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The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 - Version 1.0 Inputs to the compilation document of the outcome document of Rio+20
November, 2011
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The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 – Version 1.0 Inputs to the compilation document of the outcome document of Rio+20
IGES Policy Report
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The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
Table of Contents Boxes List of Figures List of Tables Abbreviations Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................................................vii 1.
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 1
Resilient and Sustainable Society....................................................................................................................... 3
Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication ............. 13
Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD)............................................................. 22
List of Contributors References: List of Relevant IGES Publication
Disclaimer This proposal has been developed in response to the call by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) for stakeholders' input to a compilation document to serve as the basis for preparation of the zero draft of the outcome document of the United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development (UNCSD: Rio+20). The views and opinions contained within are based upon IGES research and include inputs from various international conferences, such as the 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP2011).
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
Boxes Box 2-1 Box 3-1 Box 4-1
Case study: Inter-community/inter-municipality relief in Japan Community forest management and REDD+ Supporting multi-level governance through information exchange and networks
List of Figures Figure 1-1 Figure 2-1 Figure 3-1 Figure 4-1 Figure 4-2 Figure 4-3
IGES vision for achieving sustainable development Sustainable development and resilience Vulnerability caused by excessive pursuit of economic efficiency Reform phases for IFSD Thrust of IEG reform Proposed structure for enhancing information exchange and harmonisation in Asia-Pacific
List of Tables Table 3-1 Table 3-2 Table 4-1
Key approaches/principles Roadmap for global green economy Short/medium and long-term IFSD reforms
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
Abbreviations ADB AECEN AEO ATCs CAREC COP CRED EEA EIONET EPI EPR G20 GA GC GHG GMEF HFA IEG IFIs IFSD IGES IMF IPBES IPCC ISAP JIU MDGs MEAs MRV NAMAs NEASPEC NGO NRCs OECD PES REDD SACEP SCP SD SDGs SPREP TEEB UKG
Asian Development Bank Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network Asian Environmental Organization Asian Topic Centres Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia Conference of the Parties Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters European Environment Agency European Environment Information and Observation Network environmental policy integration extended producer responsibility Group of Twenty General Assembly Governing Council (UNEP) greenhouse gas Global Ministerial Environment Forum (UNEP) Hyogo Framework for Action International Environmental Governance International Finance Institutions institutional framework for sustainable development Institute for Global Environmental Strategies International Monetary Fund Intergovernmental Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific Joint Inspection Unit millennium development goals multilateral environmental agreements measuring, reporting and verifying nationally appropriate mitigation actions North-East Asian Sub-regional Programme for Environmental Cooperation non-governmental organisation National Reference Centres Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development payment for ecosystem services reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme sustainable consumption and production sustainable development Sustainable Development Goals Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Union of Kansai Governments
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 UN UNCRD UNCSD UN CSD UNDESA UNDP UN ECOSOC UNEO UNEP UNFCCC UNISDR WCDR WEO WTO
United Nations United Nations Centre for Regional Development United Nations Conference for Sustainable Development UN Commission on Sustainable Development United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations Development Programme UN Economic and Social Council United Nations Environment Organisation United Nations Environment Programme United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction World Conference on Disaster Reduction World Environment Organisation World Trade Organization
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Vision Statement IGES maintains that sustainable development can only be achieved by addressing the three interdependent dimensions of economy, society, and environment in an integrated manner. A Green Economy, supported by a strengthened Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development is based on safe, secure, and low-carbon energy, with integrated climate change and development priorities taking into account resilience to natural and manmade hazards. Simultaneously, over the next few decades, international society will need to focus on achieving global goals that address these dimensions: (1) Eradicate poverty and meet the basic human needs of all people including safe food, safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, health care, and universal primary education; (2) Reorient the world's economic system towards a low-carbon approach, sustainable resource use, and sustainable use of ecosystem services; and (3) Secure environmental integrity, particularly through dealing with climate change and biodiversity.
In the Asia-Pacific region, these challenges have become more significant due to population growth, industrialisation, urbanisation, and economic growth based on unsustainable consumption and production patterns. The IGES vision foresees the emergence of interlinked global governance institutions and resilient social and economic systems based on the principles of sustainable development. IGES believes that one of the key concepts underpinning integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development is resilience, and it should be revisited by all countries. The international community has been reminded by the recent disaster in Japan of the severe consequences of unchecked vulnerabilities, but also of the value of resilience to minimize the impact of disasters and hasten recovery. Greater emphasis in policy and research should be given to resilience, vulnerability and risk management in sustainable development. To achieve such a resilient and sustainable society in the long-term, discussions should begin in the Rio+20 process to develop Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at reducing absolute and relative poverty, changing consumption patterns, securing sustainable energy systems (including renewable energy targets), and increasing resilience.
Resilient and Sustainable Society A resilient society has the adaptive capacity and robustness to handle shocks while maintaining functionality, and over time, grow stronger. Sudden extreme events can damage past achievements and delay progress on sustainable development. The world's poor are disproportionately exposed to risk, but vulnerability is not necessarily mitigated simply through economic development or increased income. Globalization, climate change, and unsustainable development paths will contribute to increasingly frequent extreme
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 events with global implications such as natural disasters and economic crises. The key components for a sustainable and resilient society recommended by IGES include: (1) Multi-stakeholder/multi-level governance with better participation and a pro-poor and vulnerable approach for agile, flexible and effective social/political support through better coordination and utilization of local social ties and knowledge; (2) Financial schemes for immediate and medium-term recovery which supports households and small-medium business; and (3) Decentralized and diversified infrastructure for energy, water, transportation etc. with balanced management of supply/demand sides.
The extent to which these components are adopted and integrated in each country are determined by the local context and through the development of enabling conditions.
Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication IGES recognises that a key challenge in pursuit of sustainable development is the social, economic and environmental vulnerability caused by one-sided pursuit of economic growth and efficiency. An emerging paradigm shift to overcome these key challenges is the concept of a green economy supported by investment, job creation, international policy coordination, and the precautionary approach. Towards this goal, IGES proposes the following. (1) For a low-carbon economy with a resilient, secure energy system Investing in renewable energy, storage and a smart grid is vital to reducing vulnerability by enhancing a decentralised electricity supply, which would secure a backup system during a disaster, and by enhancing demand-side management. Governments should promote this trend by introducing incentives such as feed-intariffs and phase out of fossil fuel subsidies.
(2) For sustainable consumption and production Policy for requiring producers to internalise the costs of recycling and other actions for reducing resource consumption, e.g. extended producer responsibility (EPR) and green tax, as well as for making environmental impacts visible to consumers, e.g. green labelling, must be introduced and supported by increased efforts on education, training and skills enhancement. The effectiveness of these interventions depends on environmental awareness of consumers as well as ability of producers to improve product design and production processes. A phased approach to introduce these policies taking into account the developmental stages of implementing countries along with international policy cooperation will be most effective. An international fund for sustainable resource management should be established.
(3) For sustainable use of ecosystem services Wide application of payment for ecosystem services (PES) will contribute to appropriate pricing and sustainable use of ecosystem services in the context of poverty eradication. To promote this, accounting systems should incorporate the
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 economic benefits of ecosystem services from project level to national accounts. ď'&#x; Current practice of pricing ecosystem services based on our willingness-to-pay does not necessarily promise sustainable use of ecosystems. To overcome this limitation, the price of ecosystem services can be determined such that policies or actions to ensure sustainable use of ecosystem services would improve social welfare.
Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development As the challenges to sustainable development have outgrown existing institutional capacities, it is now time to update the institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD). IGES's vision on the key principles and directions for IFSD is that it should include: multilevel governance and participation; integration and mainstreaming among the three dimensions of sustainable development; the subsidiarity principle; and strengthening environmental governance, because environment is the foundation for all other human and economic activity. IGES believes that fundamental reform of IFSD and international environmental governance (IEG) should be undertaken with a graduated and phased approach. Each sequence will provide necessary momentum for subsequent steps. For the short-to-medium term, IGES encourages governments to support the creation of a Sustainable Development Council to better coordinate and oversee budgeting of all UN programmes and agencies. IGES also recommends appointing a High Commissioner for SD. Similarly, at the national level, SD concerns should receive greater attention and be harmonized and mainstreamed into sectoral work programmes through enhanced national coordination. For IEG, UNEP reform should start with universal membership of its Governing Council to enhance legitimacy of IEG and eliminate the time-consuming elections of representatives to the GC. Subsequently, UNEP should be upgraded to a specialized agency, with a decision making mandate and legal independence. In the longer term, IGES suggests the strengthening of regional environmental governance through, for example, formation of a regional environmental hub to be developed in the long run into an Asian Environmental Organization, similar to regional cooperation frameworks in other regions.
Conclusion IGES foresees the emergence of interlinked global governance institutions and resilient social and economic systems based on the principles of sustainable development. The Green Economy is an important interim milestone in this vision, in particular for poverty eradication and as a step towards sustainable consumption and production. To support this transition, a reinforced Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) is a necessary condition, in which multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance, as well as equity and social inclusiveness, are crucial.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
1. Introduction The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) 1 proposes the following key messages and recommendations on the two themes of Rio+20, namely Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication and the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) and on the response to the triple disaster in Japan. Each section incorporates answers to the questions raised by UNDESA's Guidance Note, including the expectations for the outcomes of Rio+20 and views on existing concrete and new proposals, by considering forward-looking perspectives on the way forward postRio+20. 1.1. Vision Statement IGES maintains that sustainable development can only be achieved by addressing the three interdependent dimensions of economy, society, and environment in an integrated manner. Simultaneously, over the next few decades, international society will be focusing on global goals that address these dimensions: (1) eradicate poverty and meet the basic human needs of all people including safe food and drinking water, adequate sanitation, health care, and universal primary education; (2) reorient the world's economic system towards a low-carbon approach, sustainable resource use, and sustainable use of ecosystem services; and (3) secure environmental integrity, particularly through dealing with climate change and biodiversity. In the Asia-Pacific region, these challenges have become more significant due to population growth, industrialisation, urbanisation, and economic growth based on unsustainable consumption and production patterns. Over the years, gaps in interests and priorities within and among countries have hindered international cooperation for sustainable development. However, the international community has been reminded by the recent Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent tsunami and the nuclear accident of the severe consequences associated with modern development patterns. Japan may have not paid sufficient attention to vulnerability, rather, it may have too strongly pursued economic development to the detriment of social and environmental risks, thereby undermining the resilience of society to manmade and natural hazards—all with tremendous economic, social and environmental costs. One of the key concepts underpinning integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development is 'resilience,' which should be revisited by all countries. The IGES vision foresees the emergence of interlinked global governance institutions and resilient social and economic systems based on the principles of sustainable development. The Green Economy is an important interim milestone in this vision towards sustainable development. To support this transition, a reinforced IFSD is a necessary condition, in which multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance, as well as equity and social inclusiveness, are crucial. A Green Economy supported by a strengthened IFSD is based on safe, secure, and low-carbon energy, with integrated climate change and development priorities taking into account natural and manmade hazards.
IGES is an international research institute conducting practical and innovative research for realising sustainable development with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 To achieve such a resilient and sustainable society in the long-term, discussions should begin in the Rio+20 process to develop sustainable development goals (SDGs). Similar to the millennium development goals (MDGs), potential SDGs may include reducing absolute and relative poverty, changing consumption patterns, and restructuring energy systems including renewable energy targets. Indicators for the carrying capacity and boundaries of natural systems could provide an early warning system for human activities that potentially exceed thresholds of the planet's life support systems. Strengthening IFSD on issues such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity and forests, oceans and water resources, and food security among other global issues, could be a solid foundation for goal setting in order to achieve sustainable development beyond Rio+20. This may require streamlining and harmonisation of multilateral environment agreements, with more quantitative targets to enable progress to be more accurately measured than is currently possible. The following sections of this proposal introduce IGES views on (i) Resilient and Sustainable Society, (ii) Green Economy, and (iii) IFSD to contribute to effective policy formulation for sustainable development beyond Rio+20.
Figure 1-1 IGES vision for achieving sustainable development
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
2. Resilient and Sustainable Society 2.0. Background To attain sustainable development, it is essential to understand the impacts of human activities on the environment and the environment's limited ability to recover from these impacts and support continued growth. However, in reality, society, the economy, and the environment are exposed to the devastating impacts of unforeseen events such as natural, social, and economic disasters. Natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes occur every year. Climate-related natural hazards such as extreme floods and droughts are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity, in part due to the effects of climate change exacerbated by increasing levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities. Social, cultural, and economic events also trigger disruptive clashes such as conflicts and economic crises. To make matters worse, these sudden, extreme events can quickly erase past achievements and delay progress towards sustainable development. "Loosely defined, resilience is the capacity of a system—be it an individual, a forest, a city, or an economy—to deal with change and continue to develop. It is both about withstanding shocks and disturbances (like climate change or financial crisis) and using such events to catalyze renewal, novelty, and innovation." (Folke, 2009) A resilient society has the adaptive capacity and robustness to handle shocks while maintaining functionality, and over time, grow stronger. Japan has developed resilient social systems and invested heavily in disaster management, but the impacts of the triple disaster on March 11, 2011 showed a continuing vulnerability to such disasters. Globalisation, climate change, and unsustainable development paths will, inter alia, contribute to the increasing occurrence of extreme events with global implications, such as natural disasters and economic crises. Thus, greater emphasis in policy and research should be allocated to the relationship between resilience and vulnerability in sustainable development.
Figure 2-1 Sustainable development and resilience
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 2.1. Key Challenges Japan is one of the few countries in the world with sophisticated disaster management policies and practices and has played an important role in establishing an international cooperation framework for disaster risk reduction by hosting two world conferences on natural disasters (Yokohama, May 1994 and Kobe, January 2005). In Kobe at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005, Japan contributed to the development of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) with priorities for action expected to result in "the substantial reduction of disaster losses, in lives and in the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries" (UNISDR, 2007).2 However, despite Japan's excellent early warning system on extreme weather, the disasters in the northeast of Japan on March 11, 2011 revealed the vulnerability of Japan's highly centralised socio-economic and political systems. The earthquake and tsunami affected a broad area and resulted in widespread damage, 3 including a major accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant which has triggered a persisting crisis. As the disasters unfolded, it became immediately apparent that emergency and relief operations would be needed on a massive scale; but there were frustrating delays, amongst other factors, due partly to the time consuming process of decision making within the central government, and to damage to the key functions of local governments. Japan has also suffered massive damage to key economic activities as a result of the disasters. Factories in the area producing essential components for automobiles and electric appliances were demolished. This resulted in stoppages in the automotive and consumerelectronics industry in the eastern part of Japan and shortages around the world for weeks after, which highlighted the short-term vulnerability of global supply chains and "just-in-time" manufacturing systems. The power shortages caused subsequent to the nuclear accident led small and medium enterprises and households to dramatically reduce energy consumption. The radioactive materials leaked from the nuclear power plant resulted in heavy damage to the local agriculture and fishing industries, not to mention the impact on domestic tourism and exports. These damages represented significant obstacles to recovery and reconstruction of society and the local economy. Moreover, due to the damage and subsequent reconstruction, earlier progress to protect the environment and develop a sustainable society and economy are also at risk. For instance, radioactive contamination of farmland, water resources, and fishing areas impose a heavy burden on the government and residents in terms of livelihood and safety. The disposal of waste material–including those contaminated by nuclear radiation–and the rebuilding of homes and infrastructure will also have substantial environmental implications. To make up for the power deficit due to the stoppage of nuclear plant operations throughout the country, conventional coal power plants have resumed operations, which is making it more difficult for Japan to reduce GHG emissions in accordance with international agreements.
The HFA, based in part on Japan's experience in the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, was the first document of its type on disaster risk reduction developed and agreed upon internationally. 3 Major damages include the loss of about 20,000 lives, thousands of residences, key production bases and sources of livelihood, and damage to supply chain linkages.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 As reported in the International Disaster Database EM-DAT, maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), global damages caused by natural disasters are on an upward trend. Asia is particularly vulnerable. From 2000-2009, almost 85% of global deaths from natural disasters occurred in the region (UNISDR, 2010). The trends are set to continue mainly due to unplanned urbanisation, environmental degradation and climate change. In order to pursue sustainable development in a world repeatedly hit by such crises and disasters, including those related to climate change, IGES proposes that national governments and international society draw lessons from the challenges that Japanese society is facing following these disasters. The following issues are not only important with regard to disaster responses, but also for associated issues which require comprehensive action, such as climate change adaptation. 2.2. Key Approaches/Principles Achieving a sustainable and disaster resilient society requires multi-level and multistakeholder adaptive governance, protection of vulnerable people, financial schemes to insure against and mitigate natural disasters, and decentralised and diversified infrastructure for energy, water, and transportation suitable to the local conditions.
Figure 2-2 Key directions and principles
2.2.1. Governance for a resilient and sustainable society Multi-stakeholder collaboration In order to build a resilient society, a multi-level governance scheme needs to be developed in which each stakeholder must conduct complementary actions which can be delivered most efficiently (WCDR, 2005; Leighton et al., 2011). A flexible system of collaboration among various national and local governments and communities works more effectively than simple systems, such as an independent, centralised system or decentralised systems with no internal collaboration. Multi-stakeholder collaborative approaches should be incorporated into economic and social development planning, environmental policies, and disaster management plans. Neither top-down nor bottom-up approaches alone are sufficient in dealing with major natural 5
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 disasters; rather, there is a need for a balanced and convergent approach. Policy frameworks have come under scrutiny in light of the increasing number and intensity of climate-related disasters, and often conflicting actions by different ministries responsible for climate change and disaster risk reduction indicate the importance of horizontal cooperation. Resilient societies should build upon cooperation among local municipalities, as well as between municipalities, NGOs and private companies. A challenging task is to aid the progress of sustainable relief aid from these stakeholders, which requires that national governments create an enabling environment to facilitate sustained voluntary relief from different groups of stakeholders. It is also critical to establish aid and volunteer coordination mechanisms for the early stages of a disaster. Long-term partnerships, twinning, and pairing between local governments, schools, a wide range of experts, and business sectors have proven to be useful in responding to disasters. Important lessons can be learned through international cooperation and capacity development where countries share their experiences and best practices. Public participation Characteristics of each local community and government, such as geography and industrial and population structure, vary by region and by the type of disaster. Thus, there is a need to respect such differences in planning and implementing disaster management, mitigation measures, disaster relief aid, and reconstruction policies. On this account, it is vital to encourage public participation in disaster management policies as well as overall socioeconomic development (Tobin, 1999; Godschalk et al., 2003; Shaw & Goda, 2004; Palen et al., 2007), particularly for two reasons. First, the local community may often have greater indepth knowledge of the local environment and society than other stakeholders. Their collective historical knowledge is vital for disaster prevention and during the recovery stage. Second, reliable and consistent information sharing and crisis management is vital to strengthen people's awareness, preparedness, and cooperation among governments at all levels as well as local communities. Public participation is a key element to make relief aid and rehabilitation sustainable, in a similar fashion, it is necessary to point out "(a) id is to support the self-reliance of the disaster victims, not to obtrude assistance� (Tama, 2011). The Japanese experiences in disaster relief and recovery well illustrate this point.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 For emergency rescue activities, the first few days following a disaster are absolutely critical. Thus, a strong community can better manage rescue efforts immediately following a disaster using their collective knowledge of the area and local society, as well as their well-developed lines of communication with different stakeholders. However, if the affected area is too broad, communities experience difficulty in providing support to each other. In this regard, inter-community and inter-municipality relief aid as elaborated by Box 2-1 below is considered to be an effective solution for larger areas. When organising relief in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, the Chinese central government paired disaster affected communities with communities in unaffected areas (UNCRD, 2009). Box 2-1 Case study: Inter-community/inter-municipality relief in Japan The value of inter-community support during the relief and recovery stage has been observed in the aftermath of the earthquake/tsunami as well as disasters in other countries. As national and sub-national governments must cover all areas directly impacted by the disaster and because of their internal rigidities, they have often found it difficult to supply timely relief on a priority basis. Community-to-community relief has been observed as more flexible than the vertical relief channel of national government to local community. Tono City, located in Iwate Prefecture, where the impacts of the earthquake and tsunami were particularly severe, escaped relatively unscathed and acted as a base for the relief supply activities of NGOs. An advantage of this inter-community aid was Tono City's proximity to the devastated areas, which facilitated information collection and logistics. This is a somewhat unusual example as in a widely damaged area it is often difficult to find less-affected communities that can extend assistance. Communities further removed from the disaster affected areas can also provide important support, however. Suginami Ward in Tokyo and the Union of Kansai Governments (UKG) are good examples. Suginami Ward and other cities have a long shared history with Minami Souma Cho, one of the areas affected by radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, as sister cities. Suginami Ward used its inter-municipality network to provide relief assistance to Minami Souma Cho, while UKG sent water and sewerage technical teams to the area. In Kurihara City, which suffered from the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake three years ago, the city focused on tightening neighbourhood relations through jichikai (local neighbourhood community associations), in which every household takes on a particular role in the community. After the disasters, the Kurihara City officials could easily assess the level of damage within a few days, thanks to the jichikai. Since then, Kurihara City has become a centre of inter-municipality relief aid, especially for neighbouring towns and cities along the coastal area. Kurihara learned from its past experiences and strengthened information technologies in conjunction with Keio University. The technologies significantly helped open up communication with the most affected areas and facilitated estimates of the demand for different levels of assistance in the area. Kurihara's autonomous relief is based upon the city's disaster resilient mitigation and lessons from past events. (Scheyvens et al., 2011) In Japan, inter-community relief gained popularity after the Hanshin earthquake in 1995. After the triple disaster in March 2011, relief was provided by various communities and municipalities, from both inside and outside the disaster affected areas. Matching affected and unaffected cities to ensure that the relief provided is timely and based on actual needs can be challenging immediately after a major disaster. In particular in disaster-prone areas having pre-established sister city relationships would facilitate this process by making use of existing networks and relationships for relief and rebuilding. Further thought is now required on how governments can encourage and finance inter-community/inter-municipality
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 relationships as part of the process to build more effective channels to provide relief in the aftermath of disasters. Pro-poor and vulnerable approach A pro-poor approach has been recognised as vital to the achievement of sustainable development (UNDP, 1997; United Nations, 2000; World Bank, 2001) and to reducing vulnerability to natural disasters (OECD, 2009; World Bank, 2011). In a disaster, both rich and poor alike are affected, however as history has shown, it is the poor who are disproportionately affected and the least resilient. This is not simply because of a lack of finances or other resources but due to the way socio-political systems influence how hazards affect different social groups. Reducing vulnerability to hazards requires an approach that is based on an integrated assessment of social, economic, environmental and geographical vulnerability factors as these are the factors which affect vulnerability and determine if hazards will become disasters. This type of integrated vulnerability assessment is valid for both developed and developing countries. After a disaster occurs and after the emergency relief phase has ended and the community shifts to rebuilding, governments, NGOs, and the private sector need to closely cooperate and coordinate so as to ensure that all receive the necessary level of support and are not further adversely affected as a result of personal conditions such as nationality, family structure, or language ability. 2.2.2 Financial schemes for risk mitigation and smooth recovery As time passes, the focus of disaster reconstruction moves from life saving activities and distribution of aid supply to revitalisation of livelihoods and local economic activities. When discussing 'resilience' in the case of extreme disasters, financial support for reconstruction is crucial especially in the intermediate to long run (Cummins and Weiss, 2009). Considering the impacts of natural disasters on economic activities, the country's fiscal balance may be under considerable strain. Consequently, development of financial schemes to alleviate risks and stimulate post disaster economic recovery is an important point that must be addressed. Damage to public facilities and infrastructure causes considerable financial strain; nonetheless, the impact of the disaster also requires quick and appropriate financial support to be provided to local businesses and livelihoods. Coordination among different ministries and other stakeholders to deliver financial support for those affected is certainly needed. Consequently, a significant challenge is to mobilise sufficient finances to satisfy the monetary demands needed to revamp the economy and livelihoods of those in the affected areas (Carpenter, 2010). The establishment of a disaster reconstruction fund is one example of a public finance scheme for disaster recovery. Exemplary cases include the reconstruction fund for the earthquake in Taiwan in 1999, as well as the Hanshin-Awaji reconstruction fund in Japan in 1995. After experiencing the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, Japanese government established an Act Concerning Support for Reconstructing Livelihood of Disaster (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, 2011), which generated a fund to assist financial rehabilitation of business and people's livelihoods. For this fund, Japan's national government promises 50% of financial support on the budget of the fund. Nonetheless, since the fund is organized nationwide, it is still necessary to meet people's monetary needs in a timely manner. 8
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Consequently, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, new funds were created by local governments, NGOs, private companies, and local stakeholders to provide financial support for designated people and business on time. For economic recovery, it is crucial to have start-up cost for business equipment, raw materials, facilities, and labour. It is important to provide such financial support quickly, since the community needs to be self-reliant, otherwise the community will lose the opportunity for self-sustaining recovery. Another scheme is Alternative Risk Transfer for disaster risks utilising the financial market, such as insurance linked securities (catastrophe bonds) and weather index derivatives. These approaches are often discussed as potential responses to climate change adaptation. The Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) for natural disasters is a successful example. The Facility plays a significant role to provide timely financial support to businesses and communities since "(t)he CCRIF offers an efficient solution to the short-term liquidity gap faced by CARICOM governments in the aftermath of a major hurricane or earthquake" (World Bank, 2007). It is important for policy makers to use these schemes to reflect social needs and support individuals and small businesses. The availability of financial support in the intermediate/long run is necessary for planning disaster resilience and building a provulnerable society. For the local businesses in affected areas, quick and fair distribution of relief funds is crucial; nonetheless, it is frequently observed that people in need do not receive financial support in a timely manner. Consequently, micro-finance schemes are often developed for local businesses and industries. The growing number of 'micro funds' meets the monetary demands of local businesses and significantly supports the rebuilding of the local economy and livelihoods in the months and years after devastating events. 2.3. Decentralised and diversified infrastructure Decentralised and diversified infrastructure is characteristic of an economy that is able to mitigate the impact of disasters and quickly spring back to normalcy after a major crisis. In Japan, large scale and regionally centralised electric supply systems, and the tightly integrated structure of manufacturing supply chains, which were considered most effective economically, ended up being particularly vulnerable to disruptions caused by the disaster. Since being highly dependent upon a single energy system discriminates against alternative energy supply, it means that "society excludes the backup system" (Niitsuma, 2011). For an economy to be resilient, there must be integration of continuity planning into business practices, building in a certain amount of redundancy, making sure that various scenarios for disaster losses have been considered, and fully understanding the residual risks and underwriting them with relevant insurance policies. Safe, secure, and green energy systems An island country having no significant indigenous fossil fuel resources, Japan finds it difficult to meet its enormous domestic energy demand without a stable, reliable and affordable fuel supply from overseas sources. This may be one of the major reasons for the country's continued reliance on and promotion of nuclear energy programmes. However, the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant revealed that the risks related to any nuclear accident are enormous in terms of geographical expanse, tenure of impacts and array of damage. Thus, faced with huge energy demands, uncertainty surrounding the safety of nuclear 9
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 energy and climate change implications of increasing use of fossil fuels, Japan is now at a crossroads trying to figure out how to balance energy demand and supply and which direction to take to secure future energy supply for the country. Japan now needs to come up with much enhanced demand-side management in the short to medium-term and a new long-term supply strategy that will be sustainable and acceptable from an economic, environmental and social perspective. IGES' research on post-disaster impacts to Japan's energy policy aims at exploring potential policy options for filling gaps created by the nuclear power plant accident with a mix of renewable sources, advanced clean energy technologies and intensive energy demand-side measures. Scenario assessment suggests that Japan may abandon nuclear energy from its supply mix in the middle of this century with a moderate cost burden on the economy as a whole. Using existing conventional fossil fuel facilities to full capacity can reduce the financial burden of setting up new green field power plants in the immediate future (Asuka, 2011). In the longer term, renewable sources can minimise dependence on energy imports with extremely high costs and enhance energy security. Indigenous resources like solar, wind, geothermal and tidal power will need to be explored further and should be supported by strengthened renewable energy promotion policies, e.g. a new feed-in-tariff law to promote renewable energy in Japan, introduced in August 2011. However, sudden fuel switching could leave the domestic economy vulnerable, especially because of potential power shortages. It is therefore imperative that the reframing of Japan's energy policy be carefully monitored and precisely managed, taking into consideration the socio-political and economic landscape. It is also critical to re-examine the overall balance of energy demand and supply in order to strengthen the policy processes towards energy transition (Katayama, 2011). Policy discussion in the past tended to excessively emphasise supply side measures. We need to place a greater emphasis on demand side management, including at the household and small- and medium-size enterprise level. The level of electric power conserved in the eastern part of Japan this past summer was more substantial than the government anticipated. To address the post-Fukushima electricity supply constraints in Japan, policy makers and civil society should promote a comprehensive energy policy package which would encompass: (1) analysing the energy demand structure and enhancing demand-side management; (2) diversifying energy supply sources; and (3) reforming the electric power system and distribution grid to enable expanded use of renewable sources. These reforms should be supported by policy and regulatory measures along with greater participation of civil society. Strengthening regulations and policy tools towards reframing energy policy is hence an urgent priority. In conclusion, the promotion of renewable energy through feed-in-tariffs and appropriate policies, as well as policies to promote energy saving, are considered to be an important part of achieving a safe, secure and green energy system.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Sources: Asuka, J. 2011. An IGES questionnaire survey on consequences of Fukushima. Discussion paper presented during International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th-27th July 2011. Brundtland Commission. 1987. Our common future, Oxford University Press. Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. http://www.bousai.go.jp/hou/shiensya.html, Accessed on 3rd October 2011. Cummins, J. David, and Mary A. Weiss. 2009. "Convergence of insurance and financial markets: hybrid and securitized risk-transfer solutions." The Journal of Risk and Insurance, 76 (3): 493-545. Folke, C. 2009. On resilience: How much disturbance can a system withstand? With roots in ecology and complexity science, resilience theory offers new ways to turn crises into catalysts for innovation. Seed Global Reset. http://www.stockholmresilience.org/download/18.5004bd9712b572e3de68000683 0/se ed-carl-folke-on-resilience.pdf, accessed 29 September 2011. Guy carpenter & Company, LLC. 2010. Reinsurance Market Review 2010. Capital Ideas. IGES. 2012. Greening Governance in Asia Pacific: Institutional for Greener Economy (working title). IGES White Paper IV (forthcoming). Katayama, H. 2011. Getting for Local Energy Solutions after the 3.11 Triple Disaster, Conference Paper at IGES-YCU Joint Seminar on Low-Carbon and Smart Cities held during 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th-27th July 2011. Leighton M., X. Shen, and K. Warner. 2011. Climate Change and Mitigation: Rethinking Policies for Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction. UNU-EHS. Niitsuma, H. 2011. Dual Energy Path. Discussion paper presented during International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th-27th July 2011. Palen, L., S. R. Hiltz, and S.B. Liu. 2007. Online Forums supporting grassroots participation in Emergency Preparedness and Response. Communications of the ACM, 50 (3) March 2007. Pearce L., S. Brody, & R. Burby. 2003. Disaster Management and Community Planning, and Public Participation: How to Achieve Sustainable Hazard Mitigation. Natural Hazards 28 (2-3): 211-228. United Nations. 2000. Millennium Development Goals. United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD). 2009. Report on the 2008 Great Sichuan Earthquake, March 2009. Disaster Management Planning Hyogo Office. OECD. 2009. Promoting Pro-Poor Growth: Social Protection. Scheyvens, H., H. Mori, S. Hayashi, and M. Kobayashi. 2011. Building resilient society: Lessons from East Japan Great Earthquake, ISAP Discussion Paper, Hayama, Japan. IGES. Shaw, R. & K. Goda. 2004. From Disaster to Sustainable Civil Society: The Kobe Experience. Disasters. 2004. 28(1): 16–40.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Tama, S. 2011. Needs of disaster affected areas and aids for disaster affected areas. Discussion paper presented during International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th-27th July 2011. Tobin, G. A. 1999. Sustainability and community resilience: the holy grail of hazards planning? Environmental Hazards 1 (1999) 13-25. UNDP. 1997. Human Development Report 1997. UNISDR. 2010. Disasters in Numbers. http://www.unisdr.org/preventionweb/files/17613_rectoversodisasters2010.pdf, accessed 11 July 2011. World Bank. 2001. World Development Report 2000/2001 Attacking Poverty. World Bank. 2007. "Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility: a solution to the shortterm liquidity needs of small island states in the aftermath of natural disasters,� Financing for Relief and Development, IAT03-13/3. World Bank. 2011. Climate Change, Disaster Risk, and the Urban Poor Cities Building Resilience for a Changing World. World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR). 2005. Hyogo Framework for Action 20052015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, January 2005.
