” held a workshop in Bangladesh in
February 2005.

Interactive workshop on Research on “ Promotion of Biomass Energy”
Two interactive workshops were organized by the Biomass sub-project in collaboration with counterparts in Thailand
Environment Institute (TEI) in Bangkok, Thailand and The Energy Research Institute (TERI) in New Delhi, India. Theinteractive workshop in Thailand was held on 7th of February, 2005 where ten resource persons from related government
agencies, private agencies, international organizations and academia
participated.
©TERI
The second interactive workshop was held in New Delhi, India on 29th
March 2005. Twelve resource persons from various governmental
departments/agencies, NGOs, manufacturers, bilateral internationalorganizations and academia participated in this interactive workshop so
as to get a wide range of useful feedback. Other than these participants
the workshop was attended by senior professionals of TERI
(approximately eight) working in the fields of renewable energy, policy
analysis and regulatory division in order to share their feedback on thesubject discussed.

Interactive workshop,
New Delhi, India,March 2005

The specific objective behind the interactive workshops was to obtain comments, suggestions and feedback from various
stakeholders on the research findings and on the Strategic Policy Options (SPOs) developed by various organizations
under sponsorship of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan.

15

3.2. Scenario Analysis
Two of the RISPO sub-themes, “Promotion of Biomass Energy” and “Development of Environmentally Sustainable
Transport Systems in Urban Areas (EST)” conducted scenario analysis in order to test the applicability of the proposed
SPOs, since the applicability and expected effects of strategies and SPOs differ depending on geographical andsocio-economic situations. Two topics were selected for scenario development by the Biomass team, “Thailand: Win-win
Situation for Palm Oil Industries (southern part of Thailand) & India: Win-win Situation for Biomass Energy for Rural andSmall Industries”. The EST team conducted the scenario analysis for three cities selected from the targeted countries ofThailand and China to test the potential applicability.
Example of Environmentally Sustainable Transport
Objective:
Applicability and expected effects of strategies and SPOs differ depending on geographical and socio-economic situations:- To identify potentially applicable packages of identified SPOs in the selected cities- To assess the effects of those scenarios, focusing on energy consumption and emissions of air pollutants and GHGs
Methodology:
AIM Model in collaboration with the IEA sub-project
Target cities:
Beijing (pop 11.34 million): mega city going through rapid economic growth and vehicle pop. Increase
Taiyuan (pop 3.09 million): facing serious air pollution but with low vehicle population
Bangkok (pop 9.67 million): major Asian city suffering from serious environmental pollution due to transport
Example of case studies – Case of Bangkok:
Three Scenarios- Business As Usual (BAU)- Scenario I: Use of efficient vehicles (focusing on Strategy 3: Reducing emissions from vehicles)- Scenario II: Promotion of non motorised transport (focusing on Strategy 2: Increasing public transport share)

BAU

Gasoline, diesel, LPG, natural gas
Vehicle types
driven vehicles

Clean fuel No clean fuel is considered

Scenario I: Use of efficient vehicles(Strategy 3)
Gasoline, diesel, LPG, natural gas
driven vehicles, electricity-driven,methane-driven, fuel cell-driven
vehicles2005: electricity-driven,methane-driven, fuel cell-driven
vehiclesScenario II: Promotion of nonmotorized transport(Strategy 2)
Gasoline, diesel, LPG, natural gas
driven vehicles

No clean fuel is considered
Demand for passenger cars has
been reduced.
2010: 28450 x 106 p-km; 2020:
30895 x 106 p-km

Total
2000: 56,192 x 106 p-km
passenger
2020: 113,256 x 106 p-km
demand2000: 56,192 x 106 p-km
2020: 113,256 x 106 p-km

HighHigh efficiency cars are notefficiency car considered

2005:Hybrid car
2005: Fuel cell car
High efficiency cars are not
2005: Electricity-driven car, bus, van, considered
and taxi

16

Result of Scenario Analysis for Bangkok
Fuel consumption- Consumption of diesel indicates the highest share of energy mix during each year of the planning horizon.
- The energy mix in year 2020 would be 55% of diesel, 23% of gasoline, 19% of LPG and about 3% of CNG.
Scenario I: the reduction in final energy consumption/ CO2 mitigation- 2005: 1,183 ktoe; 2010: 2363.2 ktoe / 6,071 tons; and 2020: 2,277 ktoe / 6,295 tons
Scenario II: the reduction in final energy consumption- 2005: 3.6 ktoe; 2020: 9.9 ktoe
Due to the rapidly increasing transportation service demand, non motorised transport through car free days option
may not be effective after year 2010.
Use of efficient vehicles is more effective in terms of reducing final energy consumption and emissions.