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3. Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication 3.1 Key Challenges IGES recognises that a key challenge in pursuit of sustainable development is the excessive social, economic and environmental vulnerability caused by one-sided pursuit of economic efficiency (see Figure 3-1).
Economic efficiency Profit maximisation Competitiveness Mass consumption & production
Environmental Social vulnerability vulnerability Poverty & income gaps Ecosystem degradation & natural disasters
Economic vulnerability Price volatility of natural resources
Worsened labourr conditions
Figure 3-1 Vulnerability caused by excessive pursuit of economic efficiency While rapid economic growth in Asia and the Pacific has improved the material standard of living for hundreds of millions of people, many have been left behind in poverty, and expanding income gaps are undermining social and political stability. In the name of competitiveness and labour productivity improvement, employment conditions have deteriorated in many countries, and the consequent loss of stable livelihoods, including increasing unemployment, has aggravated social vulnerability. Rapidly increasing consumption of food, energy and natural resources such as crude oil and iron ore triggers price volatility of these commodities, which is further amplified by financial speculation. Over-consumption of such resources mainly driven by the lifestyles and consumption patterns of the richer segment of the world has accelerated climate change and ecological degradation, which worsens vulnerability to natural disasters. An emerging paradigm shift to overcome these key challenges is the concept of a green economy, although at this stage an internationally agreed definition does not yet exist.
3.2 Key Approaches/Principles The principles or directions of a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication can be discussed under three major economic-environmental domains, i.e. low-carbon economy, sustainable consumption and production, and sustainable use of ecosystem services (see Table 3-1). The political momentum for a green economy is predicated on investment on green technologies and infrastructure, and "green� job creation with due attention to current environmental challenges. Such transitions are already underway (UNEP, 2011b), but further acceleration is required to achieve the implied paradigm shift. International policy coordination is another aspect to avoid green protectionism and to make a global green economy attractive and beneficial for developing countries. 13
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Table 3-1 Key approaches/principles Goal
Low-carbon economy
Key issue
-Further investment in renewable energy
Key tool/ measure
- Carbon tax and emissions trading
Additional merit
- Mitigation of natural disaster risks - Creation of green jobs - Improvement in energy access
Sustainable consumption and production - Change in consumption patterns - Resource consumption reduction policies, e.g. green procurement policies, and natural resource tax - Provision of more opportunities for resources use in developing countries and of future generations
Sustainable use of ecosystem services - Sustainable agriculture and green production supply chain - Wide application of PES and green accounting scheme
- Contribution to food and water security - Creation of green jobs
3.2.1 Low-carbon economy In the face of climate change and the accompanied risks of intensifying natural disasters, IGES believes that a precautionary (no-regrets) approach is needed, starting with building a low-carbon economy with a resilient, secure energy supply system. Investing in renewable energy coupled with enhanced demand-side energy efficiency measures has the potential to supplement and eventually replace nuclear and thermal fossil fuel power in the country's energy mix and can contribute to establishing a decentralised electricity supply which would secure a backup system during a disaster (Bhattacharya, 2011). Renewable energy can also help mitigate natural disaster risks associated with climate change, create thousands of new green jobs (OECD, 2011; UNEP, 2011b), and improve access to green technology through investment in research and development and subsequent unit price decline, which will benefit the poor in developing countries through improved energy access. Governments should promote this trend by introducing incentives, e.g. shifting the tax base from labour and income to taxing environmental damage such as pollution and unsustainable resource consumption (OECD, 2011; UNEP, 2011b), and gradually phasing out environmentally harmful subsidies (Bhattacharya and Kojima, 2010a). However, most countries fear that such reforms may put their export industries at a disadvantage, making it difficult for individual countries to take the lead. The acceptance of tax and subsidy reforms will be significantly enhanced if a large number of countries agree on a joint schedule. While a global agreement may not be feasible in the short run, major economies having more financial and human resources, such as the G20, have agreed on phasing-out harmful fossil fuel subsidies. Therefore, if they agreed on a more comprehensive integrated approach to ecological tax reform, this would be a significant step towards a global green economy. Moreover, the mechanisms to promote international cooperation, such as regional energy market integration (Bhattacharya and Kojima, 2010b), and technology transfer between countries, not only North-South but also within the South, need to be further developed. Such international cooperation, however, should not encourage exports of highly polluting brown sectors from one country to another. Also, a number of countries are concerned about green protectionism (UN-DESA, 2011). 14
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Technology transfer for low carbon economy only works if there is capacity to effectively use the adopted technology, so emphasis should be given to promoting information sharing and knowledge building rather than concentrating on funding arrangements only. To this end, promoting existing national information centers, or establishing new ones, could help develop comprehensive technology needs assessments for each recipient country and a comprehensive technology availability assessment for each provider country. Strengthening existing regional technology centers, such as UNEP and APEC environmental knowledge hubs, to include not only collecting and sharing information but also knowledge building and advisability, could be done at the regional level and international level (IGES, forthcoming in 2012).4 IGES believes that, in the short-run, border carbon adjustments should not be implemented unilaterally, but should be done under the umbrella of an international agreement that ensures trust and shared understanding of the purpose of the measures and limits the scale and scope to clearly address leakage concerns (Zhou et al., 2011). In the medium-term, promoting nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) in Non-Annex I countries of the UNFCCC is a more effective and important approach than border carbon adjustments. A layered approach which categorizes NAMAs and defines what to measure, report and verify for each category is quite a useful and practical framework for the emerging measuring, reporting and verifying (MRV) system (Fukuda and Tamura, 2010).
3.2.2 Sustainable consumption and production Under the internationally growing demand for limited natural resources, the decoupling of economic growth and resource use and environmental impacts through the promotion of green technologies is one instrument to combat resource depletion. Promotion of 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) policies and "top-runner" approaches play an important role in this regard. Policy interventions for requiring producers to internalise the costs of recycling, e.g. introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR), green tax and subsidies, as well as for making environmental impacts clearly visible to consumers, i.e. green labelling are needed. These policies should be introduced in parallel with increased efforts on education, training and skills enhancement as effectiveness of these interventions depends on environmental awareness of consumers as well as ability of producers to improve product design and production processes. However, there is a limit to pursuing decoupling via increasing resource efficiency at the unit level of each product, service, and technology. Indeed, decoupling is not a panacea for the world as a whole: individual countries can achieve a certain degree of decoupling by outsourcing polluting and resource consuming activities to other countries, but at the global level there is no opportunity for outsourcing. On the contrary there is growing literature showing that very little (if any) decoupling has been achieved to date and indicating that rebound is likely to render global efforts on decoupling ineffective (UNEP, 2011a; Jenkins et al., 2011). Therefore, to tackle overconsumption against the carrying capacity of the Earth,
IGES publishes its White Paper every two years, comprehensively compiling its strategic research results. IGES Fourth White Paper, which will be published in 2012, focuses on environmental governance and institutions in Asia Pacific and its contribution to international environmental governance, tentatively entitled as "Greening Governance in Asia Pacific: Institutional for Greener Economy." For more information on IGES White Paper, please see http://www.iges.or.jp/en/news/topic/wp3_about.html.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 innovative policies for reducing resource consumption, e.g. introduction of resource tax or resource consumption cap, may need to be introduced. In this regard, further efforts to improve sustainability of resource consumption with a full examination of the appropriate stage of policy intervention along the life cycle of the products (life cycle assessment) must be made (Kojima, 2011). Considering the significant disparities in the level of development of industrial infrastructure, major stakeholders, awareness, and market structure needed for greener and sustainable consumption and production activities, the priority tasks of policy intervention to create a green economy naturally differ between the developed, emerging, and least developing countries as well as among different regions in any one country. In this sense, a phased approach to introduce these policies considering the developmental stages of implementing countries along with international policy cooperation will be effective in setting priorities in production and consumption. The priorities of policy intervention for SCP should in general be assigned to policies that satisfy basic needs, such as sanitation and health and other public services for less-developed economies, and then to the integration of externalities into consumption and production patterns for emerging economies and into systems innovation for greener designs and systems for goods, services, and infrastructure for more developed economies. The consumption patterns of the richer segment of the world, which includes both ordinary consumers in the North and the rapidly expanding consumer class in the South, need to be drastically reconsidered. Changes in the way these groups live and consume goods and services are prerequisites for freeing up natural resources necessary to meet the needs of the poor and future generations. Such changes are not possible without a significant shift in mindsets—to the point that increased consumption becomes socially unfashionable, in the way that littering is no longer acceptable in most developed countries. Thus, current policies should be revised to promote less resource-intensive development, resource circulation, resource substitution, total reduction of environmental impact from consumption, and wider investment for green industries through development of packaged policy at all stages of the life cycle of products and services. To develop a persuasive argument for policy makers, analytical tools must be developed to identify effective policy interventions so as to facilitate a shift in consumption and production patterns and achieve positive social, economic, and environmental impacts from such a shift. To avoid negative impacts and secure the effectiveness of policy intervention in consumption and production patterns, internationally integrated policy approaches are necessary. To financially back-up such policy integration for SCP, IGES is examining the possibility of establishing an international fund for sustainable resource management or resource efficiency by utilising a portion of tax-income from economic policy instruments at different stages of the life cycle of products and services. 3.2.3 Sustainable use of ecosystem services Especially for the poor who are more directly dependent on ecosystem services, ecosystem degradation due to human activities casts a dark shadow over stable livelihoods in terms of food and water security, natural disaster risks and loss of traditional culture (TEEB, 2011). Appropriate pricing and sustainable use of ecosystem services in the context of poverty eradication will be essential for a green economy. An economic system that does not internalise or recognise nature's contribution to the air we breathe, the water we drink, or the soil that provides our food, cannot be regarded as "green". In this context, biodiversity
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 conservation is an essential tool as loss of biological diversity undermines the value and resilience of ecosystems (Elmqvist et al., 2003). Policymakers should internalise negative ecological externalities into the current economic system, and thereby promote sustainable agriculture and greening of the production supply chain. The keys to achieving this will be enhancement of economic incentives, e.g. payment for ecosystem services (PES), and visualisation of the benefits and costs relevant to ecosystem services, e.g. an accounting scheme incorporating valuation of ecosystem services. The PES approach encourages shifts from conventional practices that extract maximum production from the land to more sustainable agriculture and forestry through payments to landholders in exchange for providing more regulating services (Pagiola and Platais, 2007). PES also helps to create jobs in local areas because sustainable agricultural practices are more labour intensive than those depending on excessive use of chemical fertilisers and machinery. One limitation of this approach is that pricing ecosystem services which are currently unmarketable based on our willingness-to-pay does not necessarily promise sustainable use of ecosystem services. For example, pollution charges are one way of pricing the ecosystem sink services provided by receiving waters or the atmosphere. While there is a price incentive to reduce the level of pollution, lack of enforcement, poor collection of fees, or inadequate fines may result in failure to reduce the level of pollution. . An alternative "ecological economic valuation� approach is suggested (Kojima, 2011) in which the price of ecosystem service is determined such that policies or actions to ensure sustainable use of ecosystem services would improve social welfare. The relatively new mechanism of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is another approach to reward forest managers for maintaining a carbon sink, as one way of mitigating the greenhouse gases causing climate change. Combining REDD+ with community-based forest management may be an effective way of recognizing the valuable ecosystem services provided by the stewardship of forestdependent communities and contribute to their economic well-being. Designing such a system to verify the carbon sequestration benefits and to avoid capture by elites, however, still requires further work and trial in a range of countries.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Accounting that incorporates the economic benefits of ecosystem services, as well as the costs of environmental degradation will enable decision-making on a country's natural capital, based on a longer-term perspective (World Bank, 2010). As a first step towards the application of such an accounting scheme, governments need to evaluate the full costs of loss of ecosystem services due to the construction of public infrastructure, such as hydropower dams, and make final decisions based upon a comparison of the potential gains and losses. Simultaneously, green procurement needs to be re-evaluated from these perspectives to visualise not only its positive environmental effects, but the economic benefits derived from less ecological degradation as well. Following these governmental initiatives, enterprises should be required to assess the ecological impacts of their projects and production processes, through enhanced environmental impact assessment procedures, review their supply chain management in this regard, and be required to report on the sustainability impacts of the company through regular annual reporting procedures, using models such as those developed by the Global Reporting Initiative. Box 3-1. Community forest management and REDD+ By stabilizing the Earth's climate through carbon sequestration and storage, forests provide an ecosystem service that is critical for human survival. Recognizing that deforestation and forest degradation are contributing to global warming, Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are in the process of agreeing on a global mechanism known as REDD+ that foresees the provision of incentives to developing countries to manage forests for climate change mitigation. REDD+ encompasses activities to reduce/avoid emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), and to enhance and conserve carbon stocks (symbolized by the "+"). In their search for more sustainable models of forest management and to rehabilitate forests degraded by logging, governments in the Asia-Pacific region have enacted legislation and established support programmes to provide forest rights to local communities (Scheyvens et al. 2007). Today, community forest management (CFM) is widely accepted as essential for promoting sustainable forest management and human wellbeing. CFM has developed particularly in areas of degraded (logged over) forests (Sam and Shepherd 2011), and has played a significant role in the rehabilitation of landscapes, forests and environmental services. In South and Southeast Asia, millions of hectares of degraded forests are being managed by communities (Pfoffenberger 2006), making them key REDD+ stakeholders (Chhatre and Agrawal 2009). Even though some countries in Asia-Pacific are more advanced than others in the implementation of CFM, and in spite of – legal, technical and human – limitations that different CFM models face (Scheyvens et al. 2007; Scheyvens 2011), several aspects make CFM conducive to the implementation of REDD+. CFM promotes the management of forests through local consensus-based organizations with democratically elected leaders/committees, and it supports the drafting of norms and regulations (by communities) to control forest access and use. CFM thus can provide strong local institutional foundations for forest rehabilitation and management, as well as for the realization of the social and environmental safeguards for REDD+ that international negotiators have agreed upon. The safeguards include respect of knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, and full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in REDD+ (UNFCCC 2010). Additionally, CFM could also facilitate the participation of communities in forest measurement and monitoring, reporting and verification, which are all essential elements of REDD+ (Skutsch 2010). Elaborating the existing CFM models to enable local people to play these roles would contribute to address concerns over effective engagement of indigenous peoples and local communities in REDD+. (IGES , forthcoming in 2012)
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
3.3. Roadmap IGES recommends developing a green economy roadmap to move in the directions mentioned above. As indicated in Table 3-2, we propose several policies and actions in the short, middle and long term for each major economic-environmental domain. Table 3-2 Roadmap green economy in the context of sustainable development Low-carbon economy Shortterm: Greening current economic activities
-Establishment of plan for energy supply - Establishment of a scheme to promote renewable energy investment
Sustainable consumption and production -Promotion of 3R policies and toprunner approach - Development of analytical tools to identify effective policy interventions
Mid-term: -Agreement on gradual -Establishment of Introducing removal of energy international fund for key subsidies at the East sustainable resource regional/ Asia Summit management global -Establishment of policies to regional cooperation change the mechanism to promote course of technology transfer, in regional/ particular of green global technologies, at the economy East Asia Summit -Agreement on implementation rules for the MRV framework at UNFCCCCOP - Promotion of NAMAs in Non-Annex I countries Long-term: - Establishment of -Development of Reforming regional arrangement innovative reduction global for energy market policies along with economy integration recycling and reuse -Establishment of the policies WTO rule on Environmental Goods and Services through regional mechanisms such as those of the East Asia Summit
Sustainable use of ecosystem services -Good practices on economic incentives contributing to sustainable use of ecosystem services will be compiled and provided through the on-line database -Globally accepted measures for economic valuation of ecosystem services will be framed under the initiation of the IPBES -As indicated by the global partnership for green accounting initiated by the World Bank, a definitive methodology on green accounting will be developed
-As pursued in the Aichi Biodiversity Target, economic aspects of biodiversity and ecosystem services will be integrated in all decision making processes - Global assessment of key ecosystem services similar to IPCC's assessment
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Sources: Akenji, L., Hotta, Y., Bengtsson, M. and Hayashi, S. (2011), "EPR policies for electronics in developing Asia: an adapted phase-in approach". In Waste Management & Research. September 2011 29: 919-930. Akenji, L., Hotta, Y., Bengtsson, M. and Hayashi, S. (2011), "EPR Policies For Electronics In Developing Asia: A Phase-In Approach", IGES Policy Brief no. 14. September 2011. Bhattacharya, A. 2010. "Renewable Energy: A Strategic Policy for Sustainable Development." IGES Policy Brief no. 10. April 2010. Bhattacharya A. (2011) "Substitute of Nuclear Energy Supply- A Strategic Policy Decision for Japan: A preliminary assessment of Japanese energy market", Presentation at the 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific, Yokohama, 26-27 July 2011. Bhattacharya, A. and Kojima, S. 2010a. "Power Sector Investment Risk and Renewable Energy: A Japanese Case Study Using Portfolio Risk Optimization Method." IGES Economic Analysis Team Working Paper. IGES. Hayama. Bhattacharya, A. and Kojima, S. 2010b. "Economic Impact Analysis of East Asia Energy Market Integration." Research Report contribution to ERIA for the EAS –EMI Study. Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. Jakarta. August 2010. Chhatre, A. and A. Agrawal. 2009. "Trade-offs and synergies between carbon storage and livelihood benefits from forest commons." PNAS 106(42): 17667-17670. Available from: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/42/17667.full.pdf+html. Elmqvist, T., Folke, C., Nystrom, M., Peterson, G., Bengtsson, J., Walker, B., Norberg, J. 2003. Response diversity, ecosystem change, and resilience. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1, 488-494. Fukuda, K. and Tamura, K. 2010. "An Analysis of Non-Annex I Parties NAMAs: Challenges for Designing International Support and Implementing an Effective MRV Framework." IGES Climate Change Group Working Paper 2010-001. IGES. Hayama. November, 2010. Hotta, Y. 2011a. "Asia ni okeru Jizoku Kanou na Shigen Junkan ni muketa Dankai-betsu Approach - 3R Initiative no kokusai-tenkai no keiken ni motozuite- (Step-wise Approach for 3R Policy Implementation in Asia -Based on the experience of international promotion of the 3R Initiative-)" in Haikibutsu Shigen Junkan Gakkaishi (Material Cycles and Waste Management Research), Vol. 22 No.2 Hotta, Y. 2011b. "Development of Resource Circulation Policies in Asia and an Approach towards Sustainable Resource Circulation)." Environmental Research Quarterly, No. 162, July 2011, 19-27. IGES. 2012. Greening Governance in Asia Pacific: Institutional for Greener Economy (working title). IGES White Paper IV (Forthcoming). Jenkins, J., Nordhaus, T. and Shellenberger, M. 2011. Energy Emergence: Rebound & Backfire as Emergent Phenomena. Breakthrough Institute. Available at: http://thebreakthrough.org/blog/Energy_Emergence.pdf Kojima, S. 2011. Reduce policy towards sustainable society: research on environmental, economic, and social impacts of resource circulation systems in Asia. Environmental Research Quarterly 161, 77-94. Kojima, S. 2011. "The importance and the limitation of conventional valuation: An alternative approach", presenation at International Conference on Green Economy and Mountain Development: Emerging concepts, opportunities and challenges in view of Rio+20, ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal, 5-7 September 2011. 20
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2011. Towards Green Growth. OECD. Paris. Pagiola, S., Platais, G. 2007. Payments for Environmental Services: From Theory to Practice. World Bank, Washington. Pfoffenberger, M. 2006. "People in the forest: community forestry experiences from Southeast Asia." International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development 5(1): 57. Sam, T. and G. Shepherd. 2011. Community forest management. Background Paper for the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat UNFF9: "Forests for People, Livelihoods and Poverty Eradication". IUCN. New York. Available from: http://www.un.org/esa/forests/pdf/publications/CBFM.pdf. accessed 15 October 2011. Scheyvens, H., K. Hyakumura and Y. Seki, Eds. 2007. Decentralization and state-sponsored community forestry in Asia. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. Hayama. Skutsch, M., Ed. 2010. Community forest moniroting for the carbon market - Opportunities under REDD. Earthscan. London - Washigton, DC. TEEB. 2010. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature: A synthesis of the approach, conclusions and recommendations of TEEB. The World Bank. 2010. "Ecosystem Valuation and Wealth Accounting: Concept Note for a Global Partnership." Concept Note prepared by World Bank Environment Department. December 22, 2010. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA). 2011. "The Green Economy: Trade and Sustainable Development Implications, Report of the Ad Hoc Expert Meeting (Prepared by the UNCTAD Secretariat)." Background paper, Second Preparatory Committee Meeting /2011/BP1, U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development Preparatory Process, Second Preparatory Meeting, New York, 7-8 March 2011. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2011a. Resource Efficiency: Economics and Outlook for Asia and the Pacific. Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific UNEP, Bangkok, Thailand. ---------- . 2011b. Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication – A Synthesis for Policy Makers. UNEP, Nairobi. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 2010. 1/CP.16. Outcome of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention Available from: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2010/cop16/eng/07a01.pdf#page=2, accessed 15 October 2011 Zhou, X., Yano, T. and Kojima. S. 2011. Addressing carbon leakage by border adjustment measures. In Climate Change: Research and Technology for Adaptation and Mitigation, edited by Blanco, J. and Kheradmand, H. InTech, Croatia
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
4. Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) 4.1.
Key Challenges
Scientists have identified nine planetary boundaries which should not be crossed if human civilisation is to continue to thrive (Stockholm Resilience Institute, 2009). Three boundaries (climate change, biological diversity, and nitrogen input to the biosphere) have been crossed already, with potentially devastating consequences for environmental, economic and societal stability if this trend is not reversed (assuming it is possible to reverse these trends once a threshold has been breached). It is clear that current environmental and sustainability governance arrangements are inadequate to halt the continuing environmental degradation. To change the direction of economic systems and stave off ecosystem collapse, fundamental institutional changes and coherent goals that are reinforced at global, regional, national, and local levels by consistent incentives, regulations, policies, and action will be required. It is widely agreed that the current institutional structure, much of which was developed in the middle of the 20th century, prior to the recognition of SD, is no longer adequate to address current challenges. Some progress has been made, as there are now over 500 multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and nearly every country has environmental laws and a national level environment agency responsible for implementation. Governments and organisations at all levels—including the UN, regional, national, and local levels, as well as businesses and individual persons—are now making efforts to work on sustainable development. However, these efforts do not adequately match the magnitude of the challenges or the pace of change. Current IFSD—at all levels and in many countries—suffers from several serious challenges such as inadequate leadership and coordination, fragmentation, insufficient funding and human resource capacity, as well as inadequate compliance and enforcement. At the global level, the sheer number of treaties, organisations, and meetings complicate effective attendance at meetings and conferences, and may also divert human resources from urgently needed implementation.
Key Approaches/Principles
IGES considers the following three principles/approaches to be critical in strengthening IFSD: 1) multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance; 2) subsidiarity; and 3) compliance and enforcement. 4.2.1. Multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance The challenges to sustainability will have to be addressed by intergovernmental institutions and governments, and not only at one level. Multi-level governance is necessary for coherent and effective action. Vertical and horizontal cooperation between and within levels is needed to minimise policy tradeoffs and maximise synergies between traditionally 22
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 separate sectors and policy domains, and sustainability goals need to be mainstreamed into all major societal decisions and sectoral plans. Key functions of multi-stakeholder participation are to improve coordination among stakeholders, create consensus on information input into decisions, cohesive implementation, legitimacy, and accountability of governing stakeholders and decisions made. While multi-stakeholder participation is already practiced in the intergovernmental arena, it should be strengthened further to include genuine, effective participation rather than token consultation, not only for the sake of awareness, but also to improve accountability of decision makers, which can lead to better enforcement and compliance of environmental laws and regulations (Antonio, 2011). Progress on other governance levels is required to empower stakeholders by promoting greater institutionalisation of participation. At the practical level, securing transparency of decision making processes, involving stakeholders in the early stages of planning, and effective facilitation functions are vital to synchronise top-down and bottom-up governance aimed at achieving common goals as seen in Box 4-1 below. Box 4-1 Supporting multi-level governance through information exchange and networks Information exchange via networking among cities is a simple and effective option to strengthen relationships between local and national governments and improve capacity and enhance local actions for environmental management. The nature of the exchange varies by the type of network, which can be categorised into three types according to size: (1) networks with many members mainly for information sharing among them; (2) networks with limited number of members, designed for more intensive information exchange; and (3) bilateral, or city-to-city, relationships for learning directly from each other. A fourth type is based on having an award programme for recognizing outstanding achievements or innovation. Over its lifetime a network may evolve to take on any of these forms, and may at times simultaneously perform the function of more than one type of network through the action of individual members. A typical network function is establishing an information sharing platform for members. For example, the Kitakyushu Initiative for a Clean Environment (KI) has organised meetings every 2-3 years by convening member cities to exchange knowledge and experience on effective environmental practices. Thematic seminars were also held in parallel almost once a year on specific environmental subjects such as solid waste management, water supply and sanitation, and use of information and communication technologies. Although the KI ended in 2010 the secretariat, IGES, has continued on a similar path with the High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities. This was developed under the framework of the East Asia Summit Environment Ministers Meeting, where central government officers and local government officers, as well as other organisations and research institutions are invited to exchange views and activities toward development of environmentally sustainable cities. In this way, the networking function has expanded not only horizontally but also vertically, providing opportunities to connect various types of organisations through multiple levels of government. Multi-level networking can be enhanced through information sharing platforms – such as offering awards and giving opportunities to outstanding cities to present their activities and achievements in front of other member cities and other stakeholders, thereby sharing best practices and giving recognition and further encouragement for them to perform better. In addition such platforms are also an opportunity to attract external support from central governments and other supporting organisations. (IGES, forthcoming in 2012)
4.2.2. Subsidiarity The outcomes of Rio+20 on strengthening IFSD must address how institutions can best secure vertical integration of policies from international agreements, through national policy 23
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 to local implementation. Decisions relating to the implementation of environmental and SD governance should therefore be carried out in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, which prescribes that issues ought to be dealt with by the smallest, lowest or least centralised competent unit (Elder, 2011). Doing so may help integrate aspects of top-down and bottom-up environmental governance. For subsidiarity to really work coherently with the goals set at the intergovernmental level, it is also important to establish clear procedures for advancement from policy formulation to action and from planning to implementation, and to also ensure that the necessary resources are made available at each stage. Under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, those who can afford it (not just developed countries) should assist vulnerable groups and developing countries to build the necessary human resource capabilities to implement sustainable development activities at the local level. 4.2.3. Compliance and enforcement Laws and regulations suited to country specific conditions are among the most important instruments for transforming environmental and development policies into action. Generally MEAs can only be implemented if there are matching national laws and regulations. Without effective compliance and enforcement of these laws and regulations, however, the intended improvements in human wellbeing and sustainable development inevitably will fail. Accordingly, it is critical to enhance cooperation between countries to share best practices on environmental compliance and enforcement, to provide technical assistance to developing countries in need of capacity strengthening, and to continuously upgrade regional, national, sub-national and local compliance and enforcement actions.5
Roadmap and Main Proposals
IGES believes that fundamental reform of IFSD together with international environmental governance (IEG) should be undertaken through a phased approach at all levels. Each sequence will provide necessary momentum for subsequent steps, as can be seen in the following figure:
One of the examples of compliance and enforcement in Asia is Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN). Since 2005, national and sub-national environmental agencies throughout Asia, with support from the United States Agency for International Development, have cooperated through AECEN, sharing information on innovative policies and best practices in compliance and enforcement. Member agencies include Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. AECEN's predominant cooperation mode is through South-South cooperation, where a mentor country is "twinned" with a beneficiary country, and environment agency staff from the mentor agency conduct on-the-job capacity strengthening and training. For more details, see http://www.aecen.org.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
Figure 4-1 Reform phases for IFSD
For the short-to-medium term, we encourage governments to support the creation of an SD Council to better coordinate and oversee budgeting of all UN programmes and agencies. To function more effectively, IGES recommends that the SD Council cooperate closely with international finance institutions (IFIs) and Bretton Woods Institutions, along with the G8/G20, as currently financial and environmental agendas are not well coordinated and sometimes offset each other. For IFSD, IGES's long-term vision is for a revision of the UN Charter to (1) enhance the global focus on sustainability issues; and (2) to equip a globalised world in the 21st century with rules and regulations for the future, not of the past.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Table 4-1 Short/medium and long-term IFSD reforms
For IEG, we recommend that UNEP should have universal membership of its Governing Council. This is important to enhance legitimacy of international environmental governance and will also eliminate the necessity of Governing Council elections (although may impose minor additional costs). Subsequently, IGES recommends that UNEP be upgraded to a specialised agency, with a decision making mandate and legal identity. Both these IEG reform steps can strengthen environmental governance and support downstream implementation. Given a clear need to strengthen currently dispersed regional as well as sub-regional environmental governance in Asia, IGES suggests the formation of a regional environmental focal point, which in the long run could be developed into an Asian Environmental Organisation, similar to increased regional cooperation that is happening in other regions such as Africa, the Americas, and the EU, and is commensurate with the increased regional cooperation on economic, trade, and security fronts in Asia. Asian countries should work towards creating a multilateral environmental information exchange network. Issues related to energy, resource-use, biodiversity, climate change, and disaster management are transboundary and can be addressed cost-effectively by regional cooperation, capacity building, and exchange of information and expertise. At the national level, IGES recommends that high level focal points and coordination committees be appointed above the sector ministries to ensure that SD concerns receive sufficient attention and are vertically integrated and mainstreamed. Specific actions are mostly taken at the local level, thus initiatives such as those promoting low carbon cities are of great importance. The national level environmental governance should be improved in such a way that will further promote local level actions in close collaboration with municipalities. 26
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 The following sections provide more detailed information on each reform step, as well as elaborate on essential issues related to functions, funding, and other crucial issues. 4.3.1.
Umbrella organisation for SD
Options for creating an umbrella organization for SD include: (1) a reformed ECOSOC with a change in name and mandate to focus on promoting SD; (2) a new Sustainable Development Council, separate from ECOSOC; and (3) a reformed and strengthened CSD, by according it a stronger mandate. Option 1, changing ECOSOC's mandate to SD and changing its name, would require revision of the UN Charter, but if SD is a high priority, countries can agree to limit the discussion and amendment of the UN Charter to this one issue. Changing the name and mandate of ECOSOC to that of SD Council would institutionalise participation of non-environment ministries of each country, a crucial requirement for the mainstreaming of sustainable development governance. ECOSOC already works on SD to some extent. However, a name change is important to signal that SD is its main focus. With the current name, there may still be some resistance to SD efforts by ECOSOC, and some may think that non-sustainable economic activities can still be promoted as ECOSOC's main responsibility, while SD is a side effort. Option 2 would maintain ECOSOC in its present form, but establish a new SD council. This could either be new, or as in option 3, be based on a restructuring of the CSD. The CSD could continue to function as a forum for intergovernmental discussions on SD. However, its focus would have to be sharpened; it would undertake assessments of the progress towards SD and work to attract key decision makers from ministries other than environmental ministries. Regardless of the specific institutional form of the umbrella organisation for SD, in the long term, it will be necessary to align the efforts to combat climate change with the work on sustainable development, including their respective institutional frameworks. Agencies and programmes representing the three dimensions of SD need to work harder to cooperate, convening regularly to ensure coherence and synergy. 4.3.2. High profile individual to promote SD It is highly desirable to have a high level person to lead and promote SD, regardless of which form the umbrella organisation eventually may take. This person could have the title of High Commissioner for Sustainable Development. Previous efforts to promote coordination of SD have centred on the establishment of committees. Several coordinating committees have been formed and disbanded over the years, but their effectiveness has been limited. Also, UNEP has not been very successful in coordinating UN activities on environment for a variety of reasons, although steady progress on integrating environmental concerns into other agencies has been made by the efforts of these agencies. Overall, it is difficult to expect UN agencies to coordinate themselves, and a main result of past coordination efforts has resulted in turf battles. A high profile person in charge of SD could be beneficial in terms of coordination and mainstreaming of SD concerns within the UN, and as a public face of SD in
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 the media and to the public. Sadako Ogata, who was the UN Commissioner for Refugees, has had considerable success in promoting refugee issues and could be a good model to follow. 4.3.3. Greater participation and coordination with Bretton Woods Institutions and regional development banks Bretton Woods institutions and regional development banks should more actively participate in a system-wide committee to better align their work with SD objectives. A system-wide committee may have a better chance of success with a high level individual as its chair. It could be worth considering participation of the proposed High Commissioner for SD at Board of Directors Meetings of IFIs such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and other development banks. Bretton Woods institutions and G20 central bankers should attend Rio+20 and clarify how they will promote SD and coordinate with other actors. Moreover, development banks should be called upon to expand the SD aspect of their development assistance at the Rio+20 conference. Some are already extensively engaged in SD work, and have emphasised their SD contributions. However, SD is typically not part of their official mandate. Calling on these organisations to officially change their mandate could be considered. In addition, new donor countries should be called upon to "green� their development assistance and orient it towards SD objectives. 4.3.4. SD financing mechanisms Securing additional financing and making effective use of existing financing are crucial for enhancing the effectiveness of SD institutions. One way to persuade countries to provide more funding is to help them understand that SD issues can have security implications and should be the focus of more interest from defence ministries. For example, environmental degradation may have grave consequences for food and water supply, which in turn could lead to security concerns and conflicts over resources. Environmental refugees may potentially also pose security related problems. Countries should allocate a small amount from their defence budgets for environmental and sustainable development funding. Increased small contributions from defence budgets to UN organisations such as UNEP and MEA secretariats could be a cost effective way to mitigate problems before they degenerate into expensive and difficult security problems. Other innovative funding options could include taxes on international financial transactions (Tobin Tax), mining of virgin materials, international air-passenger mileage and freight transport, etc. Currently the EU is strongly supporting the introduction of a Tobin Tax and other countries should seriously consider supporting this initiative. These financing options have the advantage that they do not derive directly from countries' budgets. Nevertheless, governments of UN member countries would still oversee the spending. 4.3.5. Convention on Access to Information and Participation To institutionalise participation and access to environmental information and decision making, IGES recommends supporting a regional or global convention on Rio Principle 10 28
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 (Murharjanti and Paramita, 2011). Such a convention would strengthen multi-level governance by improving stakeholder dialogue, policy adoption, and ownership at local levels. For Europe, a convention on Rio Principle 10 already exists in the form of the Aarhus Convention, but up-scaling it to the global level is necessary. Moreover, the provision of a global convention on Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration would help to institutionalise it at all levels of governance. 4.3.6. Two-phased reform for IEG: universal membership for UNEP, and then a specialised agency (WEO/UNEO) IGES believes that incremental reforms to the IEG system are important and should be undertaken, such as those already underway in, for instance, greening of UN initiatives as well as clustering of MEA secretariats (JIU, 2010). However, ultimately these measures will be insufficient, so IGES supports more ambitious and fundamental reform options. Specifically a two-phased approach to enhance UNEP is recommended. In the first phase, the UNEP Governing Council could adopt universal membership. In the current system, the UNEP Governing Council only has 58 members, and decisions must be sent to the Second Committee of the General Assembly for approval. There is universal participation in the UNEP GC, in which non-members may participate in discussions, but non-members may not vote. Non-members already send delegates to the Global Ministerial Environment Forum, which meets in conjunction with the GC. Universal membership would lend greater legitimacy for UNEP GC to be the "global voice for the environment" which is difficult with only 58 members. Universal membership would also eliminate the need for governing council elections, which consume much time and energy. Universal membership might also help improve coordination and synergies among MEAs, which, due to comprehensive membership and centralised decision making of the GC forum, could be deliberated in clusters, as already practiced in biodiversity related conventions and the chemicals cluster. It would make it possible have MEA COPs to coincide with the UNEP GC, thereby creating significant financial as well as time efficiencies. Currently, without universal membership it is difficult for UNEP GC to make recommendations to MEAs that have members which are not represented in UNEP's GC. Moreover, IGES suggests that any new MEA secretariats should be placed at either UNEP in Nairobi, or in Geneva. Recent IGES research (Olsen, 2011) shows that, compared to the current status, the financial implications of establishing universal membership are not very large. In the longer-term, IGES recommends upgrading UNEP to a Specialised Agency i.e. World Environment Organisation (WEO) or United Nations Environment Organisation (UNEO). Legally, this might be accomplished through a GA resolution (UN Charter Article 57) rather than a treaty, which could be difficult to ratify in some countries. This would mean that decisions no longer have to be referred to the General Assembly where they might be affected by unrelated issues. Thus, a WEO would provide a legal mandate and autonomy to enhance the strength of environment ministers. Capacity building should be an important function of a WEO/UNEO, particularly in areas related to policy formulation, reporting, negotiation, and implementation of MEAs, and there is evidence that developing countries 29
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 are interested in more capacity building from UNEP. UNDP, the World Bank, and regional development banks, among others, already undertake some capacity building, although this tends to be more focused on projects. However, overall efforts are still inadequate. Increased effort should take place in cooperation and coordination with other agencies' work according to the "Delivering as One" UN initiative, including adequate representation of UNEP in UN Country Teams. Of course, additional funding would be needed. But the mandate would need to be agreed on before contentious issues regarding funding could be deliberated, perhaps agreeing on innovative funding options, such as those summarised in previous sections. The flowchart below depicts how reforms could be undertaken in phases, each creating momentum for the next step:
Figure 4-2 Thrust of IEG reform (Olsen, 2011) The UN should lead by example and practice what it preaches. Recommendations such as those suggested in the UN Joint Inspection Unit (JIU 2008), which include clear division of labour among UN organisations, limitations on the creation of new MEA secretariats, and improving transparency of use and management of programme support costs are useful to be considered. 4.3.7. Regional initiatives (Asia-Pacific) It is important also to consider how IFSD will translate to regional and sub-regional levels. In 30
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 particular for Asia-Pacific, this will be an important consideration: as the region increasingly becomes the world's economic and production centre, adverse impacts are taking a toll and many countries are facing serious environmental issues that include pollution and depletion of natural resources. IGES suggests that improvement in coordination and information sharing among countries in the region is a good first step that can enhance transparency and access to environmental information, as well as exchange of good practices in the region; these are the foundations for better environmental and SD governance. One possibility to improve coordination would be to create a relatively small regional organisation or focal point, which in the long run could be developed into an Asia Environmental Organisation. .
Figure 4-3 Proposed structure for enhancing information exchange and harmonization in Asia-Pacific Source: Adapted from EEA/EIONET model (EEA, 2011).
The flowchart above depicts how such a focal point could act as an information hub—both collecting and disseminating information on the state of the environment. The institution would use identified Asian Topic Centres (ATCs) of expertise in a given area. The National Focal Points then could be appointed from ministries or agencies as key partners of the focal point and should preferably include a mixed range of ministries. In addition to encompassing the link from regional to national level, they would also coordinate with National Reference Centres (NRCs), who would be appointed by the NFPs to collect information as required by the central institution. The Asia-Pacific region already has a wide-range of existing institutions at the sub-regional level, including the North-East Asian Sub-regional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), and the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC). The focus and potential of each of these institutions would have to be subject to additional research to identify the extent to which extent they could 31
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 become involved as "Asian Topic Centres" and information collection hubs. It would also have to be determined which organisation would become the central hub collecting and disseminating the information. Similar approaches may also be needed in other regions.
4.3.8. National initiatives (environmental policy integration) On national levels, IGES believes that greater efforts should be made to improve synergies between environmental and developmental policies and practices. One way to do this is to enhance environmental policy integration (EPI), which is defined as a "deliberate attempt to prioritize the protection of the environment before any trade-offs are made between environmental, economic and/or social objectives" (Lenschow, 2009:8). Sustainable development, therefore, should be designated as an overarching principle of policy decisions in any sector or level. This is important because significant impact can only be achieved if environmental concerns are integrated into those ministries that are the main contributors to environmental damage (Mueller in Lenschow, 2002:58). Full integration is complex and presupposes political continuity and support. IGES suggests that improving vertical integration will benefit the persistent implementation gap at the local level. For that to happen it will be necessary to strengthen the national decision making processes and involve local governments to ensure that both funding and capacity is made available. 4.3.9. Local initiatives Local governments in many areas have already made strong efforts to effectively address SD issues in an integrated way, including efforts related to Local Agenda 21. Good examples of local action in the Asia-Pacific include the development of low carbon cities, smart cities, and other partnerships between local governments. City level networks help to share best practices and assist with capacity building. These initiatives should be further developed and strengthened. At the same time, multi-stakeholder involvement and cooperation with the private sector, educational institutions and other stakeholders should be promoted. Finally, IGES believes that solid reporting mechanisms should be established and maintained to ensure vertical coherence and consistency between planning and implementation.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0 Sources: AECEN. 2009. Regional Statement on Advancing Effective Environmental Compliance and Enforcement in Asia. Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network. http://www.aecen.org, accessed 21 September 2011. Antonio, Ella. 2011. "Options for Strengthening Sub-regional and Regional Environment and Sustainable Development Mechanisms in Aspac". Presentation at: Expert Workshop on Strengthening Environmental and Sustainable Development Governance: AsiaPacific Perspectives. ISAP 2011. http://www.iges.or.jp/en/gc/pdf/activity20110725/s1- 4_Dr.Ella.pdf, accessed 19 September 2011. EEA (European Environment Agency). 2011. Environment Connects. http://www.eionet.europa.eu/about/eionet_web-en.pdf , accessed 21 September 2011. Elder, Mark. 2011. "Introduction". Presentation at: Expert Workshop on Strengthening Environmental and Sustainable Development Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives. ISAP 2011.http://www.iges.or.jp/en/gc/pdf/activity20110725/s1-1_Mark_Elder.pdf, accessed 18 September 2011. IGES. 2012. Greening Governance in Asia Pacific: Institutional for Greener Economy (working title). IGES White Paper IV (Forthcoming). Inomata, Tadanori and Enrique Roman-Morey. 2010. "Environmental Profile of the United Nations Organizations". Review of their In-house Environmental Management Policies and Practices. Geneva: United Nations Joint Inspection Unit. JIU/REP/2010/1. http://www.unjiu.org/data/reports/2010/en2010_1.pdf, accessed 21 September 2011. Inomata, Tadanori. 2008. Management Review of Environmental Governance within the United Nations System. Geneva: United Nations Joint Inspection Unit. JIU/REP/2008/3. http://www.unjiu.org/data/reports/2008/en2008_3.pdf, accessed 18 May 2011. Lenschow, A. 2009. Innovation in Environmental Policy? Integrating the Environment for Sustainability. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing, Limited. Murharjanti P. and Dyah Paramita. 2011. "The Access Initiative: Moving from Principles to Rights". Presentation at: Expert Workshop on Strengthening Environmental and Sustainable Development Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives. ISAP 2011. http://www.iges.or.jp/en/gc/pdf/ activity20110725/s2-2_Prayekti.pdf, accessed 21 September 2011. Olsen, Simon Hoiberg and Elder, Mark. 2011. "Strengthening International Environmental Governance by two-phased Reform of UNEP: Analysis of Benefits and Drawbacks". IGES Policy Report. Vol.42. October 2011. Rockstroem J. et. al. 2009. Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity. E& S Home, Vol. 14. No 2. Art. 32. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art32/, accessed 21 September 2011. Senge, Peter. 2008. The Necessary Revolution: How People and Organizations are Working Together to create a Sustainable World. New York: Doubleday.
The IGES Proposal for Rio+20 Version 1.0
List of Contributors Overall Contributions and Coordination Hironori HAMANAKA Hideyuki MORI Peter KING Takashi OTSUKA Robert David KIPP Ikuho MIYAZAWA Muneyuki NAKATA Chapter 2: Resilience and Sustainable Society Ikuko MATSUMOTO Shinano HAYASHI Anindya BHATTACHARYA Nandakumar JANARDHANAN Hidefumi KATAYAMA Atsushi WATABE Robert David KIPP Aya WATARAI Chapter 3: Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication Satoshi KOJIMA Magnus BENGTSSON Henry SCHEYVENS Yasuhiko HOTTA Lewis AKENJI Takashi YANO Kei KABAYA Chapter 4: Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development Mark ELDER Simon Hoiberg OLSEN Mikiko SHIMAOKA
Note: This report and all relevant IGES publications are available on the IGES website. < http//www.iges.or.jp>
1. The 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP2011): The Asia-Pacific Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on Rio+20 a. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP2011) Chair's Summary. October 2011.
2. Resilient and Sustainable Society a. Bhattacharya, Anindya (2011) Impact Assessment of No-Nuclear and More Renewable Energy Policies in Japan (Preliminary findings), Presentation Paper for 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th July 2011. b. Hidefumi Imura (ed.) (2011) Local Energy Solutions, Presentation Paper for 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th July 2011. c.
Hidefumi Katayama (2011) Getting for Local Energy Solutions after the 3.11 Triple Disaster, Conference Paper at IGES-YCU Joint Seminar on Low-Carbon and Smart Cities held during 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th-27th July 2011.
d. Hidefumi Katayama (2011) Low Energy Management in "UNEP Bridging the Gap Report (Chapter 4) (Draft)." e. Scheyvens, Henry, Hideyuki Mori, Shinano Hayashi and Masanori Kobayashi (2011) Discussion Paper: Building Resilient Societies, Draft Presentation Paper for 3rd International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) Yokohama, 26th July 2011.
3. Green Economy a.
Kojima, Satoshi, Kei Kabaya, and Takashi Yano. "Green Economy for Sustainable Development: Japan Should lead the policy shift towards global poverty alleviation." IGES Policy Brief. Vol. 12. June 2011.
Bhattacharya, Anindya. "Renewable Energy: A Strategic Policy for Sustainable Development." IGES Policy Brief. Vol.10. April 2010.
4. Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (IFSD) a. Olsen, Simon Hoiberg and Elder, Mark. "Strengthening international environmental governance by two-phased reform of UNEP: Analysis of benefits and drawbacks." IGES Policy Report. Vol. 42. October 2011.
ISAP 2011 Chair's Summary Chair: Prof. Hironori Hamanaka, Chair of the Board of Directors, IGES
Day 1 26 July
Morning Session on the Hayama Proposal and Implications of Japan's disasters
People recognized the importance of thinking about the future energy mix of Japan with new and flexible perspectives after the Fukushima triple disaster. Energy policy and climate policy are different sides of the same coin and we should seek low carbon, high safety, and high energy security – keeping in mind there may be costs to bear for these positive goals. Research institutes such as IGES should play an important role to provide qualitative and quantitative analysis and concrete proposals to contribute to the ongoing discussion on Japan's future courses of action. In this regard, it was urgently called for continued dialogue among stakeholders such as the ones we had at ISAP 2011, learning from the German experience. The future direction of the international regime for climate change mitigation is very unclear. Parties including Japan should make compromises to make the discussion move ahead for our common future. The Hayama Proposal as proposed by the IGES climate change group may stir further discussion inside and outside of Japan.
Afternoon Session on Resilient Societies
A decentralized system for risk reduction, relief, and recovery with differentiated roles under a comprehensive plan was proposed and discussed during this session in which: •
National governments have a facilitating and enabling role
Local government has the responsibility for decision making and implementation, and for promoting horizontal cooperation and participation of different stakeholders.
It is essential to revitalize decentralized, localized, and self-reliant socio-economic systems which value and support inclusive and meaningful participatory processes as a way to facilitate effective risk
reduction, relief work, and reconstruction on the pathway to a transition towards a resilient and sustainable society. In this regard, the importance of community-based approach was emphasized.
Day 2 27 July
Morning Session on Governance for Sustainable Development Despite the many challenges we need transformational change in addressing the weaknesses in current governance arrangements. •
Greater attention must be paid to horizontal and vertical integration – genuine and informed multi-stakeholder participation and multi-level integration: the involvement of women and civil society groups, business and local governments at all levels need to influence the outcome of Rio+20.
Access to information and meaningful public participation in policy decision making process to enhance accountability and implementation, possibly through a global or regional convention.
International and regional organizations need to play a proactive role in engaging with national and sub-national stakeholders, while sub-national stakeholders can take a more proactive role to engage with the national government to promote change.
If we agree that the status quo is not sufficient to address current and future sustainable development problems, then we cannot fear the challenges and consequences of making fundamental changes in the UN charter.
Afternoon Session on Green Economy
The East Japan disasters, including the Fukushima nuclear accident, reveal that the existing social and economic system does not fully account for environmental and social costs. The concept of green economy is important in this context. The session discussed how the implication and definition of a green economy may vary depending on the developmental stage, but sharing the common goal of sustainable development. One of the key discussion points was how green economy can improve the
daily lives of poor people, not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. The importance of technology transfer and application, particularly exploring opportunities between south-south was emphasized, indicating a need for improving education to develop the capabilities necessary for technology transfer and to provide the skills that will sustain green job growth.
Conclusion In closing Prof. Hamanaka and Mr. Rae Kwon Chung, Director, Environment and Sustainable Development Division of UNESCAP shared their final thoughts for ISAP2011. Prof. Hamanaka recapped the main messages from each plenary session, which he said he hoped would be used towards developing a sustainable and resilient society and promoting green economy in the context of achieving sustainable development and alleviating poverty, bearing in mind the diversity of the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Chung closed ISAP2011 by offering a reminder of two points – the first challenge is to reach out to convince the other two pillars, the other ministries, the other NGOs, as speaking to the converted is no way to achieve cross-cutting goals. The second challenge is to have more clarity within the environmental policy community as internal disagreements weaken the messages and do little to clarify the misperceptions and understanding about sustainable development. IGES and other institutes need to clarify and educate the national delegates going to Seoul and Rio de Janeiro. That is the challenge of our times, to overcome the knowledge gaps by working together and overcoming our collective challenges to human survival on planet Earth.
Impact Assessment of No-Nuclear and More Renewable Energy Policies in Japan (Preliminary findings) Anindya Bhattacharya, Senior Energy Economist, Economy and Environment Group, IGES July 29, 2011
Objectives To estimate the impact of reduction and substitution of nuclear energy and increasing use of renewable energy in the electricity supply mix in Japan using bottom-up technology driven energy systems model (TIMES-Japan). The impacts are to be estimated under three main parametric contexts prevailing in the market to evaluate the nuclear energy's acceptance or rejection compared to other technologies: i) Technical feasibility, ii) Cost of supply and iii) Environmental impacts.
Primary research questions What will be the total system cost? What will be the electricity supply cost in the country? What will be the energy and electricity supply portfolio of the country? What will be the impact on GHG emissions reduction target?