18
16

BAU
Scenario I
Scenario II

SO2 emission/(ton)Final ener gy
consumption/(Mtoe)

20

14
12
10

8
6

BAU
Scenario I
Scenario II

4
2
0

8
2000

2005

2010

2015

2000

2020

2005

Year

Figure 1: Final energy consumption of two scenarios with BAU case

2020

40
CO2 emission/(kton)

NOx emission in ton

600

2015

Figure 2: CO2 emission of two scenarios with BAU case

1000
800

2010
Year

BAU
Scenario I
Scenario II

400
200

36
32

BAU
Scenario I
Scenario II

28
24
20

0
2000

2005

2010
Year

2015

2000

2020

2005

2010
Year

2015

Figure 4: SO2 emission of two scenarios with BAU case

Figure 3: NOx emission of two scenarios with BAU case

17

2020

3.3. Collaborative projects
RISPO collaborated with the project of “National Performance Assessment and Sub-regional Strategic Environment
Framework in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS)” to have the products be utilized by policy makers in the GMS
through project implementation.
The “National Performance Assessment and a Strategic Environment Framework (SEF II)” is a technical assistance project
for the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) implemented by the Asian Development Bank in collaboration with the United
Nations Environment Program - Regional Resource Center for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP RRC.AP), Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies (IGES) and National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES).
The objectives of the project are: (1) To promote sustainable development, and achieve global benefits in the GMS throughthe creation of national performance assessment system (EPA) for the GMS countries and sub-regional EPA system for the
GMS sub-region, and (2) To develop national and sub-national capacities for implementing EPA.
Through the research outcomes of RISPO, IGES is contributing to the SEF II Project through peer review of national EPA
reports and input into the policy and institutional gap analysis as well as to EPA process at the sub-regional level. To that
effect, IGES has been involved in the national EPA workshops of Lao, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as to activities of the
Project Steering Committee

Collaboration with National Performance Assessment and Sub-regional Strategic Environment Framework (SEF II)
in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) – GEF and Technical Assistance of ADB

Development of Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) Systems at national and sub-regional levels is theprimary objective of the SEF II project in consideration of the significant needs to have such arrangement in the GMS.
Each GMS country identifies its policy concerns and selects indicators to measure “how well the country has done forenvironmental improvement,” examining the institutional arrangement with the gap analysis. Together with the Project
Secretariat and consultants, IGES assisted the countries with suggestions on policy making from the technical point ofview. Furthermore, IGES has committed to making technical reviews of the EPA reports with a special attention to thethematic areas covered by RISPO. IGES also expects to provide substantial inputs to the concrete recommendations
for action in the EPA report. Collaboration for sub-regional activities of the SEF II project will be also sought in due
course.
©Taeko Takahashi,IGES