Scenarios 1. Reference Energy Scenario (REF): This is the business as usual scenario with pre-disaster conditions of energy supply and demand. 2. Fossil Fuel Scenario-Long Run (SFF-LR): In this scenario a long term nuclear power supply reduction policy has been adopted. Nuclear power supply gradually goes off from the supply mix by 2050 with a three-step reduction target. In addition to that CCS (carbon capture and sequestration) technological intervention is also restricted until 2040 based on its current level of R&D status in Japan. - 2020: Nuclear power supply reduces to 13% from 30% at 2009 2030: Nuclear power supply reduces to 5% from 30% at 2009 - 2050: Nuclear power reduces to 0% from 30% at 2009 3. Fossil Fuel Scenario-Short Run (SFF-SR): In this scenario an immediate cut off of all nuclear power supply is considered by 2015. 1
Renewable Energy Scenario (REN): In this scenario a moderate renewable energy supply policy is introduced with 15% wind and 25% solar energy supply by 2050 in Japan. Due to various environmental and regulatory obstacles geothermal development is not very prospective in Japan as of now. Therefore, we deliberately restricted the penetration of geothermal in the supply mix only to 10% by 2050.
Basic assumptions Following are the basic energy service demand drivers in the model to determine the final energy demand.
REF Demand Driver 2.5
2005 value=1
0 2005 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100
Fig.1: Ref case energy service demand drivers Note: GDPP: GDP per capita, GDPPHOU: GDP per household, HOU: Number of households, POP: Population
Primary energy prices are also very important for the bottom-up models. The basic assumptions are shows in the figure below:
Fuel price assumption in the model 120 100
20 0 2010
Fig.2: Primary fuel prices
In addition to above mentioned assumptions the model also assumed there is no changes in the final energy service demand in the market duet to policy changes. Therefore, the scenarios simulate the steady state conditions of the demand function. As a matter of fact, only supply curve shifts over the constant demand curve to achieve the partial equilibrium conditions for the optimal solutions under different conditions mentioned under three policy scenarios. Work is in progress to also estimate the energy service demand changes due to various policy measures. The costs of technologies are also very important for this study as they determine the final technological intervention in the system. The following table shows the reference case cost comparison between different nuclear technologies and renewable mainly solar and wind.
Table 1: Reference case technology investment cost comparison (selected technologies only) Technologies ( USD@2000 /KW) 2003 Advanced Nuclear 2380.00 Nuclear Fusion Nuclear LWR 2100.00 Solar PV Centralized 9399.18 Solar PV Decentralized 10997.00 Wind centralized on-shore Wind centralized off-shore Wind decentralized-onshore
8354.78 9775.08 1775.40 4177.60 1671.60
2008 4200.00 4200.00 3705.88 6300.00 7371.00 1775.40 3236.80 1662.66
4760.00 5569.20
Source: Data has been drawn from the TIMES Integrated Assessment Model (Version 4.3.3) base data which are primarily collected from IEA and other external sources.
Preliminary Results 1. Impact on overall electricity supply portfolio: This result indicates that LNG and Natural Gas will be dominating the supply fuel market in Japan especially for electricity production. Coal will still remain as one of the major sources of power in the country under all the scenarios analyzed here unless it is deliberately replaced by other technologies. Geothermal is a potential alternative for nuclear base load supply in Japan. However, it requires plenty of regulatory and environmental policy changes to become viable. High cost due to high labor cost and high land cost in the country may hinder the introduction of the Biomass energy in Japan.
REF Case Elec Supply Portfolio
REN -Elec. Supply Portfolio
10% 0%
Biomass 2005
10% 0%
Biomass 2005
FFS-SR Elec. Supply Portfolio
FFS -LR Elec. Supply Portfolio 100%
100% 90%
70% 60% 50% 40%
10% 0%
Biomass 2005
70% 60%
10% 0%
Biomass 2005
Fig. 3: Electricity supply portfolio for Japan under different scenarios
2. Impact on total energy supply system cost: This is the net present value of the total cost required to achieve the target set under the scenarios in the system. The discount factor is around 10% which is factored over the total life time of each individual technology in the system. This shows that if Japan goes for immediate replacement of nuclear power supply with other sources the country has to take the maximum burden of energy supply which will be 2.5% higher than the current cost or 225 Billion USD additional cost. Renewable energy scenario is expected to have much lesser financial impact on Japan which is around 105 Billion USD of additional cost compared to the reference condition.
% Change in system costs compared to baseline 6.00%
% chnage to baseline
4.00% 2.00% 0.00% -2.00% -4.00% -6.00% -8.00%
Fig.4: Changes in system cost under different scenarios
3. Electricity production cost and retail price in the market: In this analysis we estimated only the electricity production cost and not the other costs like transmission and distribution, commercial costs etc. However, it is assumed that the majority of the supply cost of power in Japan is the production cost. Given the condition that there is no change in other cost component then % change of the production cost of electricity can be attributed to the % change of the supply costs and retail price of electricity that the consumers are paying. Based on this assumptions we have estimated the following changes in the electricity prices in the market under different scenarios:
% Change in cost of electricity production to REF 300% 250% 200% FFS-LR
50% 0% 2020
Fig.5: Changes in electricity supply/production cost under different scenarios
This result indicates that under the fossil fuel based scenario with immediate nuclear energy cut off plan may increase the electricity generation cost and thereafter the supply cost by 250% compared to the current level by 2020. However, it has been estimated that under all the potential alternative scenarios, price escalation is must. But renewable energy option with no nuclear supply beyond 2050 predicts the lowest price escalation until 2050. The following figure (Fig.6) shows how the market price of different fuels changes compared to the REF scenario in Japan. Oil Crude is also predicted here which shows that 2020 is the most expensive year for Japan under all scenarios except renewable energy. All other fuels show some increasing trend in the mid to long term horizon for Japan as the fossil fuel demands still remain high for the country. Among all fuels, natural gas is expected to have very high price escalation in Japan (around 400%-500%) due to high demand by the power companies.
% Change in gasoline price comapred to REF
% Change in oil-crude import price compared to REF 350%
300% 250%
Poly. (FFS-SR)
Poly. (FFS-LR)
0% 2010
% Change in diesel price comapred to REF
% Change in Natural Gas Price comapred to Ref 400%
300% 400%
Poly. (FFS-SR)
Linear (FFS-LR)
0% 2010
Fig.6: Changes in different fuel prices in the market compared to REF scenario
4. GHG emission: To achieve better CO2 emissions reduction, Japan needs to have aggressive renewable energy penetration policy in place. Model predicts that under both the fossil fuel scenarios, CO2 emissions will increase rapidly over the reference scenario. Moreover, faster penetration of renewable energies than REN is necessary to satisfactorily reduce CO2 emissions until 2040. After 2040 when the percentage of renewable energy supply goes above the fossil fuels, then only the emissions reduction impacts are observed. Therefore, renewable energy supply is one of the key controlling factors of GHG emissions in Japan.
Total CO2 emissions comparison 1400.0 1350.0
Million ton
1300.0 1250.0
1050.0 1000.0 2010
Fig.7: CO2 emissions under different scenarios
Preliminary conclusions 1 Japan may go forward with no-nuclear option but the financial burden of system development will be generated. It appears that use of existing facilities to full capacity can reduce the additional investment burden in the short run. Renewable energy scenario is expected to have much lesser financial impact. Japan needs to develop its base load alternatives like geothermal and tidal to substitute nuclear. Solar and Wind appears intermittent compared to nuclear power supply. More aggressive renewable energy policy is required. Retail power price is expected to increase under both the scenarios. Fossil fuel scenarios will increase the crude and gas import burden and subsequent cost of supply. Primary energy prices are expected to shoot-up in the short run due to sudden surge in demand and lack of supply. However, the prices are expected to fall gradually. Japan needs to commercialize its geothermal potential to reduce the environmental impact of non-nuclear supply portfolio. Geothermal and tidal seems to be viable as alternative to massive replacement of base load nuclear power. In the short-run LNG (liquefied natural gas) import increases with increase in NG (natural gas) based power generation. Coal is expected to be dominating the supply under no nuclear scenario at least until 2050. Japan needs to develop the CSP (concentrated solar power) technology for grid connected solar supply enhancement. So far roof-top standalone PV is predominant. 1
This result and conclusions are preliminary in nature and should be used as indicative figures. Any part of the document should not be quoted without author's permission.
ISAP2011 Lunch Session, 26 July 2011
Local Energy Solutions (エネルギ 管理における地域の智慧) (エネルギー管理における地域の智慧) [[ Moderator ] Prof. Hidefumi ] Imura 井村秀文 秀 Senior Policy Advisor, IGES / Professor, Yokohama City University
[Speakers] Mr. Kazuhiko Kobayashi 小林一彦(北九州市) Executive Director, Office for Environmental Future City Promotion, Environment Bureau, City of Kitakyushu
M M t N b t ki 信時正人(横浜市) Mr. Masato Nobutoki Director General, Climate Change Policy Headquarters, City of Yokohama
Mr. Kentaro Yamaguchi 山口健太郎(神奈川県) Director, Photovoltaic Power Generation Promotion Division, New Energy and Global Warming Di Ph l i P G i P i Di i i N E d Gl b l W i Countermeasures Department, Environment and Agriculture Bureau, Kanagawa Prefectural Government
Mr. Shigeru Inoue 井上 成((株)三菱地所) Deputy General Manager City Planning Project Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd Deputy General Manager, City Planning Project, Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd
Mr. Tsunehiko Nakagawa 中川恒彦((株)日産自動車) General Manager, Planning and Advanced Engineering, Development Division, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
Local Energy Solutions: Background and Objective 背景とねらい Energy, Environment and Economy (エネルギー、環境、経済のトリレンマ) ‐ How can we resolve the tri‐lemma, after Fukushima? (原発事故を受けて) ‐ Energy: Less dependence upon nuclear energy, More renewable energy ‐ Environment: De‐carbonization, low‐carbon cities, low‐carbon society ‐ Economy: Green economy/green innovation, recovery and reconstruction y y/g , y Local Energy Solutions: Challenges and Opportunities for Local Communities Good practices and policies (地域発の活路) Good practices and policies ‐ Low‐Carbon, Smart Cities ‐‐‐ Smart grids, smart meters, BEMS, HEMS, CEMS (低炭素都市、スマートシティ、スマートグリッド、・・・) ‐ Community‐based approach: Collaboration among local stakeholders Community based approach: Collaboration among local stakeholders ‐ Concerted actions with enterprises (especially, SMEs) and households ‐ Deployment of local energy sources (エネルギーの地産地消) ‐ Reduction of peak energy consumption during summer (今夏の節電) d i f k i d i (今夏の節電) Further Discussions ‐ Short, Medium and Long Term Actions (短期、中期、長期の目標と行動) ‐ International Transfer of Knowledge and Technology (国際的な視野)
Local Energy Solutions: Discussion Issues (論点) Information Sharing about New Ideas and Ongoing Projects and Ideas and Ongoing Projects and Practices 情報の共有
Systematic Approach Based on Local Knowledge and Achievement 地域の発想に基づく体系的取組み
Finance (資金) • More Subsidies + More Subsidies + • Mobilization of Private Money
Institution (制度) • B Barriers and Reform i dR f 障害除去のための改革 • RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) 再生可能エネルギーの買い取り • Energy Market Reform (Separation of Power Generation and Distribution) 送発電分離 • TGC (Tradable Green Certificates), Renewable Energy Certificates グリーン認証制度
Technology (技術) Clearer Visions and Policies Clearer Visions and Policies 明快なビジョンと政策
• Renewable Energy, New Energy • Innovation for technical breakthroughs g • Smart grid, EVs, Battery, ‐‐‐
Local Energy Solutions
Economy 経済 Less Dependency upon Fossil Fuels
Centralized vs. Decentralized Centralized vs Decentralized Approach
Green Innovation N Technology & Social Reform
Environment 環境
Energy Saving De‐carbonization
Less Dependency upon Less Dependency upon Nuclear Energy Energy エネルギー
Renewable Energy
Further Debate Continues to IGES‐Yokohama City Joint Seminar on Low Carbon and Smart Cities (Part 1) IGES‐横浜市立大学共同セミナー:低炭素都市・スマートシティ 1
Dr. Shobhakar Dr Shobhakar Dhakal: Dhakal: – Role of Cities in Climate Policy Ms Yoko Maki Ms Yoko Maki 牧 葉子(川崎市): – Carbon Challenge by the City of Kawasaki Dr. Kanako Dr. Kanako Tanaka 田中加奈子(JST): 田中加奈子(JST): – Information Network for Blackout Prevention Dr. Hidefumi Katayama y 片山秀史(IGES): ) – Life Energy Management Strategies Dr. Leena Srivastava: – Indian Energy and Environmental Perspectives
Discussion Paper: Building Resilient Societies Prepared for the plenary session on building resilient societies at the International Forum for a Sustainable Asia-Pacific (ISAP) 2011 held in Yokohama, Japan
Henry Scheyvens (IGES), Hideyuki Mori (IGES), Robert Kipp (IGES), Shinano Hayashi(IGES), SVRK Prabhakar(IGES), Izumi Tsurita (IGES), and Masanori Kobayashi (IGES) July 26, 2011 The purpose of this draft of the discussion paper is to frame the discussions that will take place in the Resilient Societies Plenary Session in the International forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) in July 26, 2011. The discussions will later be reflected in this paper and IGES will publish it as one of the outputs of ISAP 2011. This discussion paper begins by looking at the only international agreement on disaster risk reduction, the Hyogo Framework for Action, and considers the review of progress made on this agreement in light of the current situation facing Japan – the so-called East Japan Great Earthquake/Tsunami (EJGET). In the discussion the question is raised as to what is a resilient society – in particular in the context of modern development and technological advances. Cases are given drawing on recent fieldwork carried out in the areas most severely affected by the triple disaster in Japan (tsunami, earthquake, nuclear) which provides a backdrop for the deeper discussion on building resilience to extreme events and making resilience a part of the recovery and rebuilding process.
1. The need to invest more in building disaster resilient societies Globally, the frequency and magnitude of catastrophic disasters is projected to increase. The series of disasters in eastern Japan that the nation is now grappling with highlight the need and urgency for greater attention towards building disaster resilience through national and sub-national policy and planning. Just a few weeks after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami the World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held in Hyogo, Japan. The main output from that meeting was the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building Resilience of Nations and 1
Communities to Disasters, a comprehensive and systematic guidance document to strategically reduce disaster losses which was endorsed by 168 member states in 2005. The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) builds on a previous document, the Yokohama Strategy, and was the first document of its type to be developed and agreed upon internationally on disaster risk reduction. With the expected outcome of "the substantial reduction of disaster losses, in lives and in the social, economic and environmental assets of communities and countries�i the HFA outlines five priorities for action: 1. Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a local priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation. 2. Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning. 3. Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels. 4. Reduce the underlying risk factors. 5. Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels. The 2009-2011 HFA progress review shows increasing attention to risk identification, preparedness, and monitoring; in addition the HFA and associated processes have contributed to creating a common language and understanding of the key components of disaster risk management.ii However, across income levels and regions achievements have been much slower or even regressing in addressing the underlying risk drivers, developing governance structures and institutions, and in using education and knowledge to build a culture of resilience. The result is an impaired ability to prepare for and respond to disasters, often as a result of disaster risk management being spread across multiple ministries or located in institutions with little resources or power to influence change to address extensive and intensive disasters. Extensive risk develops through mainly localized but frequently occurring disasters spread across a country or region and are often related to climate variability such as flooding in Bangladesh.iii In the case that a particular area is subject to infrequent but highly destructive disasters with relatively greatly lose of human life, the intensive risk of the area is said to be high (Ibid.). The Haiti earthquake in 2010 which resulted in almost 500,000 casualties and 1.2 million displaced persons,iv and the triple disaster in Japan which resulted in almost 25,000 dead or missing and over 100,000 displaced personsv are recent examples of intensive disasters.
Natural disasters can be classified as biological, geophysical, hydrological, meteorological and climatological. There is potential for the human toll and economic costs of all of these to increase. Due to climate change, some areas are likely to become more vulnerable to biological disasters, such as insect infestation. The series of disasters in eastern Japan and the recent series of earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand remind us that developed countries are not immune to geophysical events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, though deaths are likely to be greatest in countries experiencing rapid, unplanned urbanization, such as Haiti, vi where 222,570 deaths were reported from the January 12th 2010 earthquake.vii Hydrological disasters such as flooding are projected to increase in some areas because of climate change, but experiences in China, the Philippines and other countries of the region show that environmental degradation, e.g. reduced forest cover in upper catchments, also contributes to the frequency and scale of these disasters. The summer heat wave in Russia in 2010 responsible for wildfires that destroyed a third of the wheat crop and that caused up to 56,000 deathsviii was an example of an abnormal weather event, many of which have been reported from around the globe in recent years. These provide signals of the increasing frequency and severity of meteorological disasters (storms) and climatological disasters (extreme temperature, drought and wildfire) that are projected due to climate change. Due to better preparedness and recovery planning made possible in part by economic growth, over the past 40 years mortality risk from natural hazards has been decreasing; however economic growth has not resulted in lowered economic loss from natural hazards.ix From the 1970s to 2008 while the number of fatalities from disasters significantly decreased, world economic losses due to natural disasters has been steadily – and often times sharply- rising.x However these losses only account for the direct physical impacts of disasters – the long term affects on the local economy in a case such as the recent disasters in Japan could result in significant impacts on Japan's economic outlook in addition to their energy future – and that of other countries which have included nuclear energy as a major part of their energy mix. In terms of extensive disasters the impacts have been greater in lower income countries and those with governance issues, but as the recent incidents in Japan shows new vulnerabilities can arise as a result of the complexities and interdependencies created in technologically advanced, modern, higher-income countries if resilience is not reassessed in terms of the new development context. Without suitable governance and institutional arrangements risk can actually be 3
constructed rather than mitigated through development, regardless of the size of the economy or system of government. The interconnectedness of development, technology, and disaster risk raises questions as to the resilience and vulnerability of societies – not just developing societies, as has been the primary focus of discussions on these two factors, but also the resilience and vulnerability of modern "developed" societies in the face of intensive risk, partly as a result of technology and infrastructure development, and increasing extensive disasters due in part to climate change, the so called "emerging risks".
Globally, the number of natural disasters and their costs are increasing The EJGET is set against a backdrop of upwards trends in the number of global disasters reported and the costs of their impacts. As reported on the International Disaster Database EM-DAT, which is maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), 2010 was the deadliest year in at least two decades for natural disasters. CRED reports that in 2010 some 385 natural disasters killed more than 297,000 people worldwide, affected more than 217 million others and caused damages to the tune of US$124 billion.xi Asia is particularly vulnerable. From 2000-2009, almost 85% of global deaths from natural disasters occurred in the region. xii These upward trends are set to continue due to unplanned urbanization, environmental degradation and climate change.
Time trend of reported natural disasters, 1975-2010. Source: UNISDR. Undated. 2010 Disasters in Numbers.
What is a disaster resilient society? Until the EJGET, Japan was presented as an example of a resilient nation, well advanced in mitigating and bouncing back from natural disasters. The magnitude of the EJGET, however, was not planned for. With a large population, much of whom resides on the coastal plains and fringes, a modern economy in which production chains are spread across the country (and globally), and with a centralised domestic energy system, Japan found itself vulnerable to this catastrophic event. Already, central and local governments are discussing a range of practical solutions, but these specific solutions need to be underpinned by a shared vision of what a disaster resilient society looks like, and a set of principles for building disaster resilience into the recovery process. As Brenton Prosser and Colin Peters point out, it can be difficult gaining agreement amongst policy makers on what resilience actually means.xiii Nevertheless, there appears to be enough common ground to build policy.xiv Put simply, a disaster resilient community can be defined as "the safest possible community that we have the knowledge to design and build in a natural hazard context"xv "minimizing its vulnerability by maximizing the application of disaster risk reduction measures". xvi The expressions "safest" and "minimizing its vulnerability" are important. We cannot complete insulate our communities from natural disasters. We cannot conquer the more powerful forces of nature, and indeed this has been a painful lesson from the EJGET. In terms of the disaster management cycle, which consists of disaster prevention (mitigation and
Disaster prevention
preparedness), response, and recovery and reconstruction, a disaster resilient society is one that "mitigates and prepares for the possibility of natural disasters, is able to deliver quick and effective emergency assistance to victims, and is capable of a smooth transition to implementation of recovery and reconstruction."xvii
Recovery and reconstruction
There are several concepts that are useful for understanding disaster resilience. First is the notion that resilience consists of a number of elements: Robustness – inherent strength, resistance; Redundancy – system properties that allow for alternative options, choices, substitutions; Resourcefulness – capacity to mobilise resources; and Rapidity – speed with which disruption can be overcome and services, income, etc. restored.xviii Second is the notion of "resilience domains". These are: Technical – physical systems – location based and distributed critical facilities; Organization – attributes, dynamics of organizations and institutions; Social – attributes, dynamics of communities and populations; and Economic – attributes, dynamics of organizations and institutions. xix In Japan, perhaps too much emphasis and confidence has been placed on the technical domain, i.e. engineering feats designed to protect communities and infrastructure from natural hazards, and too little on organizational, social and economic domains. The concepts of levels and scope of preparedness are also important. The literature on disaster resilient communities focuses on the local level, and discusses the broader context for community resilience in terms of "enabling conditions". However, in a highly integrated economy, such as Japan, the EJGET teaches us that resilience requires the state to provide more than just enabling conditions for local, community-level resilience. Disaster resilience at the national level requires a whole-of-government approach that builds disaster resilience into the national economy. The EJGET has taught us that in Japan even energy policy must be considered in the design of national disaster mitigation strategies. Facing once in hundreds of years natural disaster, the society which can minimize the damage and return normal as soon as possible, is sustainable. Above all, building resilient society means nothing more or less than establishing sustainable society.
Principles for building disaster resilient society In his reflection on the series of disasters in eastern Japan, Professor Ryokichi Hirono proposes a set of principles relevant to building disaster resilience in Japan using the concept of the 4H's (Horizon, Head, Hands, Hearts).xxii He discusses horizon as the need for "national and local visions of long-term development of all regions of the country", with a particular emphasis on areas previously affected by catastrophic disasters. Here, a scenario approach to natural and man-made disaster prevention and impact minimization that lays out cost-effective alternatives would be useful.
Heads, he explains, refers to: Immediate and early drafting by local governments on the basis of the closest consultation among the people in the [disaster affected areas], with assistance and support of central government, of immediate, short-,medium- and long-term measures to be taken by individuals, communities and all the other stakeholders, to prevent and minimize the adverse impact of all disasters, all of which requires the following: i) strong political leadership at the top, ii) transparency of public information and accountability of local and central governments to all stakeholders, iii) closest possible cooperation and collaboration among all stakeholders; iv) clear definition of the responsibilities of all stakeholders, particularly the roles of local and national governments, v) cross-sectoral coordination and integration among sectors and government ministries and departments, e.g. agriculture, fishery, forestry, manufacturing, power, transportation , communication, finance, services, housing, health, education, welfare, security and armed forces, etc.xxii
Hands, Professor Hirono explains, is about mobilising all traditional and recent knowledge and experiences, as well as generating new knowledge, through public participation and expert analysis to prevent and mitigate both natural and man-made disasters. Hearts is about: Involving all stakeholders in the decision-making processes related to disaster prevention and impact minimization through: i) basic education at school and in communities, ii) practical skill training and exercises at all levels, c) inculcating of the sense of ownership and participation among all citizens in local communities.xxii
Although Professor Hirono's discussion is specific to Japan, many of the principles are generic and have broad application.
Japan faces its most severe crisis and largest reconstruction effort since WWII Just before 3pm on 11 March 2011, at a magnitude of 9.0 Mw one of the largest earthquakes since modern recording began occurred off the eastern coast of Japan. With its epicenter approximately 72 km east of the Oshika Peninsula, the earthquake generated a massive tsunami that breached and washed over wave barriers and destroyed entire towns on Japan's eastern coast. Analysis later showed that the tsumami was over 20 – 30 meters in some areas. 8
Magnifying the scale of the disaster, the tsunami also washed over wave defenses protecting the Fukushima I and II Nuclear Power Plants, destroying reactor cooling systems at the No. 1 Plant and triggering a meltdown in three of its reactors. Hydrogen explosions destroyed the storage chambers of two reactors. On 12 March 2011, the Government ordered residents within 20km of the Fukushima power plants to evacuate. A scheduled evacuation order was released for some villagers located in the 20 – 30 km zone. Other areas in the 20 – 30 km zone were designated as "emergency evacuation preparation areas". The impacts of the EJGET have been enormous and a massive humanitarian relief effort involving government, civil society and international support is now underway. 15,550 deaths, 5,688 injured, and 5,344 people missing have been confirmed.xx Almost half a million houses and buildings were totally or partially destroyed, xxi and more than 130,000 people have been placed in temporary shelters. The survivors have experienced shortages of food, water, shelter, medicine and fuel. Prime Minister Kan described the aftermath of the EJGET as the most difficult crisis that Japan has faced since the Second World War. With the Government setting aside US$48.5 billion in emergency spending as a first step, Japan's largest reconstruction effort since the War is now underway. As a mountainous island nation located on the "Pacific Rim of Fire" in one of the most tectonically active parts of the world, and with a climate that features both typhoons and heavy snowfalls, Japan is used to natural hazards, whether earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, or landslides. Japan has built up a certain degree of resilience to these and, in fact, people from around the world have travelled to Japan to study the lessons it has learned and its technological advances on disaster preparedness. New Zealand, for example, is interested in learning from Japan on how to reconstruct the city of Christchurch, which was badly damaged by a series of earthquakes beginning in September 2010. While Japan continues to struggle with the resulting humanitarian and nuclear crisis, discussion has already begun on how to build a more disaster resilient society. In a press Conference on 01 April 2011, Prime Minister Kan presented an ambitious vision for reconstruction: We must then begin preparations toward reconstruction. In fact, we will go beyond mere reconstruction, creating an even better Tohoku and even better Japan. We 9
are moving forward with the creation of a reconstruction plan that has this big dream at its core. I have received many opinions over the telephone from the mayors of each city, town and village in the disaster-stricken area. These opinions will be incorporated into the plan for instance, in some areas we will level parts of mountains in order to create plateaus for people to live on. Those residing in the area will then commute to the shoreline if they work in ports or the fisheries industry. We will create eco-towns, places which use biomass and plant-based fuel to provide natural heating. We will outfit cities with infrastructure to support the elderly. We aim to create new kinds of towns that will become models for the rest of the world.
The Cabinet Office established the multi-stakeholder reconstruction planning council (officially named "The Reconstruction Design Council in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake�). The Council held 12 meetings over three months and adopted an action plan that underscores the need to promote reconstruction driven by the local communities. Disaster preparedness and wider use of renewable energy were also highlighted as guiding principles. Each prefecture and city has also formed reconstruction committees.
Case study: Rikuzentakata, Iwaki Prefecture Rikuzentakata, a city located on the coast in Iwaki Prefecture, is one of the tsumami affected areas. The city's death toll was 1,087 with 704 people recorded missing as of May 2011, out of a total population of 24,246. Economic damages included 3,159 houses completely destroyed; 1,368 fishing boats destroyed (the loss valued at 6.4 billion yen); seaweed and shellfish farming facilities destroyed and fish products damaged; damage to the harbor to the tune of 3.5 billion yen; livestock farms destroyed in two places (3 million yen); horticulture destroyed in 99 places (77.4 million yen); and 336 ha of rice paddy inundated (7.1 billion yen). The number of persons evacuated reached 10,143 and as of May 2011 49 evacuation shelters were operating. The temporary housing is being developed, with 2,200 units expected to be available. In Rikuzentakata, about 10 fishery ports were operating before disaster. One contentious issue is whether to restore all the ports or consolidate them into a few that will be reconstructed. Funds are limited but the local fishermen are generally against privatizing the ports. The fishermen prefer to maintain schemes based on fishing rights that are in the form of collective fishstock/marine resource management. The current reconstruction financing is bound to support the restoration of the previously existing infrastructure, and is not designed to support the rationalization or consolidation of infrastructure systems. Private partnerships have also been considered, for instance, to support oyster framing restoration in Miyagi. However, this is closer to philanthropic donations rather than investment, and the volume of financing is still far below actual needs.
2. Building resilience to contend with extreme events (infrequent, catastrophic disasters) Building resilience for infrequent, catastrophic disasters needs special attention. Economic imperatives may lead to a playing down of the risks and likely consequences of extreme, irregular events, though Professor Ryokichi Hirono argues that that Japan should have been prepared for the EJGET and provides a list of previous large-scale events that pointed to the possibility of this type and scale of geophysical event.xxii
Restoration of inundated and salinity affected paddy lands Restoration of inundated and salinity affected paddy lands is another important task in the reconstruction process in the aftermath of the EJGET. Farmers face financial and physical constraints to restore damaged paddy land and farms. Options that have been suggested include removing saline soil and replacing it with deeper lying unaffected soil or soil from other areas. Phytoremediation – the treatment of environmental problems by growing plants –such as rice, sunflower and rape/colza has been suggested. However, once paddy land is converted to farmland, it would take years to convert the farmland back to paddy land. The pros and cons of these proposals need further assessment.
Extreme events are sometimes labelled "black swans". They are events that are outside of normal expectations as past experience does not suggest their likelihood of occurrence. Human memory may not span sufficient generations to ensure that lesson from the history of extreme events is incorporated into today's planning and decision-making, or there simply may be no past human experience of a similar event. Even when there is living memory, the profit motive or competing demands on public funds may lead to avoidance of the costs for preparing for infrequent disasters. A lesson from the EJGET is that human engineering feats that aim to obstruct the forces of nature cannot protect against the most powerful natural phenomena. Wave barriers have, in the past, successfully protected parts of Japan from tsunamis and will continue to do so for more frequent events of average magnitude. But this type of engineering solution can lull people into a false sense of security, with potentially very high human and economic costs, as we have witnessed with the EJGET. The discussion in Japan has turned to the organizational, social and economic domains of disaster resilience.
Case study: Inter-community relief The value of inter-community support during the relief and recovery stage has been observed in the aftermath of the EJGET as well as disasters in other countries. As national and prefectural (state) governments must cover all areas directly impacted by the EJGET and because of their internal rigidities, they have found it difficult to supply timely relief on a priority basis. Community-to-community relief has been observed as more flexible than the vertical relief channel of national government to local community. When a community not directly impacted by the disaster is coupled with a disaster affected community to provide relief, the relief work can be better focused and thus more effective. When organizing relief in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, the Chinese central government paired disaster affected communities with communities in unaffected areas. The unaffected communities competed between themselves to assist their counterpart communities, and this unconventional approach of inter-community relief aid worked successfully. In Japan, inter-community relief gained popularity after the Hanshin earthquake in 1995. After the EJGET, relief was provided by various communities and municipalities; from both inside the disaster affected area (Tono City, Kurihara City, etc.), and outside the area (League of Kansai Municipalities, Suginami Ward, etc.). Tono City, located in Iwate Prefecture, where the impacts of the earthquake and tsunami were particularly severe, was relatively unscathed and became a relief supply center for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). An advantage of this inter-community aid was that Tono City is close to the devastated areas, which facilitated information collection and logistics. This is somewhat of an unusual example as in a widely damaged area it is difficult to find less affected communities that can extend a helping hand. Communities further removed from the disaster affected areas can also provide important support, however. Suginami Ward in Tokyo and the Unions of Kansai Governments (UKG) are good examples. Suginami Ward and other cities have long relationships with Minami Souma Cho, one of the areas affected by radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, as sister cities. Suginami ward used its inter-municipality network to provide relief assistance to Minami Souma Cho while UKG sent water and sewerage technical teams to the area. A challenge in organizing inter-community relief aid is coordination. Matching affected and unaffected cities to ensure that the relief provided is based on needs can take time, though sister city affiliation certainly facilitate this process. In Japan, further thought is now required on how government can encourage inter-community relationships as part of a process of building more effective channels to provide relief in the aftermath of disasters.
3. Building resilience into recovery and reconstruction In the aftermath of a catastrophic disaster, decisions will be taken that have long-term consequences. At an early stage there is a need to identify effective processes for ensuring that resilience building is integrated into the recovery and reconstruction process, so that the impacts of future natural hazards are better mitigated and societies more able to cope with these. Disaster management planning should provide a framework for making informed decisions in a time of chaos and uncertainty, as well as direct decision-makers towards the longer term goal of disaster resilience. Diagram below presents holistic approach for recovery from catastrophic disasters. It lays out a general governance structure for building resilient society by taking a multi-level, multi-stakeholder scheme. There are many stakeholders involved; nonetheless, it is necessary for each of them to conduct actions which can be delivered most efficiently. For instance, national government should provide atmosphere where local stakeholders can play active roles such as providing funds, decentralizing authorities, creating special economic zone, etc.
At the local level, local government needs to know community specific demand of assistance, and implement policies. At the same time, options and tools – regulatory (e.g. land use zoning) and non-regulatory (e.g. the acquisition and setting aside of hazard-prone lands) – should be set out and their costs and benefits closely studied. Relief aid conducted by NPOs and private companies is important as well as that of other municipalities. Coordination of these stakeholders' activities is crucial, since national and prefectural governments cannot flexibly correspond various needs in local areas. Challenging task is to maintain consistent relief aids from these stakeholders; therefore, national government should set environment to facilitate endurable voluntary relief from different kinds of stakeholders.
Renewable energy promotion in Kuzumaki Town Kuzumaki Town is a leading locality in promoting renewable energy. Based in the mountainous area in Iwate Prefecture, Kuzumaki produces far more energy through its wind turbines, wood chips and bark, and cow dung than it consumes and sells the surplus to the local power company. The success of Kuzumaki can be attributed to its entrepreneurial mayor and ingenious staff of the town office trained in the leading dairy farm, Koiwai. Kuzumaki was successful in obtaining subsidies from the government. On the other hand, it also faces some constraints in expanding renewable energy. The local power company has a quota to buy renewable energy and it prevents the town from investing in renewables. The distance between the site and settlement area makes it difficult to promote cogeneration and household waste for biogas application.
4. Moving from linear to holistic thinking contemplating deeper structural reforms
Prosser and Peters explain that disaster resilience is characterized by its "complexity, interactivity and interconnectedness" that traditional linear policy thinking, which is reductionist and works from policy to solution within "tightly defined conceptual modes", is unable to handle.xxiii They call for non-linear and holistic policy approaches, which require disaster resilience to be the collective responsibility of all members of society. The challenges are to facilitate both bottom up and high level engagement, and implement the principle of subsidiarity to promote local level flexibility within a strong national framework for disaster resilience. xxiv This understanding leads to the definition of a disaster resilient community as one that "works together to understand and manage the risks that it confronts, but is also aware of the responsibility of all levels of government."xxv
Resilience includes the ability to "bounce back", but this should not be viewed as merely returning to the way things were. Catastrophic natural disasters can highlight structural weaknesses in societies that make them vulnerable to large-scale natural hazard events. Deep structural reforms may be required, and the aftermath of a major disaster may allow for discussion of reforms that otherwise could not take place in "normal" circumstances.
Dealing with waste Millions of tons of waste were generated by the EJGET that is now obstructing the reconstruction process but might also provide opportunities. Basic separation of waste has been undertaken, but this is not sufficient for final disposal. Biofuel production from wooden waste has been suggested as one way to make constructive use of the waste; however, this requires time for storing the waste and could interfere with reconstruction processes. Creating wave/tide breaking woodlands on waste mounds or using them for memorial parks have also been suggested, though the technical feasibility of these proposals needs to be further examined.
The EJGET has shown that the belief that the preventive measures taken against earthquakes and tsunamis at nuclear power plants were adequate was mistaken. This has led to a deep review of the nuclear power policy in Japan. At the G8 Summit in France, Prime Minister Kan explained his government's determination to, as soon as possible, reduce Japan's dependence on nuclear power by increasing the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind and geothermal power to 20% of the total electricity requirement of Japan by 2020. Will this be possible or "enough"? What other deep reforms are necessary for building disaster resilience in Japan that should now be on the discussion table? How can these reforms be embraced by a future vision for a low carbon, resource efficient, and resilient Japan? These and similar questions about deep reforms and a future national vision now need to be placed on the discussion table. Determining who should participate in this discussion and how it should be facilitated are equally important as deciding the subject matter. In light of these questions, and to facilitate discussion on solutions, the following framework for rehabilitation in the Fukushima area of Japan near the damaged nuclear power plant was created:
Approach to disaster areas in Fukushima should be different with others, since effects of radioactive materials need to be considered carefully. The diagram above lays out holistic approach divided into various levels. Considering characteristics of the hazardous materials, compensation scheme is major part of relief actions, including providing alternate lands for locals.
5. Conclusion and the way forward The preceding sections have outlined major global issues facing policy makers and other stakeholders facing disaster management challenges using the triple disasters in Japan as a current case of risk, relief, and recovery. Globally the most outstanding success factor has been a marked reduction in mortality-risk from disaster. Saving lives is, for obvious reasons, of primary importance, but quality of life is also a fundamental development and disaster management issue. Economic growth and technological advances have added immeasurably to quality of life and changed the social, political, and environmental landscape more rapidly in the past century than any other period of time in history. However these advances have also opened up new risks due in part to the human contributions to climate change generated by our rapid growth, to remarkable technological advances such as nuclear energy, and infrastructure developed without sufficient planning for disaster risk. The latter two situations are arguably made all the more troubling by poor governance and institutional failures due in no small part to short-term thinking. The results of such actions are more extensive and intensive risks suffered mainly by the most vulnerable populations, and increasingly within more developed areas. The sudden, shocking, and in some ways unexpected nature of the recent disasters, in particular the triple disasters in Japan, are cause for deeper discussion on vulnerability, risk, and the policy decisions that need to be made for building a resilient and sustainable society.
UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat). 2007. Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters: Extract from the final report of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction. ii
UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat). 2011. Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. iii
UNOCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). 2010. Haiti situation report 19. New York, USA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. v
Japanese Red Cross Society. 2011. Japan: Earthquake and tsunami. Operations Update n4. http://www.jrc.or.jp/vcms_lf/kokusai_290611.pdf, accessed 12 July 2011 vi
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2212.html, accessed 12 July 2011.
Guha-Sapir, D., F. Vos, R. Below and S. Ponserre. 2011. Annual Disaster Statistical Review 2010 – The Numbers and Trends. Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Université catholique de Louvain – Brussels, Belgium, p.1. viii
Ibid. p.25.
Baritto. 2009. Disasters, Vulnerability and Resilience from a Macro-Economic Perspective, Lessons
from the Empirical Evidence. Background paper for the 2009 ISDR Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. xi
Guha-Sapir, D., F. Vos, R. Below and S. Ponserre. 2011. p.1.
UNISDR. Undated. 2010 Disasters in Numbers.
http://www.unisdr.org/preventionweb/files/17613_rectoversodisasters2010.pdf, accessed 11 July 2011. xiii
Prosser, B. and C. Peters. 2010. Directions in Disaster Resilience Policy. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management, 25:3. xiv
McAslan, A. 2009. The Concept of Resilience. Torrens Resilience Institute, Adelaide.
Geis, D.E. 2000. By Design: The Disaster Resistant and Quality-of-Life Community. Natural Hazards Review 1(3). pp.151-160. xvi
Twigg, J. 2009. Characteristics of a Disaster Resilient Community: A Guidance Note. University College of London. xvii
JICA. 2008. Building Disaster Resilient Societies: JICA's Cooperation on Disaster Management. Japan International Cooperation Agency. xviii
Bruneau. M. and K. Tierney. Resilience: Defining and Measuring What Matters. Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. xix
Japanese National Police Agency. 11 July 2011. Damage Situation and Police Countermeasures associated with 2011Tohoku district off the Pacific Ocean Earthquake. http://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/higaijokyo_e.pdf, accessed 11 July 2011. xxi
Hirono, R. 2011. East Japan Great Earthquake/Tsunami (EJGET) and Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO's) Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant Disaster (NPPD), 11 March, 2011: Lessons Learnt from the EJGET and NPPD. Presentation at the PECC Seminar, Perth, W.A., Australia, 11-13 April, 2011. xxiii
Prosser, B. and C. Peters. 2010. p.10.
Ibid. p.11.
COAG. 2009. National Disaster Resilience Statement, Excerpt from Communiqué, Council of Australian Governments, Brisbane, 7 December. Quoted in Prosser and Peters. 2010. p.11.
(Prepared for the International Forum for sustainable Asia and the Pacific 2011 in July 26, 2011)
June 2011
Green Economy for Sustainable Development: Japan should lead the policy shift towards global poverty alleviation Policy Proposals T he present socioeconomic activities of developed countries are in excess of environmental carrying capacity. Accordingly, the adoption of environmental taxes and payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes that reflect the consumption of ecosystems services and environmental services on economic activities is required to establish a genuine green economy model that is compatible with environmental carrying capacity of the Earth. The creation of such a model calls for shifting away from values that excessively seek convenience and reconsidering lifestyles dependent on mass production and mass consumption. In order to spread the advanced energy and environmental technologies of Japan to emerging and developing nations eager to switch to green economy models, it is essential to carry out precise matching of needs, giving consideration both to Japan's green innovation and to the green economy models of emerging and developing countries. A detailed plan for international standardisation of technologies, regulations, norms and standards in the environmental field (in cooperation with other Asian countries) is also urgently required. In order to prevent policy on green economy from leading to green protectionism, efforts are necessary to create mechanisms by which green economy policies promote sustainable production within exporting countries. This can be accomplished through the bilateral combination of green certification and technology transfer to promote sustainable methods of production that fulfil the conditions of green certification. A framework to carry out effective green economy-related discussions that overcome the differing standpoints of countries must not be based on any uniform definition of green economy. Rather, we must promote flexible approaches that allow countries to utilise not only their own green economy policies but also those of others to achieve their priority goals, including poverty eradication, while sharing a common objective: to shift to green economy on a global scale. (For further details on these proposals, please refer to p.6)
Satoshi Kojima Director IGES Economy and Environment Group email@example.com
Kei Kabaya Associate Researcher IGES Economy and Environment Group email@example.com
Takashi Yano Policy Researcher IGES Economy and Environment Group firstname.lastname@example.com
POLICY BRIEF vol.12
"Green economy" draws considerable attention
Environmental Nation in the 21st Century, and policy
internationally. "Green economy in the context of sus-
and initiatives have been put into place toward form-
tainable development and poverty eradication" will
ing a green economy.
feature as a key theme for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), to be
The financial crisis of 2008 further raised the status
held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, marking 20 years since
of green economy to the level of a major global issue.
the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The United Nations
As a means to overcome the financial crisis, many ma-
Environment Programme (UNEP) has carried out the
jor industrial nations, including the US, the EU, Japan
Green Economy Initiative since 2008, and released
and the Republic of Korea, have laid out green new
the Green Economy Report in February 2011 (UNEP
deal policies focused on employment creation and
2011). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation
economic stimulus based on large-scale investment in
and Development (OECD) launched the Green
renewable energy and other green industries. While
Growth Strategy in 2008, and green growth is set forth
the concept of a green economy has been highlighted
as the theme for the 50 anniversary of its founding in
as a method to stimulate economies based on growth
of green industries, there is also debate on interpreting green economy as a shift from existing economic
The concept of green economy is not new. It has
models focusing on GDP growth to more sustainable
been advocated since the late 1980s to imply a bal-
socioeconomic systems. Moreover, there are nega-
ance between environment and economy. Further-
tive arguments against the green economy concept of
more, the report released by the World Commission
developed countries that are blessed with advanced
on Environment and Development (WCED 1987) in
technological capacity and a wealth of funds and hu-
1987, that put the concept of sustainable development
man resources. Doubts have been raised on whether
in the spotlight, also sparked debate on green econo-
the concept can provide a prescription for sustainable
mies.1 However, it was in the latter half of the 2000s
development on a global scale that includes emerging
that the green economy concept began to attract its
and developing nations.2
current level of attention. At the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and
In this manner, while the green economy concept
the Pacific (MCED 2005), held in 2005 in the Republic
holds great potential and has captured the interest of
of Korea, the Seoul Initiative on Green Growth was
many countries and international organisations, the
adopted as a regional co-operation framework aimed
lack of agreement on definition increases the risk of
at achieving a balance between environmental pres-
convoluting the debate. This policy brief will explore
ervation and economic growth through methods such
the debate regarding the green economy concept
as improvement of eco-efficiency. The Republic of
within the UNCSD process, and will cover initiatives
Korea has since pursued green growth and a green
in various countries from the perspective of advance-
economy with great fervour. President Lee Myung-
ment of global sustainable development. It will also
bak, inaugurated in 2008, set forth "low carbon and
analyse Japan's initiatives related to green economy
green growth" as the national vision. Likewise, Japan
and make a proposal on the vital role of Japan in link-
set forth the formation of a "low carbon society," a
ing green economy polices from developed countries
"sound material-cycle society", and a "society in har-
to global sustainable development.
mony with nature" as the pillars of its Strategy for an
or instance, the work published as an introductory guide to environmental economics in 1989 by Pearce et al. (1989), that aroused a great deal of F interest, defined a green economy as an economy in alignment with sustainable development.
In this document, OECD member countries are referred to as developed nations, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as emerging nations, and all other countries as developing nations.
POLICY BRIEF vol.12
Trends in Debate on Green Economy within the UNCSD Process
The two Preparatory Committee Meetings and one
emerging and developing countries and the potential
Intersessional Meeting held by the UNCSD have
for environmental policies to hinder equity of trade
played a key role in leading discussion on green
(green protectionism); the second category involves
economies. At the First Preparatory Committee meet-
domestic issues, such as the decoupling of economic
ing held in May of 2010, definition and interpretation of
growth from environmental burden and green taxation
the concept of a green economy was the main subject
schemes including environmental taxes.
of discussion, and arguments both for and against the concept were revealed. Issues of concrete green
At the Second Preparatory Committee meeting held
economic policy and the outcomes expected from
in March of 2011, attention focused more on concrete
UNCSD were also given the floor as framework for fu-
issues, in particular international issues, rather than
ture debate took shape.
the definition of a green economy. The debate covered support for technology transfer, financial assistance
At the subsequent First Intersessional Meeting held
and capacity building for emerging and developing
in January 2011, a positive common recognition of the
nations, as well as avoidance of green protection-
green economy as a means to realising sustainable
ism in international trade. In this manner, the debate
development began to ferment. Debate on the content
on green economies within the UNCSD process has
of a green economy also began to take shape, and
changed course with each meeting, shifting from de-
became divided into roughly two categories. The first
bate on definition to more concrete issues, and from
of these is international issues, such as support for
discussion on domestic issues to international ones.
The Respective Positions of Countries on Green Economy Initiatives and International Debate
Regarding initiatives towards a green economy, it is
countries and developed nations. Many countries
found that Japan purports formation of the three pil-
are engaged in initiatives in waste management and
lars (a "low carbon society," a "sound material-cycle
recycling in attempts to form sound material-cycle
society", and a "society in harmony with nature"). It is
societies. Environmental labelling and green purchas-
also clear from debate within the UNCSD process that
ing initiatives have been carried out mainly in OECD
international interest lies in the areas of "international
member nations, with Europe implementing the most
co-operation" and "green protectionism". Based on
aggressive measures in this area. However even in
these issues, this brief presents the following over-
Europe, where importance is attached to resource
view of the respective positions of countries related to
efficiency, it is rare to find cases that utilise these
policy and international debate on green economies.
measures to achieve a fundamental shift towards systems based on environmental carrying capacity.
A glance at various countries shows that interest in
In response to calls to create societies in harmony
low carbon societies is on the rise. The stable sup-
with nature, many countries carry out biodiversity
ply of energy, indispensable for economic activity,
conservation efforts or economic value assessment of
is an issue faced by most countries. The creation of
ecosystem services. Aiming to measure the costs of
low carbon societies requires a shift in energy source
environmental burdens such as pollution and to reflect
from fossil fuels to clean energy, which is less depen-
economic value assessment of ecosystem services in
dent on carbon. Plans and initiatives on the develop-
policy formation, the UN and World Bank have taken
ment and adoption of renewable energy in particular
on a leading role in advancing the development of
are gaining force in many countries. Improvements
green national accounting.
in energy efficiency are one way of switching to low carbon and are regarded as important in many Asian
POLICY BRIEF vol.12
An examination on the progress of initiatives in vari-
neither an international treaty related to the formation
ous countries shows that of the three areas, relative
of sound material-cycle societies, such as the Frame-
headway has been made in the formation of low car-
work Convention on Climate Change for low carbon
bon societies. This state is due to the vigour of private
societies, nor international funding mechanisms re-
industry activities. Namely, the low carbon market
lated to the formation of sound material-cycle societ-
has already been established and is closely related to
ies. Another factor is the difference of geographical
energy issues toward which private investments have
scopes. While global issues such as the reduction of
actively been made. Measures aimed at the formation
greenhouse gas emissions are relatively easily justifi-
of sound material-cycle societies are both those that
able for international co-operation, the formation of
promote cyclic use of resources and those that control
societies in harmony with nature is an issue greatly in-
and manage the toxic substances and waste formed
fluenced by local conditions, and is difficult to address
in course of resource use. While pricing mechanisms
through international co-operation.
function effectively for the former, adjustments based on market mechanisms do not adequately function in
Regarding green protectionism, there are fears that
the case of the latter. Initiatives related to the forma-
green certification and border adjustment measures
tion of a society in harmony with nature are insuffi-
could be used to protect domestic industries. Green
cient. Namely, the costs of restoring ecosystems and
certification is a method of awarding certification to
the value of ecosystem services are neither necessar-
products that meet environmental standards as a
ily reflected in the pricing of goods and services nor
means to differentiate them from those that do not. If
integrated into market mechanisms. National account-
based on the high environmental standards that follow
ing has drawn attention as an attempt to internalise
developed nations' technological capacity, green cer-
these costs and values. However, mere comprehen-
tification has the potential to hinder the exports of de-
sion of the state of environmental and ecosystem cap-
veloping countries. Moreover, border adjustment mea-
ital use is insufficient. The pressing issue remains as
sures could potentially lead to excessive protection of
to whether these costs and values can be reflected in
domestic industries. Border adjustment measures aim
actual market prices through payment for ecosystem
to prevent decline in the international competitiveness
services (PES) or other schemes.
of countries that have adopted climate change mitigation measures, such as carbon tax and emissions
In order to shift from the current brown economy to
trading schemes, in relation to countries that have not
green economy, funds and technology are essential
adopted similar measures. They are a system for re-
regardless of the stage of economic development.
funding climate change mitigation costs on exports to
Developing countries in particular, without sufficient
countries that have not adopted measures or of taxing
funds and technology, have strongly asserted that
imports from these countries. The respective positions
developed countries should provide support. On the
of major countries on border adjustment measures
other hand, while developed countries understand
are shown in Figure 1. With the exception of certain
the necessity of international co-operation in creating
countries, Annex I countries to the Kyoto Protocol
green economies, and have promoted funding and
either support or favour these measures, while non-
technological support, most efforts are related to the
Annex I countries are opposed. In general, the figure
formation of low carbon societies: very few interna-
shows the juxtaposition of developed versus emerging
tional efforts have been seen in the formation of sound
and developing nations, with emerging and develop-
material-cycle societies and societies in harmony
ing nations particularly fearful of green protectionism.
with nature. One cause of this discrepancy is the fact
Therefore, creation of a system that allows for the
that initiatives are not appropriately integrated into
realisation of the primary goals of border adjustment
market mechanisms, much in the same manner as
measures while avoiding the traps of green protection-
debate over domestic initiatives. Furthermore, there is
ism is necessary.
POLICY BRIEF vol.12
India Indonesia Republic of Korea China Canada Ecuador Brazil South Africa negative
New Zealand
United States of America United Kingdom
Germany France Australia positive
Figure 1 Stance of major countries regarding border adjustment measures Note: The above figure is based on analysis of country trends by the authors and is not necessarily based on official declarations of countries.
The Green Economy Aspirations of Japan and Related Issues
The course Japan has mapped toward a green
the World Bank. While the former focuses on produc-
economy and the initiatives underway in that direction
tion efficiency, the fact that the initiative will not bring
warrant examination. Furthermore, the stance Japan
about reduction in production or consumption volume
has revealed on the major points of debate within
itself is an issue. Regarding the latter, there is doubt
the UNCSD process (namely support for technology
that the political will exists domestically to adopt mea-
transfer, financial assistance and capacity building and
sures in earnest, from the perspective of a shift from
avoidance of green protectionism), is also examined
conventional national accounting.
herein. Regarding support for technology transfer, finanJapan named the Environment and Energy Super-
cial assistance and capacity building and avoidance
power Strategy based on green innovation one of the
of green protectionism, two issues under debate in
seven strategies of the New Growth Strategy set forth
the UNCSD preparatory process, Japan has shown
by cabinet decision in 2010. Policies and initiatives
a favourable stance towards the former, but has not
with relevance to the economy are being put in place
revealed its position on the latter. In the background
toward formation of a "low carbon society", a "sound
of Japan's support for international co-operation in
material-cycle society" and a "society in harmony with
building green economies lies its experience in car-
nature", as set forth in the 2007 Strategy for an Envi-
rying out numerous development support projects in
ronmental Nation in the 21st Century. The low carbon
social infrastructure and other fields, mainly in Asia.
field in particular has heralded attention from industry,
As a matter of fact, the New Growth Strategy clearly
government and academic sectors, and relevant ac-
states the intent to unfold environment-related social
tivities are particularly robust, including development
infrastructure provision packages in Asia. However,
of low carbon technologies and deliberation on taxes
the prominence of China and the Republic of Korea in
for global warming mitigation, as well as drafting of a
recent years is striking, and competition in the Asian
roadmap for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
region has intensified in Japan's strong areas of envi-
On the other hand, economic policies on sound mate-
ronmental technologies and advanced infrastructure
rial-cycles and harmony with nature are at present less
provision. Hence, support paired with national interest
advanced. Some efforts are evident, such as the initia-
certainly requires a shift from conventional methods
tive to reflect the resource productivity indicators ad-
as well. Meanwhile, avoidance of green protectionism
opted domestically in the OECD Green Growth Strat-
must be considered, including measures to address
egy, as well as the declaration of intent to support the
various situations. Japan must consider whether or
partnership on green national accounting promoted by
not to levy tax on imported products equal to that of
POLICY BRIEF vol.12
domestic ones if carbon taxes are domestically ad-
international community.
opted. Further, this stance must be revealed to the
The Vital Role Japan Should Play in the Realisation of Green Economies: a Proposal
The twin ultimate objectives of green economies
is compatible with environmental carrying capacity of
on the path to realising sustainable development are
the Earth is an extremely difficult issue. It will some-
poverty eradication and a shift towards socioeconomic
times require industrial restructuring which may make
systems compatible with environmental capacity of
considerable and painful reductions in scale in some
the Earth. Meanwhile, promotion of a green economy
industrial sectors. The majority of debate on green
is a pressing issue for Japan. It is an approach to
economy makes allowances for affected industries
creation of a sustainable society through employment
and tends to be limited to discussion on improvement
generation and economic growth while tackling envi-
of productivity and efficiency that does not require ex-
ronmental commitments such as the achievement of
tensive adjustments to the scale of activity. However, it
emissions reduction targets agreed upon in the Kyoto
has become widely recognised that the socioeconomic
Protocol. We propose the following win-win approach,
activities of developed countries at present are in ex-
in which Japan's green economy policy can be utilised
cess of environmental carrying capacity of the Earth. If
to solve global issues, while contributions to the world
all people in the world realised a standard of living on
through international co-operation can in turn lead to
par with developed countries, the Earth would suffer
promotion of Japan's green economic policy.
too heavy a burden to withstand. Developed countries
• Creation of a green economy model compatible
are strongly called upon to make earnest efforts to
with environmental carrying capacity of the Earth
realise genuine green economies that are compatible
• Promotion of international co-operation and green
with environmental carrying capacity of the Earth. It
innovation via dispersion of Japan's energy and
is essential to shift away from values that excessively
environmental technologies
seek convenience and to rethink lifestyles dependent on mass production and mass consumption.