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4. Next Steps
The first phase of the RISPO (RISPO I) project aimed at identifying through research and documentation ofgood practices,
strategic policy options (SPOs) in eight environmental areas. Eighty one SPOs were proposed with a view to propose someinnovative policies addressing needs of governments at the central and local levels. Building on policy analysis undertaken
under RISPO I, the second phase of RISPO (RISPO II) will consist of research to formulate policy options under the policy
and political context of regional economic integration in Asia. Research will be conducted under the theme of “Integrated
Policy Design on Trade, Environment, and Sustainable Development in the Context of Regional Economic Integration inAsia”. This research will be undertaken in conjunction with a research partnership initiative under the United Nations
Environment Programme-Network of Institutions for Sustainable Development (UNEP-NISD). The UNEP-NISD research
partnership initiative is being implemented by a Working Group on “Promotion of sustainable development in the context ofregional economic integration. Strategies for environmental sustainability and poverty reduction” for which IGES has been
designated as lead institution.
4.1. Background
Since 1999/2000, Asia has experienced a boom in regional and bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), with the result that
trade regimes are increasingly taking place in the context of FTAs and regional economic integration. The current processof bilateral and regional trade agreements is expected to culminate in the creation of an East-Asian community by the year
2020. The East-Asian economic community would be comprised of Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, and the ten
member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In addition, India has concluded a Framework
Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation with ASEAN, and has manifested interest in being part of theEast-Asian community. The East-Asian community and its paving way – bilateral and regional trade agreements –, isexpected to be a process of economic integration through reduced barriers to trade and foreign investment, greater flow oftechnologies and information. This is a major development that will significantly affect the region in terms of structuraleffects (change in the sectoral composition of countries’ economy); scale effects (change in overall level of economic
activity); product or composition effects (flow of products and services); technology effects (transfer ofenvironmentally-friendly technologies or pollution haven); and regulatory effects (“locking-in” reform towards more stringent
regulation or regulatory inertia). These five types of effects bear crucial implications for the environment, poverty andsustainable development and need to be examined taking into consideration the already existing knowledge about thepotential effects of regional economic integration.
4.2. Objectives
The overall objective of this partnership is to undertake policy research aimed at exploring ways of promoting sustainable
development in the context of regional economic integration and identifying strategies for environmental improvement andpoverty reduction. This research will focus on regional economic integration in Asia through the process of creating an
East-Asian community. To that effect the research envisioned aims:
a.
b.
c.

To evaluate the implications of regional economic integration for the environment;
To assess the capacity of existing environmental policies and institutions to deal with the environmental effects ofregional economic integration; andTo propose relevant policy instruments and mechanisms for mitigating potentially negative effects of regional
economic integration while enhancing positive ones.

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4.3. Specific focuses
The research will be conducted under the following five analytical perspectives:
1. Policies and institutions for enhancing environmental performance of countries in a way that prevents phenomenaof a race to the bottom and pollution havens;
2. Policies for promoting trade in environmental and environmentally-preferable goods and services;
3. Policies for harmonization of environmental standards applied to goods and services traded across borders;
4. Policies promoting technological innovation and cross-border flow of environmentally-sound technologies; and5. Policies that simultaneously address concerns of poverty reduction.
4.4. Project Design
The research activities to be undertaken will focus on environmental policies as they relate to economic integration in termsof safeguards against environmental degradation, trade frictions that may result from disparity in environmental standards,
as well as environmental policies as instruments for market creation and ultimately poverty reduction. The research will be
conducted under five research components with five specific focuses mentioned above.
The following are the five main components of the projectComponent 1. Evaluation of the relevance to Asia of models that include the environment in the context of economic
integration in other regions (Apr. 2005 – Mar. 2007)
Component 2. Assessment of the environmental effects of regional economic integration in Asia (Apr. 2005 – Mar. 2007)
Component 3. Assessment of the response capacity of existing environmental policies and institutions (Apr. 2005 – Mar.
2008)
Component 4. Case studies on selected priority concerns for an in-depth assessment of the state of policy practice (Apr.
2006- Marc.2008)
Component 5. Policy innovation for mitigating potentially negative effects of regional economic integration while
enhancing positive ones (Apr. 2006 – Mar. 2008)20

Participating Organizations(As of March 2005)
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan
Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK), Bangladesh
Energy Research Institute (ERI), China
The University of Hong Kong, China
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India
Indonesian Ecotourism Network (INDECON), Indonesia
RMI – The Indonesian Institute for Forest and Environment, Indonesia
National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan
Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Philippines
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand
Kasetsart University (KU), Thailand
Mahidol University, Thailand
Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), Thailand
Vietnam National University, Vietnam
The UNEP Risoe Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development (URC)© Corazon PB Claudio, MAP

Websites
Research on Innovative and Strategic Policy Options (RISPO)
http://www.iges.or.jp/APEIS/RISPO/
Asia-Pacific Environmental Strategy Project (APEIS)
http://www.ecoasia.org/APEIS/
Integrated Environmental Monitoring (IEM)
http://www.nies.go.jp/basin/index-e.html
Integrated Environmental Assessment (IEA)
http://www.nies.go.jp/social/aim/apeis/

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