• Formation of trade policy that promotes sustainable production while guarding against green
In two regards, Japan enjoys advantageous condi-
tions for the creation of a green economy model. First,
• C ontribution to international debate on green
Japan has a record of past achievements in promot-
ing policy aimed at creation of a sound material-cycle society. Moreover, the recent earthquake and nuclear
(1) Creation of a green economy model compatible with environmental carrying
accident have resulted in an opportunity to review the
capacity of the Earth
appropriate socioeconomic systems. If we consider
Along with advancing various policies on the 3Rs,
the present crisis as a critical turning point for shifting
Japan has pioneered policy for realising a sound ma-
to a green economy compatible with environmental
terial-cycle society that takes into account controls on
carrying capacity of the Earth, such a shift would not
resource use, such as the application of resource pro-
only spur Japan's sustainable development, but would
ductivity indicators as policy objectives. Furthermore,
also facilitate other developed nations to develop their
revision of energy policy greatly dependent on nuclear
own green economy models. It would further lead to
power is unavoidable following the critical accident at
securing the resources required for provision of the
the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and the
fundamental infrastructure essential to the eradication
need to control the volume of resource use accord-
of poverty in developing countries. Such a shift would
ing to environmental carrying capacity of the Earth,
be a great contribution to international society.
including energy consumption, has become widely recognised. The shift to a socioeconomic system that
POLICY BRIEF vol.12
In order to materialise this win-win solution, a detailed matching process that takes into consideration
Necessary number of earths
anthropogenic structures
the perspectives of both Japan's green innovation and
nuclear power
the green economy in emerging and developing coun-
CO2 from use of fossil fuels
fishing grounds
tries is essential. It is further imperative to immediately
draft a detailed plan for international standardisation
of technologies, regulations, norms and standards
cultivated land
in the environmental field in co-operation with other Asian countries. Utilising the knowledge Japan has accumulated related to policy on the 3Rs, investiga-
Figure 2 Ecological footprint (2003)
tion and information provision in areas where potential
Prepared by the authors based on WWF research (2006). Note: This figure shows the amount of environmental resources that would be required if all people in the world were to lead lifestyles at the various consumption levels (y-axis units: number of earths). For example, if all people of the world lived at the same consumption level as the people of Japan, approximately 2.44 earths would be required. The breakdown in color shows that the contribution of CO2 from use of fossil fuels (the area of forests required for absorption) is large. Moreover, nuclear power energy is shown in fossil fuel conversion.
need for technological and financial support is high (such as creation of sound international systems for cyclic use of resources) could be effective. Additionally, if the economic benefits of the sustainable use of ecosystem services can be reflected in market mechanisms through adoption of green national accounting, technological innovations in the use of ecosystem ser-
From the perspective of facilitating the shift to a
vices (green agriculture technologies and technology
green economy, we must consider mechanisms for
to utilise lumber from thinning), which have developed
reflecting our consumption of ecosystem services and
comparatively slowly until now, can be expected. This
environmental services on economic activity, such as
would further enable international co-operation related
environmental taxes and PES schemes. Furthermore,
to the creation of societies in harmony with nature.
the adoption of green national accounting and environmental accounting in private industry must be de-
(3) F ormation of trade policy that promotes sus-
liberated in order to reflect the value of the ecosystem
tainable production while guarding against
and environmental capital that provide these services
green protectionism In order to avoid green protectionism, mechanisms
onto accounting systems.
to prevent obstacles to equitable trade must be delib(2) Promotion of international co-operation and
erated based on assessment of the influence of green
green innovation via dispersion of Japan's en-
economic policy on trade and the environment. Efforts
ergy and environmental technologies
are also necessary to venture even further to create
Dispersion of Japan's advanced energy and envi-
mechanisms that allow for policy to promote sustain-
ronmental technologies to the emerging and develop-
able production on the part of exporting countries. For
ing countries that are eager to shift to green econo-
instance, if green certification and technology transfer
mies is another important international contribution.
are paired bilaterally, sustainable production methods
For instance, export of social infrastructure projects in
to meet with green certification are facilitated. Re-
water-related technologies and green transportation,
search on sustainable production and border adjust-
both in partnership with private industries and utilis-
ment measures is relatively embryonic. If proposals
ing overseas development assistance (ODA), has the
on such mechanisms are made through new policy
potential to link the promotion of a green economy
research in addition to existing research, further im-
in Japan to the eradication of poverty and facilitation
portant international contributions can be made.
of sustainable development in developing countries. (4) Contribution to international debate on green
Japanese companies could also benefit by securing a
market for green products.
Differences in the standpoints of countries within
POLICY BRIEF vol.12
the international debate on green economies have
per capita ecological footprint
become evident. While some countries have doubts about the concept of green economy or believe the
developed nations
concept should be loosely defined according to the
per capita environmental capacity
circumstances of respective countries, some argue that if the definition of a green economy is made
emerging nations
overly flexible, the validity of the concept itself will be
developing nations
damaged. A major point of dispute is the fear that the
concept of green economy according to developed nations is premised on green technologies and will
Figure 3 H ypothetical path for the shift to lifestyles within limits of environmental capacity
thus be a constraining factor on development in least developed countries in particular. In order to address this negative potential and to
is important to pursue a win-win approach which links
advance constructive debate that overcomes the dif-
these green economy policies to poverty eradica-
ferent standpoints of countries, it is desirable to allow
tion and the promotion of sustainable development in
countries to utilise not only their own green economy
countries apprehensive that the green economy con-
policies but also those of others to achieve their prior-
cept will put constraints on development.
ity goals, including poverty eradication, while sharing a common objective: to shift to green economy on a
Application of such a flexible approach allows for
global scale. For instance, realisation of green econo-
countries with differing standpoints to debate on an
mies in developed countries could imply a shift to
equal footing, and paves the way for debate on ways
socioeconomic structures that are compatible with en-
to facilitate co-operation among countries with dif-
vironmental capacity and environmental constraints.
fering circumstances. As international debate on the
For emerging and developing countries, realisation
green economy concept is furthered in the future (both
of green economies could imply becoming greener
within the UNCSD process and otherwise), creation
(such as improvements in efficiency and advances in
of a framework for effective debate that overcomes
productivity in countries eager to improve energy ef-
differences in country standpoints will surely be an im-
ficiency and resource efficiency). At the same time, it
portant intellectual contribution.
Pearce D. A. Markandya, E. Barbier, 1989: Blueprint for a Green Economy London: Earthscan UNEP, 2011: Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication (www.unep.org/greeneconomy) WCED, 1987: Our Common Future Oxford: Oxford University Press WWF, 2006: The Living Planet Report 2006 WWF ■
This paper utilises a part of the research results of the "Dispersion Support for the 2010 Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development and Basic Research Work on International Trends", which was conducted based on a subcontract from the Ministry of the Environment to IGES. The authors would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Ministry of the Environment. However, the opinions and proposals contained in this paper are those of the authors, not of the Ministry of the Environment.
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies 2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa, 240-0115 Japan TEL : +81-(0)46-855-3700 FAX : +81-(0)46-855-3709 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com http://www.iges.or.jp Copyright © 2011 Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. All rights reserved. Although every effort is made to ensure objectivity and balance, the publication of research results or their translation does not imply IGES endorsement or acquiescence with their conclusions or the endorsement of IGES financers. IGES maintains a position of neutrality at all times on issues concerning public policy. Hence conclusions that are reached in IGES publications should be understood to be those of the authors and not attributed to staff-members, officers, directors, trustees, funders, or to IGES itself.
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Policy Brief #10 April 2010
Renewable Energy: A Strategic Policy for Sustainable Development Anindya Bhattacharya
Anindya Bhattacharya Policy Researcher IGES Economy and Environment Group firstname.lastname@example.com
Copyright © 2010 Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. All rights reserved. Although every effort is made to ensure objectivity and balance, the publication of research results or their translation does not imply IGES endorsement or acquiescence with their conclusions or the endorsement of IGES financers. IGES maintains a position of neutrality at all times on issues concerning public policy. Hence conclusions that are reached in IGES publications should be understood to be those of the authors and not attributed to staff-members, officers, directors, trustees, funders, or to IGES itself.
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies 財団法人 地球環境戦略研究機関
There is ample evidence of underproduction of renewable energy across the world, in spite of there being the necessary resources to produce RE, including technology and finance. It seems politicians and law-makers have yet to be persuaded about the importance of renewable energy to solve the problem of energy security and sustainable development and to act on it seriously. As a matter of fact, renewable energy sectoral investment is highly correlated to the international oil price movement. This further proves the continued myopic views of the law-makers about the spectrum of benefits that renewable energy brings. Hence, a lack of steady policy support for renewable energy is not only jeopardising the matured development of this promising market but also stopping the world from taking advantage of using it for multipurpose benefits including its use as a risk hedging instrument in the increasingly uncertain conventional energy market. Renewable energy policy has fallen into the trap of a boom-bust cycle of world economy and the corresponding international energy price fluctuation. Such policy is therefore unable to deliver its full benefit to society, including creation of green collar jobs and even reducing the electricity tariff for consumers. To overcome this bottleneck, the author has suggested a two-tier solution. First, mainstreaming risk-explicit cost benefit analysis of renewable energy policy at a country-specific level and second, improving regional cooperation to harness the maximum benefits of available resources scattered across countries with geographical proximity. It is indeed a strategic choice for the policy-makers to decouple renewable energy development activities from the boom-bust cycle of economy for seamless progress towards sustainable development.
Many Governments and law makers have not yet been persuaded on the direction of mainstreaming renewable energy generation in the overall energy policy development processes in the world. Renewable energy-based green power policy is still considered to be an expensive path for development, and so even after several boom-bust cycles of the world economy, policy makers remain hesitant to take a target based approach to increase green energy supply in the total energy mix. There are several other cases in and around Asia where in spite of having excellent potential and a good enabling environment, renewable energy is still heavily underproduced. It seems that politicians and lawmakers are yet to be persuaded about the use of renewable energy to address the issues of energy security especially in the case of energy price fluctuation. It has been estimated that out of 2700 Twh total theoretical potential of renewable energy in Asia, only around 6% has been harnessed (Romero et al 2008). In fact, technical and financial constraints can limit the commercially available renewable energy by around a half of the total theoretical potential. While it is true that many governments are now proactively promoting renewable energy in the face of imminent price hikes for fossil fuels due to increasing demand, there are several countries which have not yet taken actions to add more renewable energy into the supply mix and which are still focusing on a future energy supply based on fossil fuel. As a matter of fact, the new concept of Green New Deal, a green economy policy initiative which also includes renewable energy, might also be very short lived indeed as it primarily depends on the individual country's plan of future development and growth.
"Whenever there is an increase in oil price, more green energy budgets tend to be introduced into the market."
In the past, whenever the price of fossil fuel fell for various reasons including economic recession, there was a sharp reduction in renewable energy investment and Research and Development (R&D) budget along with a drop in decisions to adopt new policies to promote renewable energy. Figure1 below consists of two juxtaposed graphs showing the trend in the last couple of decades of total research and development budget allocation for renewables especially solar and wind in IEA member countries, and compares this trend to international oil price fluctuations. It indicates that whenever there is an increase in oil price, more green energy budgets tend to be introduced into the market. This is not only the case for the developed world but also in developing countries too. Anticipating more uncertainties in the world economy in the near future, oil and other fossil fuel prices are expected to remain volatile in nature. Hence, renewable energy will continue to be subject to the boom-bust cycle of fossil fuel prices in the international market. Crude Oil Prices 2006 Dollars
$60 $50
OPEC 10% Quota Increase Asian Financial Crisis
Iran / Iraq War
Series of OPEC Cuts 4.2 Million Barrels
Iranian Revolution
PDVSA Strike Iraq War Asian Growth
U.S. Price Controls
Gulf War
$30 $20 $10
Yom Kippur War Oil Embargo
70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 07 C WTRG Economics ○1998-2007 1947 - Aug. 2007 www.wtrg.com U.S. 1st Purchase Price (Wellhead) "World Price"* (479)293-4081
Avg U.S. $29.08
Small Hydro (<10 MW) Large Hydro (>10 MW)
Avg World $32.23
Median World $26.90
USD (2006) millions
Geothermal Bioenergy Ocean
Wind Concentrating solar thermal
Solar photovoltaics
Solar heating and cooling
' 74
' 90
' 00
' 06
Source: IEA, 2008
Figure 1: Renewable energy R&D budget compared to the crude oil price
"Inconsistent and fluctuating government policies in the renewable energy sector creates boom/bust cycle in the market jeopardising any long-term investment planning by companies."
The major problems arising out of such fluctuation in renewable energy policies are a decrease in investment interest from the private sector companies in this sector as well as an increasing amount of sunk cost1 which is finally becoming irrecoverable and is a bad investment for the whole economy. Overall, the inconsistent and fluctuating government policies in the renewable energy sector creates boom/bust cycle in the market jeopardising any long-term investment planning by companies. The renewable energy sector is still in the developing stage and so needs continuous policy support from the Government to become matured. It is difficult for private sector investors to afford longer market uncertainties while the main onus is on the government to create enabling environment for renewable ————————————— 1
Policy Brief #10 April 2010 © IGES
Sunk cost refers to the investment which never gives a return to the investors.
energy investment. As a matter of fact, abandoning one 5 MW wind farm (on-shore) project during its construction period will generate around USD5 million in sunk assets which will never give any return. Similarly, a 10 MW solar PV project if abandoned can generate USD25 million in sunk assets plus around 70 year-round jobs (Kobos et al.)
"Having negative perception about the relatively longer time span needed to accrue the benefits of high-cost renewable energy"
Lack of understanding of comprehensive benefits of renewable energy use is perhaps the main reason of failure to persuade the law makers for having a stable renewable energy policy in the country. There could be three main reasons for lack of understanding. The first one is, having negative perception about the relatively longer time span needed to accrue the benefits of high-cost renewable energy compared to conventional energy. Although the gestation periods for renewable energies are much shorter than conventional large scale power plants but their pay back periods are still very long mainly due to high installation costs and lower offtake level. In Japan, pay back time is around 10 years for solar energy even with the increased level of Feed-in-Tariff scheme. It may take more than 5 to 10 years to observe the net benefits of the green energy supply in the economy.
"Underestimating the co-benefits of renewable energy such as power sector investment risk coverage."
The second one is, underestimating the co-benefits of renewable energy such as power sector investment risk coverage. Benefits are accruable even in a shorter time. Renewable energy investment in an investment portfolio for the electricity sector can be considered a substitute to risk insurance premium which is paid mainly to mitigate the adverse impacts of a sudden rise in oil prices or a sudden increase in carbon price. The mechanism of using renewable energy as risk coverage insurance is based on the modern financial market portfolio theory whereby an increasing number of less risky assets in an investment portfolio whose investment returns are not correlated among each other can actually hedge the risk of single asset investment. The investment return should be seen from the portfolio's total return perspective rather than any individual investment return. Energy portfolio diversification with more renewable energy options whose fuel supply risk is nil or very low could actually give a wider space for risk mitigation of fossil fuel price fluctuation.
"Ignoring the benefit of larger use of renewable energy to create downward pressure on retail energy prices."
The third one is, ignoring the benefit of larger use of renewable energy to create downward pressure on retail energy prices. More renewable energy means reduced demand of fossil fuels for power generation and therefore, reduced price of fossil fuels in the market. Less expensive fuel can further help to compensate consumers' additional spending on higher electricity tariff due to increased level of expensive renewable energy supply. It has been estimated that in the United States, a 1% drop in natural gas demand can reduce the long-term wellhead gas price by 0.75-2.5% (Wiser, 2004) and there would be a subsequent reduction of retail gas prices on the market. In certain cases like wind and solar PV technologies, use of renewable energy may not increase the retail tariff for the consumers (like remote area water pumping, refrigeration, street lighting etc. WEC, 1994) but can still help to reduce the fossil energy demand and prices subsequently. Moreover, as explained by Neij (1997), learning-by-doing can also reduce the costs of renewable energy supply which further increases the net benefits of renewable energy for retail fossil energy price reduction. There are three different studies ( EIA, UCS and Tellus) shown together in Figure 2 below which demonstrate the impacts of increasing renewable energy generation ( by increasing RPS quota from 10% to 20%) on average wellhead gas price on the US market. It has been estimated that increasing RE generation from 50 to 800 Billion kWh can reduce the average wellhead gas price by 60 cents/MMBtu. This indicates that even though renewable energy is apparently expensive, it has a certain damping effect on the fossil fuel price by controlling the demand in the market2 ————————————— 2
Set of these studies predict that increase in renewable energy generation can cause a reduction in US natural gas consumption within the range of 1 to 11% and this can further suppress the natural gas prices within the range of zero to 18% ( Bolinger et al. 2008) ( The broken line indicates the trend of decreasing well head gas price compared to increasing level of renewable energy generation)
Policy Brief #10 April 2010 © IGES
Figure 2: Renewable energy generation Vs Wellhead Natural Gas Price
It is a policy decision of the law-makers to create an enabling environment first where investors can invest more in renewable energy in spite of it not being cost competitive. In the end, by virtue of the economy of scale and learning by doing, the renewable energy sector itself can break the inertia of growth which will bring benefits to the consumers by helping to reduce the electricity tariff. Thus an increase in the supply of renewable energy can bring an additional benefit to the whole economy in the long term. "R i s k e x p l i c i t c o s t b e n e f i t analysis of the renewable energy is very much needed."
In this respect, risk explicit cost benefit analysis of the renewable energy is very much needed. Policy makers should think of an effective alternative to reduce the risk of international fossil fuel price fluctuation and its negative economic and financial consequences on the national economy. Risk covering financial instruments like forward contracts and options which sometimes account for a half of the total supply cost, often play a decisive role in investment planning in the highly price-sensitive energy market. In natural gas importing countries like the United States, power companies are paying 0.4 to 1.7 cents/kWh (Bolinger et al, 2008) additionally to the gas supplier as price premium just to have a long-term price contract to avoid very high prices in the spot market. From 1996 to 1999 oil importers in the United States already paid around USD 5 per barrel as premium for a 12 month contract compared to the world average price of crude oil, which is around 17 to 20 billion USD per annum (EIA, 2009). Very recently, US crude oil futures for delivery in 2014 are traded at USD 80/barrel while the market price was just USD 50 /barrel. This further indicates that even during the lower crude oil price oil importers are still ready to pay hefty premiums (USD 30/barrel in this case) just to avoid supply uncertainty. Risk explicit cost benefit analysis of the power sector investments can influence the investors in favor of renewable energies even though they are apparently more expensive than the conventional sources. It is therefore, important for the law makers to create an enabling environment in the market where the investment risks not covered by the government are explicit. It has been estimated that a 1% increase in renewable energy supply in the Japanese electricity supply portfolio can reduce the portfolio risk by 1% which can significantly reduce the expenditure on risk-covering premiums (Bhattacharya and Kojima, 2010).
"Regional cooperation can help to have cost competitive renewable energy supply domestically."
Regional cooperation can help to have cost competitive renewable energy supply domestically. Policy-makers can also think of increasing multi-country regional cooperation to enhance the utilisation of renewable energy in the domestic market. There is unlikely to be uniform distribution of the renewable energy potential among the countries. To avoid both underutilisation and higher marginal production costs, regional cooperation among the countries to harness all possible potential of renewable energy can overall bring a win-win solution to the problem of high cost. Quite often it happens that the RE potential lies within the country which has less capacity to harness, in contrast to having less potential than a more capable country. To avoid such disparities, having cross border renewable energy infrastructure development can be a win-win solution. It has been estimated that
Policy Brief #10 April 2010 © IGES
Jinghong hydro power project in the Yunnan province of China can export more than 3 million kW of electricity to Thailand over a cross border transmission system by 2017. This would be around 30% less expensive compared to the cost of same amount of electricity production in Thailand (Bhattacharya et al. 2009). Similarly, a power transmission line connecting China, Republic of Korea (ROK) and Russian Far East (RFE) can help to bring hydro electric power from RFE to ROK during summer and RFE to China during winter to meet the peak demands. RFE power flows to China can displace coal-fired power generation within China. As a matter of fact the net benefits of such interconnection could be around USD 750 million per year as avoided costs in the recipient countries like China and ROK (Hippel, 01). Moreover, this kind of project can also bring a win-win solution to the macroeconomic effects on both the countries in terms of increased GDP. Both China and Thailand can expect their respective GDP to increase by USD76 and USD47 million respectively thanks to this Jinghong hydro power project alone. In addition, both the countries would be able to reduce CO2 emissions by 1 million tonnes each. Table 1 shows the impacts of Jinghong cross border hydro power project investment on China and Thailand. Table 1: Impacts of energy sector investment on economy and environment in Asia
Cross border hydro project investment
Impact of cross border hydro project investment on GDP growth
Impact of energy sector investment on CO2
Million USD
Change from BAU (Million USD)
Change from BAU (mil.t-CO2 )
− 1.0
− 0.9
Source: Bhattacharya and Kojima, 2009
"Creating green collar jobs."
Creating green collar jobs. Policy-makers can use renewable energy to create a new employment category called 'green collar jobs' and can then even improve the national employment rate amidst global economic downturn. Table 2 shows the job creation potential of each renewable energy technology on a global average basis which is indeed comparable to conventional power generation cases. In fact, the US economy under the Obama administration is now emphasising the green growth mechanism in spite of the ongoing economic recession to create more "green-collar" jobs to address both the environmental and the economic development issues together. It is expected that this new economic stimulus package worth around USD one trillion, can create more than 3.5 million jobs in the United States. Table 2 below shows how different renewable energy technologies can create employment at different stages of development. It appears that there are more jobs created during the commissioning period than after commissioning. Nevertheless, the renewable energy sector can further nourish the development of a skilled global labour force that is required for its long term operation and maintenance activities. In Asia, given the potential of renewable energy generation and given its employment generation capacity, around 1 million jobs can be created3. Apart from such organized sector job creation, renewable energy can immensely contribute towards the rural livelihood generation through unskilled and semi-skilled job creations. Renewable energy can even engage women in the income generating activities in the rural areas which can further create multiplier effects on the national economy as well ( Mehta et al.). Finally, while the policy-makers puzzle over the issue of effective utilisation of the billions of dollars of special stimulus money to revitalise the economies across the world, investment in renewable energy can bring relief to the economy. ————————————— 3
Number of jobs has been estimated using both the REN21 projection of number job creation per MW of renewable energy and estimated Asian renewable energy potential (Romero et al. 2008). As a conservative estimate it is assumed that only 50% of the total theoretical potential would be harnessed.
Policy Brief #10 April 2010 © IGES
Table 2: Employment generation potential of renewable energy technologies Estimates of Employment Coefficients ( No. of Job/MW) Manufacturing & Installation
Technology Thermal (Conventional)
Solar PV
Waste to energy
Small hydro
Source: REN21 RE Global Status Report 2007, p37
Conclusion "Renewable energy can bring a win–win solution to this world which is reeling under severe economic, social and environmental crisis."
Policy Brief #10 April 2010 © IGES
By virtue of its less risky characteristics coupled with other benefits including dampening impacts on fossil fuel prices, electricity tariff and enlarging impact on macroeconomic outputs, employment status etc., renewable energy can bring a win–win solution to this world which is reeling under severe economic, social and environmental crisis. Moreover, based on the previous discussion, renewable energy can be treated as context neutral strategic solution for sustainable development and can be freed from any conditionality of the surrounding economic situation. Unfortunately, global renewable energy policies appear to be very unpredictable and closely follow the trends in fossil fuel prices, which is further linked to the economic boom-bust cycle. Instead of their context neutrality nature, the reality surrounding renewable energy development is still very much subject to context. However, we can no longer afford to continue with such swinging policies of renewable energy which can permanently jeopardize sustainable economic growth. The world cannot afford to see another oil shock in the near future either, and so needs to invest more on renewable energy. If so, that will determine the point of no return on the path to sustainable development. Policy and law makers should realise that given the level of uncertainties in the modern economy, it is almost impossible to predict the energy market with any reasonable certainty. As a matter of fact any delay could prove very costly. It is much safer to develop an alternative like renewable energy to protect the world from future energy uncertainties and to ensure a sustainable growth path. Continued promotion of renewable energy is therefore indispensable for modern society.
References Bhattacharya, Anindya and Kojima, Satoshi 2009. Impact of Cross Border Energy Infrastructure Investment on Regional Environment, Society and Climate Change. In Infrastructure for a Seamless Asia. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank and Asian Development Bank Institute. Bhattacharya, Anindya and Kojima, Satoshi 2010. Power Sector Investment Risk & Renewable Energy: A Japanese case study using portfolio risk optimization method. Working Paper, Economic Analysis Team, IGES, Hayama. (Under review of Energy Policy Journal special issue on Renewable Energy Investment) Bolinger, Mark and Wiser, Ryan 2008. The Value of Renewable Energy as a Hedge Against Fuel Price Risk In Analytical Methods for Energy Diversity & Security edited by M. Brazilian: Elsevier. Energy Information Administration. 2008. Financial Reporting System Survey - Form EIA-28. Washington D.C.: EIA Energy Information Administration. 2009. Independent Statistics and Analysis. Washington D.C.: EIA Hippel, David F. 2001. Estimated Costs and Benefits of Power Grid Interconnections in Northeast Asia In Northeast Asia Grid Interconnection Workshop. Beijing. Nautilus Institute. International Monetary Fund. 2008. World Economic Outlook - Financial Stress, Downturns and Recoveries. Washington D.C: IMF. International Energy Agency. 2008. Deploying Renewables: Principles for Effective Policies. Paris. IEA. Kobos, Peter H., Erickson, Jon D., Drennen, Thomas E. 2006. Technological learning and renewable energy costs: implications for US renewable energy policy. Energy Policy 34 (13):1645-1658. Mehta, Aasha K., Mohapatra, G., Ali, A., Mukherjee, Suparna D. 2009. Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihoods in MNRE-UNDP-FRG Project Villages in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand: A Report. New Delhi. Indian Institute of Public Administration. Neij, Lena. 1997. Use of experience curves to analyse the prospects for diffusion and adoption of renewable energy technology. Energy Policy 25 (13):1099-1107. Romero, Jane, Elder, Mark, Bhattacharya, Anindya,. 2009. Strengthening ASEAN+3 Renewable Energy Strategies. International Energy Journal (in press).
Policy Brief #10 April 2010 © IGES
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IGES Policy Report-2011-04
Strengthening international environmental governance by two-phased reform of UNEP: Analysis of benefits and drawbacks
Governance and Capacity Group, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
IGES Policy Report 2011-04
Simon H. Olsen and Mark Elder
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) 2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa, 240-0115, Japan Tel: +81-46-855-3720 Fax: +81-46-855-3702 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com URL: http//www.iges.or.jp
Strengthening International Environmental Governance by Two-phased Reform of UNEP: Analysis of Benefits and Drawbacks IGES Policy Report
Copyright Š 2011 Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. All rights reserved.
The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) is an international research institute conducting practical and innovative research for realising sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.
No parts of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from IGES. Although every effort is made to ensure objectivity and balance, the publication of research or translation does not imply IGES endorsement or acquiescence with its conclusions or the endorsement of IGES financers.
IGES maintains a position of neutrality at all times on issues concerning public policy. Hence conclusions that are reached in IGES publications should be understood to be those of the authors and not attributed to staff members, officers, directors, trustees, funders, or to IGES itself. Printed in Japan Printed on recycled paper
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ vi
Tables and Figures .................................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................................... viii Abstract............................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.
Introduction: Defining the scope of the paper ....................................................................................... 2
1.1 IEG reform and multilevel relevance ............................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Why broader reform is needed and why it would matter ...................................................................... 3 1.3 Chronology of the IEG debate .............................................................................................................................. 4 1.4 The reform options ................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.5 The arguments ........................................................................................................................................................... 6
Reform Phase 1: Universal Membership of UNEP GC/GMEF........................................................... 7
2.1 The difference between universal membership and universal participation ............................... 8 2.2 Legal aspect of universal uembership ............................................................................................................. 9 2.3 Universal decision-making ................................................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Application in practice ........................................................................................................................................ 11 2.5 Financial aspect of universal membership ................................................................................................. 11 2.6 Establishing permanent country representation .................................................................................... 11 2.7 Unanswered questions of funding of the governance regime ........................................................... 12 2.8 Structural aspect of universal membership and its relation to MEAs ........................................... 12 2.9 Clustering MEAs under a GC umbrella ......................................................................................................... 13 2.10 In sum........................................................................................................................................................................ 14
Reform Phase 2: Establishing a specialized agency on environment....................................... 16
3.1 Legal aspect, benefits and drawbacks of a specialized agency: ....................................................... 16 3.2 Decentralised decision-making ....................................................................................................................... 16 3.3 Strengthen the environment voice on international and national levels .................................... 17 3.4 Combining top-down agenda setting with bottom-up integration ................................................ 18 3.5 Financial aspect, benefits and drawbacks of a specialized agency ................................................ 18 3.6 Membership defined by level of contribution ............................................................................................ 18
3.7 Structural aspect, benefits and drawbacks of a specialized agency: ............................................. 19 3.8 Environmental mainstreaming in the UN: Done deal? ......................................................................... 19 3.9 In sum .......................................................................................................................................................................... 20 4.
Conclusion: ........................................................................................................................................................ 21
4.1 From pledge to action: cooperation among stakeholders .................................................................. 23 4.2 Reasons for resistance and reasons for support ...................................................................................... 24
Literature: .................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Convention on Biodiversity
Council of Ministers
Conference of the Parties
Committee of the Whole
Committee of Permanent Representatives
Economic and Social Council
Environment Management Group
European Union
General Assembly
Global Environmental Facility
Greenhouse gases
Global Environmental Governing Council
Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum
International Environmental Governance
International Labour Organization
Least developed country
Multilateral Environmental Agreement
Memorandum of Understanding
System-wide Medium Term Environment Programme
Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting
Universal Membership
UN Environment Organization
UN Environment Programme
World Environment Organization
World Health Organization
World Meteorological Organisation
World Trade Organisation vi
Figure 1: Thrust of IEG Reform……………………………………………….....5 Table 2: Universal Membership……………………………………………….15 Table 3: Specialized Agency……………………………………………….…….21 Figure 4: Cooperation on implementation levels..……………………..23
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author of this report gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the Ministry of Environment of Japan for the research conducted under this study.
Throughout the research process and reviewing of the final report the author received essential support, comments and input from the following: Maria Ivanova (Global Environmental Governance Project), as well as Mori Hideyuki, Imura Hidefumi, Mark Elder, Ogihara Akira, Robert Didham, and Lewis Akenji (Institute for Global Environmental Strategies).
Disclaimer Although this work provides recommendations for international environmental governance, the views and opinions contained within are those of the author alone, and in no way does it imply the endorsement or acquiescence of the Ministry of Environment or any other government agency in Japan.
This paper aims to contribute to the debate on strengthening international environmental governance (IEG) architecture towards more effectively promoting environmental sustainability. To this end, the paper will analyse two broad reform options: 1) introducing universal membership of UNEP's Governing Council, and 2) elevating the status of UNEP to a specialized agency. The paper will analyze the broad reform options by focusing on their legal, financial and structural implications as well as on potential benefits and drawbacks of each option. In addition to these broad reform options, the paper acknowledges the importance of incremental reform of environmental governance that is taking place to enhance efficiency of environment work within the United Nations (UN) and on national levels. While these incremental improvements are valuable, the paper argues broader reform of IEG and UNEP in particular will be necessary to improve environmental governance, as stronger legal clout is ultimately necessary to arrive at more effective environmental governance architecture. Proposing broader reform, the paper argues that the two summarized IEG reform options should be implemented in a phased approach, and that benefits of broader reform would accrue not only to international environmental policy making, but also strengthen the role of environmental vis-à-vis economic policy making on national and local levels. Thus, the paper recommends that countries' and citizens' support the broad IEG reform options for the benefit of both international and national environmental governance.
Many countries are making progress addressing their environmental problems, but it is unlikely that a purely nation-state approach will suffice in addressing the international and global dimensions of environmental issues. At the same time, however, the current international governance architecture that has emerged over the last four decades is disjointed and inefficient and therefore unable to function effectively. As a result, environmental legislation remains notoriously weak. Stronger international environmental governance (IEG) architecture is necessary to safeguard the international and national environment and ensure that human well-being does not suffer from environmental degradation.
IEG refers to the international mechanisms, institutions and stakeholders that manage environmental challenges. The concept is related to how environmental issues reach the political agenda, how policies are formulated, and how programmes are implemented (IGES 2006). To match the limited scope of this paper, IEG will be defined as governance in context of the United Nations and particularly its relation to reform of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It should be pointed out that IEG is undertaken by a multitude of actors, and even though its role looks to be primarily international, bolstering it on the intergovernmental level would possibly benefit both national and local environmental decision-making.
While much of the IEG debate has taken place in the intergovernmental arena, vertical linkages must be made to the realities on domestic implementation level. For example it should be emphasized that stronger legal and financial capacity of the IEG architecture will have multilevel benefits. Neglecting the impact on national level will make little sense, as decision makers, who represent their nation states, will not recognise the relevance and interest in supporting IEG. IEG reform should therefore be analysed for the potential contributions to national level policy making.
Apart from the need for vertical integration to enable to downstream flow of benefits from the international to the national and local levels, environmental policymaking can be bolstered by horizontal integration. This can happen by uniting ministries, as for example the ministry of ecology, sustainable development, transport, and housing in France. Germany introduced green cabinets, which improved the agenda setting capacity of its environmental ministry (Lenschow 2009:102). Sweden and the Netherlands have experimented with green reviews of national budgets (Ibid.:75). Above and beyond national levels it has also been possible to strengthen environmental legislation. For example the Treaty establishing the European Union (EU) states that environmental protection, â€œâ€Śrequirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of the Community policiesâ€? (EU1997).
These tools and processes exemplify how national level environmental policy making has been strengthened to allow environmental concerns to gain more influence compared to traditional economic policy making. While these examples are inspirational and encourage reproduction in other contexts, the strengthening will continue ad-hoc and in a haphazard fashion as long as the main agenda setter on the international level remains weak. The paper will therefore emphasize 2
that strengthening UNEP by altering its legal, structural and financial composition would realize considerable scope for improving effectiveness of multilevel environmental governance.
IEG needs to be strengthened not only because of the emerging environmental problems faced by multiple countries, but also to allow environmental decision-making to better match economic decision-making. Before examining the details of that argument in the context of UNEP, it will be necessary to provide a brief overview of some of UNEP's inbuilt shortcomings. UNEP was founded in 1973 with a broad mandate establishing it as the designated authority of the United Nations system in environmental issues at the global and regional level (UNEP 2011). However, it was never given autonomous decision-making power, and with the global increase of environmental issues, the lack of legal independence and funding has proven detrimental for its ability to successfully address environmental challenges. Earlier research (WRI 2002; Ivanova 2010; Biermann and Bauer 2007) establishes a number of reasons to the mixed successes of UNEP, which – among other factors - emphasize limited authority and funding as main reasons for UNEP's weakness. The lack of centralized authority on IEG has resulted in the current fragmented environmental governance architecture. As could be observed over the last four decades, the gradually emerging environmental challenges have resulted in an impressive web of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and programmes both within and outside of the UN's purview. It has been established (Kanie 2007, Najam et al. 2006) that there currently are well over 500 such MEAs. Many of them overlap, and governments, especially those with limited financial and human capacity, are severely challenged with their administration (ECOLOGIC 2004). Thus, the decentralized decision-making regarding these agreements can be said to be one detrimental characteristic of the currently fragmented IEG regime. In response to that fragmentation, the section on universal membership (see below) will argue that universal membership of UNEP GC/GMEF has the potential to address the issue.
Universal membership could centralize decision-making, which would resemble a significant efficiency and effectiveness improvement of IEG. However, the paper will argue that establishing universal membership is not an end in itself, but a strategic step towards strengthening IEG. The paper argues that a universally representative forum of environment ministers begs the subsequent provision of autonomous decision-making authority. Equipping environment ministers at the GC/GMEF with such authority would enable stronger international environmental policy making. This benefit can be assumed not only because of the purely environmental mandate and specialization of the GC/GMEF, but also in comparison to the current situation it would be an advantage for IEG. Currently, environmental proposals are always at risk of being sidelined in the United Nations General Assembly (GA), where decisions from the GC/GMEF have to be approved.
Finally, it must be emphasized that IEG reform must be approached with a view to make a change to some of the above-mentioned weaknesses. It would make little sense for example to increase the authority of UNEP without matching funding to enable to institution to address the environmental issues. The sections below will address the issues of decision-making as well as funding. 3
The debate on environmental governance goes as far back as the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment in 1972, which resulted in the creation of UNEP. Twenty years later, the Rio Summit gave birth to the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), with a broader mandate on sustainable development, tasked to oversee progress of Agenda 21. Later on, the UN established a Task Force on Environment and Human Settlements, which found gaps in the IEG system. To improve coordination, the Environment Management Group (EMG) and the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF) were created, the latter as a bi-annual forum to take place with the UNEP Governing Council. In the first years after the millennium, European and French initiatives attempted in vain to create sufficient momentum for the establishment of a World Environment Organization (WEO). Subsequently, the UN itself established a High Level Panel on System-wide Coherence, which articulated 'Delivering as One' as a priority undertaking to improve coherence and coordination within the UN system (UN 2006). Two internal assessment reports of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) followed in 2008, and 2010, respectively, making concrete recommendations towards UNEP reform (Inomata 2008). The debate also went to the General Assembly, which resulted in a draft paper on options for strengthening IEG, however this never led to a Resolution, and in 2009, the GA tabled the issue due to lack of consensus. Although there was consensus on the overall need for stronger IEG, the way forward was still out of reach for agreement in the GA. In 2009, the GC/GMEF revived the process by establishing a consultative group of ministers of high-level representatives, who were tasked with identifying options for strengthening IEG. Late in 2010, the group presented the Nairobi-Helsinki Outcome on the options for reform (UNEP/GC.26/L.4/Add.1 2011). The recommendations were subsequently debated in UNEP's 26th Governing Council in February 2011, which brought overall agreement on the options, but lacked consensus on which of them should be taken to strengthen IEG. It is now hoped that the occasion of Rio20 could serve as a platform for countries to make headway on the issue.
Research on the issue has brought a large number of analysis of the situation and proposals for a way forward. They can be classified as ranging from 1) those that support broader reform (Biermann 2007 and 2011; Biermann and Bauer 2004 and 2005,); 2) those that debate whether reform would benefit the delivery of governance on the ground (Ivanova 2011; Tarasofsky 2002 and 2003) those that believe that incremental changes are the best, ranging from extending membership of the UNEP GC/GMEF to universality (Tarasofsky 2002), or the most realistic (Najam, Moltke, and Adil Najam, Tarasofsky 2002), given the lack of commitment to broader reform from governments at large. The research of this paper leans on the existing body of work on IEG in the way that it does not dispute the utility of incremental reforms, however it takes vantage point in assuming the feasibility of the most ambitious of the existing research proposals, if they could be carried out in the right sequence, as illustrated in subsequent sections.
The introductory section above established that there are shortcomings to the current IEG architecture and that reform is needed. However, several details have to be clarified to determine the actual steps that the international community needs to take to realise a stronger IEG architecture. Addressing demand for such information, the paper will argue for the feasibility of two options: a) introducing universal membership (UM) of UNEP's Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF); and b) establishing a specialized agency on environment. The paper will highlight both benefits and drawbacks of these options, as providing more information on the implications can garner more support for strengthening IEG. In addition to providing information on the feasibility of these options, the paper will argue that a phased approach of introducing the legal and structural changes would be the most successful. The sequence in which the reform options could be introduced is depicted in the figure below, essentially arguing that incremental reforms, as ongoing, are fundamental to broader reform, where universal membership of UNEP GC/GMEF represents the initial step, and the creation of a specialized agency, the second step. Of course this kind of contextual sequence is artificial and begs the question as to how precisely such institutional upgrading would benefit environmental governance at multiple levels. To answer this, the subsequent chapters will examine each reform option, and propose a structure on implementation levels as well. 1
Figure 1: Thrust of IEG Reform
Source: Authors interpretation 1
See Figure 4 "Cooperation on implementation levels" on page 23.
Apart from the broad reform options, there are other areas that need strengthening, both within the UN and outside of the UN's regime, and particularly on national and local levels. Incremental reform options to IEG in a UN context are often supported by UN member states. The incremental changes are can be immediately implemented within UNEP's current mandate and within the UN system. For example, the recent report of the UN Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) has made a series of recommendations that fall into the 'incremental category' (JIU 2008 and 2010). These are mainly focused on improving effectiveness within the UN system. Many improvements can be introduced that can benefit effectiveness of environmental governance and efficiency of overall UN response, including the "One-UN Initiative", which aims to bring more coherence into UN response at all levels. The incremental reform options are certainly important, because their implementation may determine the level of subsequent support to broader reform. In addition, they can be implemented under the current institutional settings. However, if environmental governance is supposed to be strengthened in earnest, incremental options will not suffice. Broader reform is necessary to equip UNEP with the authority and budget to better carry out the tasks related to environmental governance.
The need for better institutional infrastructure to respond to current and emerging challenges can be seen in another significant anthropogenic effect, namely climate change, whose abatement is arguably one of the most important global concerns. There is significant global agreement that greenhouse gases (GHGs) have to be drastically reduced by the middle of this century, but the details and sources of mitigation are still cause for much disagreement among countries. Nevertheless, it can safely be assumed that the current business-as-usual will not effectuate the needed reduction in GHGs, and that a socio-economic transformation, aided by effective and strong institutional architecture will be necessary.
The last decades have given birth to a wide variety of actors and institutions in the environmental governance field. This has happened as a result of growing demand for research, capacity building on implementation, multi-level governance, monitoring, reporting and information sharing, and participation to name but a few. The various areas as well as their cross-cutting nature makes it is clear that many actors, not one, will be necessary to answer to the demands for stronger environmental governance. Acknowledging this multi-stakeholder aspect of the discussion on improving environmental governance, the paper will approach the IEG discussion in the context of the United Nations, its reform and what IEG reform could mean for UNEP (GA 2010). The paper will focus on the financial, legal, and structural implications of the options and will assess their feasibility and potential benefits and drawbacks. The paper will argue that the creation of universal membership of the Governing Council (option a) may be necessary to create the appropriate forum for examining other more broad reform options, including the option of elevating UNEP to a specialized agency for the environment (option b). It is important to remember that the discussion on a specialized agency has been addressed in the Governing Council before. At the same time, a proposal for universal membership has also been submitted to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for approval at the UN GA in the past. But neither proposal succeeded in achieving ratification. 6
For one, this hints that ECOSOC and the GA may not be appropriate forums for decision-making on environmental governance, and secondly, that another forum could be better suited for this debate. ECOSOC's mandate may be too broad and the GA too preoccupied with other issues. Additionally, proposals to strengthen environmental governance may have been met with scepticism because decision makers there have viewed the proposed measures for strengthening environmental governance as potentially compromising political and economic issues that are primarily dealt with in these larger decision-making forums.
The lack of attention can be appreciated, as ECOSOC "…serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system" (UN 2011). It is with this experience in mind that the creation of universal membership of the Governing Council must be viewed not as an end in itself, but as an important step towards creating a legally autonomous decision-making forum. A dedicated forum for decision-making on environment may better be able to make subsequent decisions on environmental governance, needed to more effectively address the mounting challenges to environmental sustainability. In view of the above, the paper will argue that both options (a and b) for reform are feasible and effective means for strengthening IEG and must be considered seriously by decision makers if the stalemate of international environmental governance is to be solved. The options are presented in logical succession, arguing that achieving agreement on universal membership would be an initial step to strengthen IEG. Providing universal membership (see figure above) to the GC/GMEF would turn it into a global environmental governance forum with global representation and universal decision-making capacity. Arguably, such a forum could be better suited than ECOSOC or GA for debate and decisions on subsequent reform options for IEG, in particular also on option b) the establishment of a specialized agency on environment (Section 3).
The option of universal membership dates back to 1998, when a UN task force recommended it in a report on environment and human settlements (UN 1998). Member States were unable to agree on the issue, because its advantages were not clear (UNEP 2004). Universal membership, however, clearly relates to a part of UNEP's mandate, and introducing it would enable UNEP to better "…keep under review the world environmental situation in order to ensure that emerging environmental problems of wide international significance receive appropriate and adequate consideration by Governments" (GA 1972).
The added emphasis shows one of the shortcomings on non-universal membership; because how can a non-universal council like the current Governing Council with its 58 members adequately address global environmental issues? This shortcoming is known, and has been one of the main arguments in earlier proposals for universal membership (UNEP 2004). Related to this lack of representation, the limitation of 58 members of the GC can also be said to perpetuate the north-south divide and inhibit the establishment of global governance including effective environmental cooperation. Establishing universal membership is an important step signaling commitment of the international community to equal participation and responsibility, which are important aspects 7
of empowerment and sustainable development governance. Universal membership is certainly no guarantee that the north-south divide may be bridged as negotiation blocks may form that perpetuate the schism. But creating a global decision-making forum will send an important political signal that values such as common responsibility and inclusiveness are taken seriously.
When universal membership was proposed in the past, a compromise was achieved by establishing the UNEP's Global Ministerial Environment Forum. 2 This provided for the next-best solution: universal participation. Subsequently that forum would take place in parallel with the UNEP GC. However, participation does not equal membership. In reality, once decisions have to be made, the GMEF becomes the "exclusive" GC with only 58 voting members. Counterarguments to the proposal for universal membership have emphasized the benefits that universal participation already lends to the GC/GMEF. Certainly these have to be acknowledged, and much awareness and capacity has been built by this arrangement that has provided a forum for the world's environmental policy makers to meet and greet. However, universal membership should be viewed as a step towards establishing global representation of environmental decision makers in the true sense of 'decision-makers'.
If universal decision-making were achieved it would subsequently be possible to argue for the provision of legal autonomy to the GC. Doing so would ensure that environmental issues could find sufficient response amongst the world's environment ministers, who are mandated to give importance to environment related issues. This could remove some burden from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which in any event may give environment issues attention in the way they relate to economic and political issues. Addressing environmental issues in an economic and political forum is also important but just not sufficient. Instead, it may be necessary to grant universal membership to UNEP GC and create a more dedicated decisionmaking body necessary to address many challenges facing environmental sustainability.
The need to create a stronger environmental decision-making body can be recognised in the historical context. Since UNEP's inception in 1972, crosscutting environmental problems have increased globally. Coherence in addressing issues related to air, biodiversity, climate, desertification, or water has become relevant for all countries' development. Extending the membership to all states would match the global scope of overarching environmental challenges, including the need to properly address Principle 7 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on common but differentiated responsibilities. Moreover, it would empower the GC/GMEF to better determine the course of environmental governance as it was originally envisioned in Resolution 2997 from 1972.
Skeptics argue that universal membership would make decision-making cumbersome when many voices have to agree on many points. This is a valid concern, which could be partly addressed by establishing either an executive board or an elected bureau of GC representatives. This bureau would be mandated to deal with day-to-day management issues and leave 2
It was established in 2000.
overarching issues related to the governance of the environment to the GA of the UNEP Governing Council.
One major drawback to introduction of universal membership is that it could mean that some countries lose comparable advantage in the GC decision-making process, as their vote will mean less with increased numbers of voting members. This has to be acknowledged as a significant hurdle hindering its introduction. In addition to the issue on influence, some countries oppose universal membership, because they fear it would create precedence for other UN organisations and bodies. Universal membership may be viewed as cumbersome for decision-making. To accommodate this, it could be possible to alter the decision-making structure of the GC. The following sections will summarize legal, financial and structural aspects of universal membership of UNEP's Governing Council as well as provide information to the benefits and drawbacks of such decisions.
The legal implications of universal membership are related to the convening role of the GC/GMEF and, as previously mentioned, it should be noted that the GC/GMEF has a dual function, distinguishing between the GMEF with universal participation, and the GC with its decision-making mandate limited to the 58 members. It can therefore be observed that the plenary of the GC, called the Committee of the Whole (COW) shifts between acting as GC and GMEF, depending on whether decisions have to be made or not. Changing this practice by extending decision-making responsibility to all countries would require a UNGA resolution, but it would not be considered impossible, as UNEP could remain a subsidiary body of the UNGA. 3
Currently the GC uses the UN unanimity rule of decision-making. While this may be the most democratic method of voting, it also has certain drawbacks, including the increasing difficulty and inefficiency in reaching consensus amongst a greater number of voting members. To address this it could be possible to consider introducing new decision-making techniques. This could avoid opaque negotiation situations, 4 as well as lowest-common-denominator decisions or stalled negotiations due to inability to reach consensus.
There are examples from existing institutions that utilize multi-level co-decision-making systems. The co-decision procedure has become central to the European Community's decisionmaking. It is based on the principle of parity and means that neither the European Parliament nor the Council of Ministers (CM) may adopt legislation without the other's agreement (EU 2008). If agreement cannot be reached at initial attempt, disagreeing parties have the option of proposing changes to the proposal. These then have to go through a second reading by If UNEP's status is elevated to that of Specialized Agency, then its reporting line may change. Legally, specialized agencies are not required to report to the UNGA but can specify the nature of their relationship to ECOSOC and the GA additionally. 4 The World Trade Organization (WTO), which bases decision-making on consensus-based voting, has been criticized for being non-transparent in its decision-making process. It is said that negotiations often are kept informal with major developed countries being the most influential representatives in these negotiations <http://www.towside.org.sg/title/bg13-cn/htm>. 3
the European Parliament in order to either pass or be vetoed. This modality could be used in two instances being a) cases where block politics happen and working compromises need to be identified; and b) in cases where the GC/GMEF and the UNGA disagrees.
Other European Union (EU) voting practices can enhance efficiency of decision-making. At the moment, EU proposals are decided by qualified majority voting. 5 In a qualified majority voting scenario, a majority of over 71 percent of voting members' weight has to agree before a decision can pass. In practical terms it means that each member is assigned a weight (a number of votes); and in order for the CM to pass a bill, the aggregate weight of those voting for it must equal or exceed a set quota of 71 percent. 6
Due to increasing number of EU member countries, the Lisbon Treaty (2009) decided to amend the voting structure to double majority voting in 2014. This means that the qualified majority condition specifies requirements not only in terms of a certain percentage of voting members but also with regards to the proportion of population represented. The new system is meant to ensure fairness in decision-making, as larger countries can benefit in terms of their share of population, while the one-country-one-vote part of the double weighed system in turn benefits smaller countries.
Primarily, the new voting system will be introduced to ensure that the larger countries will not be able to force decisions without sufficient support by smaller countries. 7 As a secondary benefit majority voting speeds up the decision-making process, when compared to consensus based decision-making and thus can be considered useful also for efficiency improvements. A potential drawback to this kind of decision-making could include its apparent complexity. Implementing such a system may require awareness-raising of its functions and advantages. In the case of UNEP, Nairobi could design voting software that calculates the qualified thresholds automatically so that only the essential delivery of position remains as key task for negotiators.
A similar method is practiced by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), which uses double weighed majority. In a GEF voting scenario, support for a proposal requires at least 60 percent majority from all member countries and 60 percent majority from total contributions. This ensures that important decisions are not made only by those members that contribute the most to GEF's budget, but provides voice also to those that do not necessarily have the most financial capacity for a certain decision (Werksman 2003).
The evolving voting systems of the EU (supplemented by the example from GEF) indicate that increasing memberships of any group or forum will result in more complex decision-making procedures. However, the example shows that decision-making systems can be adjusted to accommodate both needs for efficiency as well as for democratic influence even in face of increasing (or universal) membership. Overall this indicates that institutions can evolve to respond better to the demands of the environment and that of their growing membership. Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, it also shows how decision-making systems can be
Also called weighted decision rule. The concept of weight is calculated by countries' population size. 7 In detail the double majority voting system means that at least 55% of EU states must vote in favour of a proposal and at least 65% of the EU population must be represented in that group. To block a proposal, at least four countries must form a so-called 'blocking minority' <http://www.euoplysningen.dk/euo_en/spsv/all/43/> 5 6
designed to anticipate the heterogeneity of members and bring the highest degree of transparency and fairness into the decision-making modalities.
Double weighted majority could be applied to situations for decisions involving larger funding for programmes. One factor could include funding as a variable additional to number of supportive countries. When legislative changes were proposed, a special triple weighted majority could be envisioned, in which not only funding but also number of countries as well as population determine the outcome of a vote. At the same time changing the voting structure would not be a precedent, because as shown above, if GEF is considered as a part of environmental institutions, then decision-making systems of the current environmental institutions are already diverse. This being said, it may be useful to propose additional research into the benefits and drawbacks of these options, to better provide information on the most suitable option for decision-making at a Global Environmental Governing Council (GEGC). This could be a conditionality to be managed by initiating countries that make the proposal for universal membership in Rio.
Similar to the overall core funding of UNEP, funding of the GC/GMEF is administered by the UNGA. This is a normal modus-operandi for programmes and funds that are subsidiary to the UNGA. Financing of the annual GC/GMEF derive from the UN Environment Fund.
It is important in this respect to note that the GC/GMEF itself absorbs only around one percent of UNEP's total annual budget. Thus, compared to the funding that is in fact needed to halt the destruction of the environment, the financial consequences of introducing universal membership of the governing council are negligible at best (ECOLOGIC 2004)). Since the event itself spends only miniscule proportions of UNEP budget, it makes little sense to use financial implications to argue against universal membership. Earlier research on the issue of funding support for GC/GMEF revealed that the budgeting of the GC already anticipates and calculates the participation by non-members as well as members (reflecting the current universal participation of the GMEF). Countries are aware of that, and even developing countries that are not current members of the GC are invited to participate at the GC/GMEF with the understanding that the UN will cover the logistical cost of their participation. As this kind of support for participation is already common practice, universal membership would not place any additional financial burden on member states, neither directly as financial expenses for their participation, or indirectly on member states' contributions to UN budget.
A drawback related to the financial implications of universal membership, however, could concern states that do not yet have permanent representation in Nairobi (Ecuadorian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs 2011). 8 Especially Latin American countries do not have embassies in Kenya, 9 and universal membership would incur additional expenses to establish a permanent presence in Nairobi. However, it can be expected that the bulk of the cost would be a one-time expense to establish a consulate or embassy on location. Until that is achieved, currently practiced interim solutions are possible: Latin America appoints representative focal points to ensure that information from UNEP's Committee of Permanent Representative (CPR) meetings is forwarded to all countries concerned (Danish Ministry of Environment 2011). 10 However in the long run, countries would have to establish permanent missions on location, and additional cost would be expected from that.
In a larger perspective, universal membership of the GC could form a suitable platform for discussions on expanding UNEP's funding options. Perhaps the granting of universal membership could come with a conditionality that requires the universal forum to earnestly deal with the larger issue of lacking funding for IEG. Fair decisions on this issue could then be made in a forum with global membership consisting of developed and developing countries at equal level and with equal influence in the decision-making process (see section above on change of voting structure).
The modalities of introducing innovative financing mechanisms such as Tobin Tax, levies on international air-travel, or assessed contributions as a miniscule proportion from countries' defense budget should also be openly discussed. These are well-known options for financing the environmental governance regime. More focus on such discussions would be timely; as would more focus on a related issue being the overall lack of consistency of funding, which is hampering with effectiveness of planning and execution of UNEP's operations. 11
There remain additional questions pertaining to financing of a functional environmental regime and financing of the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) on national level. Universal membership is clearly not a silver bullet for environmental governance, but it should be considered as an important intervention to strengthen it. It is clear, however, that much higher budgets for environment will be necessary in the coming years to address implementation gaps, as well as lacking capacity and access to technology - all pertinent issues repeatedly addressed by developing countries in intergovernmental negotiations. These substantial hurdles to implementation could be addressed by a GC/GMEF with universal membership.
As was briefly mentioned in the introductory paragraphs, the sense in establishing a global forum to address international environmental issues could be considered a normative truism. Personal communication See http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-in/kenya# for a list of embassies in Nairobi. Currently the only Latin American countries represented are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia Costa Rica, Honduras and Venezuela. 10 Personal communication 11 Personal communication 8 9
And as such, most people would tend to agree with need for a better IEG architecture. However, it should be clearly illustrated how universal membership could better address shortcomings in the current environmental governance structure as well as how it would contribute to improving the environment. This is necessary to make a convincing argument for universal membership.
One oft mentioned criticism of environmental governance focuses on the problem of overall fragmentation, overlap and inefficiency. In response to this critique, mainstreaming efforts have been undertaken in the chemicals cluster and the biodiversity related conventions. These efforts show that MEAs can either be clustered according to issue-based, functional/organizational criteria, or they can have a particular regional scope by co-locating and merging secretariats (Najam 2006; Fauchald 2010).
In this regard, introducing universal membership could potentially contribute to enhancing coherence and efficiency of the several hundred existing environmental agreements by creating an umbrella forum for centralized decision-making on MEAs. The close relationship between UNEP and many MEAs is written in the text of the conventions. For example, the following excerpts from the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) show structural and financial links between UNEP and the MEA: Decision I/4: "Designates the United Nations Environment Programme to carry out the functions of the Secretariat of the Convention while ensuring its autonomy to discharge" (CBD 1994). Decision I/6: "Designates the United Nations Environment Programme as the Trustee of the Trust Fund for the Convention on Biological Diversity" (CBD 2010). The Rotterdam Convention contains similar decisions, cementing its relationship with UNEP (and the FAO):
Decision RC-1/9: "Invites the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to appoint an Executive Secretary in consultation with the Conference of the Parties through the Bureau" (Basel 2010). "The Executive Director of UNEP and the Director-General of FAO delegate their authority to the Executive Secretary from UNEP and FAO, to act on their behalf, to represent the Secretariat and to carry out its functions" (WHO 2007).
The examples above illustrate the institutionalized relationships between UNEP and the MEA Secretariats. They show that, in addition to being responsible for the initial establishment of 13
many MEAs, UNEP functions as a secretariat for many of them. As can be seen in the legal text from these conventions, there may be possibilities for further developing the relationship between UNEP and the MEAs, in particular if UNEP GC/GMEF is equipped with universal membership and decision-making capacity. That way, the forum could become a venue for coreporting, sharing of best practices and enhance coherence among MEAs. Establishing such a forum might incur some up-front cost for establishing it, but it is expected that it could yield cost-benefits in the long term (Urho 2010).
The possibilities for introducing such co-reporting and decision-making on MEAs at GC/GMEF would have to be researched in detail, since drawbacks could include that it might compromise the legal autonomy of MEAs as well as overlap with the functions of the Conference of Parties (COP). Such potential for conflict between UNEP and MEAs may also be one of the major reasons to why universal membership has not been accepted despite repeated suggestions and arguments in its favour. 12 To avoid the potential for conflict between UNEP and MEAs it would be necessary to formulate agreements that clearly designate the roles of the respective forums. Doing so might make the option of MEA COP co-location with UNEP GC a politically viable and acceptable option for UNEP and for the established MEA secretariats. This could make the current IEG system less fragmented and more efficient, both in terms of time, and finances. Apparent discrepancies between the universality of the GC/GMEF and MEAs with only limited membership could be addressed by way of discerning between 'multilateral' and 'plurilateral' agreements (Biermann 2011). Accordingly, members of GC that would yet have to ratify an agreement could participate with observer status, as is already practiced in other forums. Such multi-tier membership could also have the potential of enhancing ratification ratios of MEAs among laggard states.
Finally, positioning some MEAs under a UM GC/GMEF would present a good opportunity for effectiveness gains, as doing so could result in better reasoning for national level policy and implementation committees that could better articulate policies and measures to respond to the needs of thematically related MEAs on the ground. In the long-term, the clustering of MEAs in a single forum could enhance compliance and enforcement of the agreements. Modalities used in the trade regime hint at possible measures, as the WTO is utilizing a system of 'cross-agreement sanctioning' (Wendell 2011). This option allows the suspension of concessions under other agreements, if some reason or another, penalties under the non-compliant agreement is impossible.
UNEP GC 26 was not able to make a decision on universal membership. While some countries stated their support, others clearly did not; and diverging views on this issue remain. The arguments presented above will hopefully contribute to a better understanding of the potential advantages of universal membership and the options for introducing new voting systems to See Fauchald, Ole 2010. International Environmental Governance: A Legal Analysis of Selected Options. Fridtjof Nansens Institut. http://www.fni.no/doc&pdf/FNI-R1610.pdf for a detailed analysis of the benefits of clustering MEAs under UNEP. Additionally, see http://www.iisd.ca/vol16/enb1619e.html for details on countries' in favour of universal membership. 12
outweigh and avoid some of the potential drawbacks of increased membership. As stated, it will be important to clearly demonstrate to decision makers that universal membership will not change the amount of funding needed to convey the annual GC/GMEF. The following table summarizes some of the main points made in the previous section: Expected benefits
Potential challenges
• Global representation and increased voice of ministries of environment and better recognition of global environmental issues; • Increased efficiency in decision-making; • Enhancement of coherence and efficiency of MEAs; • Clustering of MEAs under a forum with universal membership could yield long term cost-benefits; • Better addressing MEAs would enhance UN credibility with member states and increase likelihood of continued support for subsequent broader reform of IEG;
Required input • Change decision-making modality from consensus to qualified majority; • Establish executive board or elected bureau for dayto-day management; • If GC/GMEF becomes decision-making umbrella over related MEAs, 'cross-agreement sanctioning' to incentivize compliance with agreements could be introduced; • Multiple MEAs under one roof should be handled by way of discerning between 'multilateral' and 'plurilateral' agreements; • Certainty among member states that universal membership will not change cost of annual GC/GMEF;
• Some countries may perceive increasing number of 'voices' in GC/GMEF as loss of comparable advantage in decision-making process; • Could create precedence for other UN organizations and bodies' membership structure; • Financial consequences of introducing universal membership of the UNEP GC should be fully investigated and reported; • Not all countries have permanent representatives in Nairobi; Expected output • Global forum could make strong decisions on environment and improve effectiveness of IEG; • Faster decision-making process; • Possibility to cluster decision-making on MEAs; • Lessen operating cost of COP/MOPs when mainstreamed with GC/GMEF; • Possible to enhance compliance by use of 'cross-agreement sanctioning' between related MEAs;
Table 2: Universal Membership Source: Author's compilation
Trade-offs will have to be taken into consideration if environmental governance is to be meaningfully reformed. The tradeoffs refer to the potential efficiency gains from locating a number of MEAs under UNEP GC. Existing MEA secretariats might not agree to that. However it is worth to remember that the final decision to change the location of the MEAs or not can be executed gradually, and ultimately depends not on the willingness of the MEA Secretariat but the intentions of member states.
Finally, the introduction of universal membership could be combined with a conditionality, i.e. that the empowerment of the forum shall be linked with commitment and responsibility to deal with other central issues to the IEG process such as predictability of funding, proposing the establishment of legal autonomy and decision-making power, implementation assistance from UNEP in support of MEAs on country level, and other concrete steps needed to strengthen 15
environmental governance and bridge the implementation gap. However, these issues require consensus on important but contentious further steps that a universal forum equipped with decision-making power could address. Subsequent tasks of determining detailed strategies for supporting MEAs on country level, additional capacity building for governments, and other crucial issues needed to strengthen environmental governance could be approached effectively by elevating the status of UNEP from its current programme to a specialized agency on environment.
The discussion on strengthening international environmental governance has progressed over the last decades but a conclusion is as lacking as ever. The recent Nairobi-Helsinki consultation process established points on forms, functions and responses that, if implemented, will bolster IEG. The discussions concluded with agreement to focus on five different forms, some of which entail incremental improvements to existing bodies as well others with broader reform objectives (UNEP 2010). This section will limit its focus to the option for establishing a specialized agency on environment.
In the UN context, specialized agencies are created to address issues that UN and member States deem important enough to justify the creation of an autonomous agency. Such agencies have their own legal identity, a plenary decision-making body (General Assembly), a representative executive body and a secretariat. They can be established by a resolution from UNGA (UN Charter, Article 57), to which they are linked through ECOSOC. In addition, the UNGA (UN Charter, Article 63) can determine the details of the agency's relationship with the UN, and to what extent it would have to follow recommendations of ECOSOC.
Establishing a specialized agency for environment would demand great political commitment from the international community, because it entails creating a legally autonomous agency with its own decision-making power. This is a conscientious issue, because doing so could remove environmental decision-making power from the GA and ECOSOC. Critical voices argue that this drawback is sufficient to consider elevating UNEP's status to a specialized agency for environment as an unrealistic option.
The decentralization of autonomous decision-making may certainly deter some parties from supporting this option. However, it might be helpful to consider this issue in a different context and argue that if decision-making on environment related issues were to be deliberately removed from ECOSOC and GA, it would be possible for the latter bodies to better focus on overarching economic and political governance issues. Indeed, these issues have an environmental dimension, but concentrating environmental decision-making in an autonomous agency could potentially make environmental decision-making more effective, and this is needed for the current governance structure. 16
EU practices indicate that decentralization of power can be useful. In its establishing treaty (Amsterdam Treaty), the institution acknowledged the importance of 'proportionality, and subsidiarity' and made them central and determining principles of its decision-making structure (EU 2011). Accordingly, subsidiarity is used to decentralize decision-making on behalf of the EU," …in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence" (EU 2006). For environmental governance on the UN level it could mean that the UNGA delegated technical decisions on environment to the specialized agency. Contrarily, similar rules would apply to the GA of the specialized agency, which would have to (and legally could, by means of UN Charter Article 63) consult decisions of great economic and social importance with the UNGA before making decisions.
While the call for establishing a specialized agency on environment is pertinent, it has not yet been accepted and international environmental governance remains crippled. A similar situation can be observed on country levels, where ministries of environment often find themselves positioned rather badly in the national decision-making hierarchy. There is a need for elevating the status of environmental agencies and ministries on national as well as on international levels, because UNEP in a sense is representing all national environmental authorities. Compared to the situation in 40 years ago, environmental authorities in the world have become full-fledged ministries in many countries. This gives a good reason for strengthening UNEP accordingly. Establishing a specialized agency for environment would create an autonomous decision-making structure on the international level that could help policy makers translate international decisions into national level environmental policies. More national level clout of environmental ministries could benefit not only increased capacity of environmental officials, but also enhance agenda setting and negotiation power in the national policy formulation and assessment processes. The potential drawback of creating a separate decision-making structure has often been used as one of the main arguments for UNEP retaining its status as a programme. Countries have argued that a programme by its very definition is nimble, flexible and therefore able to better mainstream environment throughout decision-making (Ivanova 2007). It is an important point; in fact the increase of cross-cutting environmental issues has only lent more amplitude to the need for integrating environmental concerns throughout policy making processes at all levels. However, the question is whether weak and badly funded programmes are really the right vessels to enhance the voice of the environment in a choir of strong singers.
As was mentioned, an environment programme has not been able to sufficiently determine the international political agenda. A stronger body with legal impetus to oversee the integration of environmental concerns throughout decision-making is becoming increasingly relevant to halt environmental degradation. In relation to the sustainable development discourse, it has also become clear that the environmental dimension of sustainable development has been neglected in favour of economic growth. Realizing the need to reaffirm the importance of the environment as fundamental foundation economies and well-functioning societies, it is therefore argued that ministries of environment and natural resources need a much stronger and autonomous body to place the environmental agenda better at all levels of the governance discourse. 17
A specialized agency would not displace environmental focal points in other ministries, nor would its purpose be to unite and mainstream all environmental divisions and programmes under one. This kind of bottom-up integration on the implementation level is already underway. Environmentalists perceive as a significant progress that many public and private sector institutions have established either environmental terms of reference as part of their mission, or have positions dealing with environmental mainstreaming. At the same time, however, bottom-up integration is not sufficient, and a specialized agency would be needed to steer topdown integration of environmental concerns into planning, policy-making and evaluation. Options that are specific to the legal clout and personality of a specialized agency would include better agenda setting in the policy making process, stronger legal and regulatory purview, and the ability to raise serious concerns with regards to other environmentally harmful policy proposals.
In addition to considerable political will for its establishment, a specialized agency will need more and predictable funding to position environment higher on the agenda and carry out the functions of its mandate. Normally agencies determine the details of their funding arrangements with their constituents. Many specialized agencies, as for instance the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) derive parts of their funding from assessed contributions.
Assessed contributions are normally based on countries' capacity to pay and measured by factors such as national income and size of population. There are minimum and maximum ceilings to the contributions, ensuring that no state pays more per capita than the per capita contribution of the highest contributor (WHO 2000). Other parts of the budget can derive from extra budgetary donations, trust funds and partnership agreements that can be earmarked for special cooperation programmes.
Some agencies, including the WHO, also allow for differentiated memberships that provide space for countries, territories, or other actors with lesser contributions to partake as observers, or with a limited voting capacity (WHO 2009). A concrete example of heterogeneous membership systems can be seen in the World Tourism Organization that was elevated to become a UN Specialized Agency in 2003. It has differentiated membership status that apart from effective members also accommodates associate members, affiliate members and observers (UNWTO 2011). The membership status however, does not depend on level of financial contributions, as these are decided on an assessed scale, but membership status is tailor made to sovereign states, territories, associations, or private entities. While this example shows the option of differentiated membership status, it would have to be determined whether similar differentiation would be possible as a factor of funding contributions, since such could potentially increase the political willingness towards establishing a specialized agency. However, such proposal should also be cautiously approached, since it might result in an agency without "effective" and paying members. 18
The ILO introduced a flexibility mechanism in 2006 to give countries some leeway in the event that they were unable to cover their assessed contributions. Since resilience to financial and economic fluctuations would be considered a necessary element of any funding structure for the future, it could be useful to design the financing structure of a specialized agency with such an inbuilt flexibility mechanism. In addition, a specialized agency could derive parts of its funding from 'other' sources and 'miscellaneous income', and allow fund raising from the private sector and philanthropists to play a role that matches the expected responsibility from various stakeholders in a more effective and multi-level environmental governance system. A related issue was also briefly mentioned in the section on universal membership, where the intention would be to establish the GC/GMEF as suitable forum determining the details of such 'innovative funding' systems.
Comparing the financial implications of a specialized agency with those of universal membership of the GC/GMEF, it becomes clear that the former would entail much greater changes to funding structure and amount to have a fair chance to succeed. Merely establishing a specialized agency without making inroads on funding issues would be a recipe for disaster and probably even weaken environmental governance if that is possible. A honest effort therefore requires that details are determined with regards to how the agency should respond to requirements set forth in its mandate, including concrete budget lines for implementation activities. The funding related issues may also constitute one the most major drawbacks of the specialized agency option, and also explains why, despite prolonged attention in international negotiations, it has been impossible to introduce such upgrading of UNEP.
As seen in Resolution 2997, a main component of UNEP's mandate is to coordinate as well as review the direction of the environmental work within the UN system (UNEMG 2011). Formerly, this part of the mandate fell under the System-wide Medium Term Environment Programme (SWMTEP). It was introduced in 1999, but then abandoned and replaced with the current Environment Management Group (EMG).
Today there are as many as 44 environmental divisions and offices in the UN. Most of those have appeared not because of UNEP's success in mainstreaming environment in the UN, but because agencies and UN bodies themselves have gradually mainstreamed environment in the system. It may therefore be that a new UNEP as specialized agency should not even be primarily concerned with the UN response to environment, but should focus more on serious problems related to persistent implementation gap of environmental agreements on national and local levels, regional and national capacity building etc. Therefore, elevating UNEP to a specialized agency on environment is not so much about effectively mainstreaming environment throughout the UN system but more about the need for a stronger institution to position environment issues better on the global political agenda and create a body with the mandate to respond to demands on regional and national levels. Strengthening of UNEP only at the international level would not be sufficient. Asia, which has become the world's production center, should have much stronger regional environmental institutions to better deal with increasing environmental issues. A stronger regional representation could in turn strengthen 19
the environmental work of regional and sub-regional bodies, including Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting (TEMM) in North-east Asia, or the environmental programmes of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Interviews with current and former UN staff identified one of the main reasons for UNEP's failure to coordinate environment within the UN system as being rooted in the fact that the programme, with its relative legal weakness, has been unable to sufficiently leverage and influence many of the larger programmes and agencies within the UN (UN 2011). 13 And as mentioned, the mainstreaming task is already happening to a large extent, throughout UN bodies and their initiatives. However, the 44 existing environment divisions and UN initiatives indicate that fragmentation and overlap is still a problem that needs to be addressed both inside the UN system and on country level. In this regard, expanding the "One-UN Initiative" would be beneficial as would clustering MEAs. This might also enhance the UN's level of credibility and also support from member States both to the UN at large and to broader reform options as those discussed in this paper. While larger efforts are needed to address fragmentation and overlap, initial steps would include signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between UNEP and the respective agency or institution aimed at effectively harmonizing the environmental work among the institutions. 14
Finally, if UNEP were to become an agency it would also be better positioned to suggest and debate legal instruments in its plenary forum (GC/GMEF) as well as adopting them in its own General Assembly. Even though a specialized agency would not be as closely related to the UN as a programme is, provisions could be made so that the Agency remained a central member of the UN's Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB). 15 Doing so would be important to ensure that, also in the future, it would remain central to coherence and cohesion of environmental work within the UN and its related specialized agencies. 16
The discussion on programme vs. specialized agency has been tabled at many intergovernmental discussions, and while on several occasions many UN member States have supported the upgrading of UNEP to a specialized agency - there has never been sufficient impetus for the establishment of a specialized agency on environment. 17 However, Rio 2012 can create sufficient momentum and support from governments to agree on a Roadmap that can determine the direction as well as milestones to strengthen IEG, and perhaps consider the possibilities for establishing a specialized agency on environment. The following table sums up some of the points made in the text above:
Personal communication; Nairobi and Bangkok (2011). Member states could initiate this development by submitting a request for a UN GA resolution. 15 Additionally, a previous paragraph also summarized Article 63 of the UN Charter, which provides options for legal affiliation between the UN and a specialized agency. 16 http://www.unsceb.org/ceb/home 17 Biermann (2007) states that, over time 50 countries have supported the creation of a Specialized Agency. 13 14
Expected benefits
Potential challenges
• Placing environmental decision-making with GC/GMEF could allow ECOSOC/GA to better focus on overarching economic and political governance issues; • Would be well positioned to debate legal instruments in its plenary forum (GC/GMEF) as well as adopting them in its own General Assembly; • Increased efficiency of environmental decisionmaking; • Increased clout of environmental ministries could enhance agenda setting and negotiation power in national policy formulation and lead to more effective environmental policy making; • Better agenda setting in national policy making process, stronger legal and regulatory purview, and the ability to veto the agenda of other environmentally harmful policy proposals;
• Removes some of the environmental decisionmaking power from the GA and ECOSOC; • Ingrained belief that an environment programme by its very definition is nimble, and flexible and therefore better able to mainstream environment throughout decision-making than an agency; • Widespread (but erroneous) belief that a specialized agency would no longer be affiliated to the UN (UN Charter, Article 63); • Demands great political commitment from the international community; • The requirement for more and predictable funding to position environment higher on the agenda may deter countries from supporting this reform option; • Merely establishing a specialized agency without also making inroads on funding issues would be a recipe for disaster. It therefore would require that details be determined with regards to how the agency should respond to requirements set forth in its mandate, including concrete budget lines for implementation activities.
Required input
Expected output
• Political commitment from international community; • Needs a legally autonomous agency with own decision-making power; • Resolution from UNGA (UN Charter, Article 57); • For political feasibility GC/GMEF should consult decisions of great economic and social importance with the UNGA before making decisions (UN Charter, Article 63); • Could include other constituencies than just governments (example from ILO's structure (industry, labour unions, governments) and representatives from civil society); • More effectiveness of IEG would have to prioritize top-down integration of environmental concerns into planning, policy making and evaluation also on national levels; • Would need more and predictable funding to position environment higher on the agenda;
• Autonomous decision-making structure on the international level that could help policy makers translate international decisions into national level environmental policies and implementation; • Environmental concerns would be better and more strongly represented in international as well as national policy formulation agenda; • Environmental dimension of sustainable development receives more attention compared to economic and social dimensions, that traditionally have had higher priority;
Table 3: Specialized Agency
Source: Author's interpretation
By highlighting a number of weaknesses of current IEG, the above sections have argued for a broad reform to UNEP in order to strengthen IEG and to enable a better response to current and anticipated environmental challenges. The paper has argued that reform and strengthening of 21
IEG is important because 1) environmental challenges have grown in impact and magnitude along with globalization but the architecture has not yet evolved to respond to these emerging challenges; and 2) governance has become multi stakeholder and more participation is needed from all stakeholders in order to ensure coordinated and synergetic governance. To address the issue of environmental governance reform, the paper has established that incremental reform options, while important, will not suffice to significantly strengthen IEG. Instead it has proposed a phased reform consisting of two broader reform options and summarized key points related to each. The analysis has focused on legal, financial, and structural implications of the reform options, and emphasized possible benefits and drawbacks as summarized in the tables above. The two options have been presented in succession to argue for their relatedness and make a case for how countries could create momentum towards broader reform and strengthening of environmental governance by mobilizing support for introducing universal membership of the UNEP GC/GMEF.
As for the first reform option of universal membership, the paper has argued that it would be possible to accommodate the increased complexity of universally voting members by adopting a qualified majority voting system to improve efficiency of decision-making. The feasibility of the decision-making was exemplified by the EU, which has gradually adopted qualified majority voting to accommodate increasing members. Apart from empowering global environment ministers by creating such universal membership, the paper has also shown how it could become a decision-making umbrella for MEAs, thereby clustering debate and decision-making of those of the treaties that already have a close relation to UNEP written in their legal texts. This would benefit both coherence and efficiency of IEG.
Apart from being the first phase of a broader reform of UNEP, it is of course true that universal membership can be viewed as a reform option in itself and without connection to other reform options. It is conceivable that it could be introduced primarily for the benefits of global representation and better decision-making on IEG issues, arguably these benefits are significant and sufficient to justify it. If the UNGA were to provide the GC/GMEF with universal membership and decision-making power, it is very likely that it would significantly empower the ministers at the GC/GMEF to make strong environmental decisions, because conversely to the GA, the GC would be a forum especially mandated for environmental issues. This would give a different priority to environmental decision-making when compared to the GA, where other issues have had higher priority. Subsequent to universal membership of the GC/GMEF, the second broad reform phase of establishing a specialized agency, was also emphasized. In this regard the paper argued that an environmental policy makers' forum with universal membership could propel the creation of a globally representative decision-making forum for international environmental policy. If this could be achieved it would be an obvious next step to negotiate a UN GA Resolution towards establishing a specialized agency with legal independence, but affiliated to the UN. Such a mandate could have a tremendously positive effect on the clout of environmental agenda setting and policy making, internationally and nationally.
Since international environmental agreements often fall short on national levels and in the stages of implementation, it will not be sufficient to keep IEG purely on the intergovernmental arena. To address this issue, the paper has argued that benefits for national level environmental policy have to be identified. To do so, more support must be provided to environmental ministries and agencies on national and local levels. Strengthening environmental ministries on national and local levels is a two-way process. For the UN-bodies, it will be necessary that they continue to cooperate and implement cohesively expanding on the "One-UN" initiative and articulate ways of cooperation as well as demarcation between and among the agencies. Environmental governance in this way will fall beyond UNEP as an agency and some tasks will have to be undertaken in cooperation or by representation of other UN agencies, NGOs and national stakeholders, according to which solution is the most effective and efficient. The cooperation could be visualized by means of the following figure:
Figure 4: Cooperation on implementation levels Source: Author's interpretation
Exchange of knowledge and good practices between countries and sectors is also depicted in the figure, this kind of initiative can take place bilaterally decided and organized by countries 23
themselves and with the help of agencies. Reporting of progress for least developed countries (LDCs) and reporting on MEA commitments overall could then be done to the plenary forum of the specialized Agency (UNEO/WEO). For national policy makers, the strengthening of the environmental mandate in comparison with other ministries will have to be implemented in national decision-making processes. As was emphasized in the paper, a direct benefit could be harnessed if policy makers were to take advantage of the efficient decision-making in the GC/GMEF and agree on issues to strengthen implementation of environmental agreements on national level. Moreover, a specialized agency could initiate the establishment of domestic 'interlinkages' committees tasked with identifying thematic links between environment and other important sectors of the economy such as water, energy, transport, etc. In this regard the paper has argued that additional integration of environmental concerns could be achieved politically through enhanced environmental agenda setting, influence on national budgeting or other interventions that may vary according to national circumstances. The paper has argued that doing so would result in better enforcement of MEA commitments, especially if MEA codecision could become part of the GC/GMEF as decisions could be made more efficiently. While the two-phased reform proposal establishing universal membership of the GC/GMEF and establishing a specialized agency resemble significant reform options, essentially the improvement of IEG has to be carried forward by decision makers themselves. This implies that the conscientious issues concerning amounts and predictability of the IEG regime's funding need to be addressed along with capacity building for developing countries, better integration of environment issues into decision-making, monitoring and assessing the environment, access to information and environmentally sound technology and other emerging issues.
If universal membership and specialized agency options resemble the way forward, the question still lingers then why governments have not chosen to sufficiently back them up and initiate their implementation long ago. Partly this can be explained by an overall lack of trust in the UN and the multilateral system of negotiation and decision-making as a whole. Countries and their citizens have increasing trouble seeing the relevance of the complex international governance structures. The UN itself should continue to emphasize its internal reform to show that incremental efficiency improvements are being undertaken. Among other measures it will therefore be important to undertake thorough analysis of how the identified options in the Nairobi-Helsinki Outcome will actually improve the functions and tasks identifies as important for IEG. Additionally, it is important that the UN leads by example and shows not only how environmental governance can be effectively mainstreamed in their organization, but also why it should remain a relevant and credible institution for the global community. National level governments also play a decisive role in determining support or resistance to strengthening environmental governance. On these levels it could be advised to place effort on national awareness campaigns and information dissemination. The public must clearly understand the role of the UN, the links between international environmental governance structures and their lives and how the international environment affects the well-being of local communities.
It is important to make this point; because many states remain convinced that strong international governance would compromise their national sovereignty. In fact, global 24
governance will not compromise the sovereignty of states. On the contrary, because global environmental impacts can be felt increasingly on the local scale, globalization has extended the reach of nation states' interest. It should therefore be in the interest of sovereign nation states to upgrade and mandate institutions whose purpose is to address global environmental issues to improve the quality of the global and local environments.
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