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1. TURNING THE ECONOMIC NEEDS INTO GREEN GROWHT

This rapid growth in production and population is taking place in a region which has some of the highest proportions of degraded land in the world, high proportions of dryland and the lowest per capita availability of arable land and water. The carrying capacity of the region is therefore quite limited in comparison with other regions.

Signs of stress are apparent. Per capita water availability is reaching “scarcity limits” in many areas which are subject to seasonal shortages. More than 462 million persons were affected by drought (including deaths and homelessness) in South Asia alone during the period 2000-2004. Surface and groundwater resources have been degraded because of over-extraction and pollution, particularly by nitrates and heavy metals.

Only about 30 per cent of the total land area of the region is forested and over 28 per cent of the region’s land area is degraded to some degree, with significant degradation in dryland areas used for agriculture. The region has also contributed significantly to the rapid global decline in biodiversity, with several countries having particularly large numbers of species which are threatened and endangered, as compared with other parts of the world. Then there have been dramatic declines in fishery resources and continued degradation of coastal ecosystems. The mangrove forests lost from 1990 to 2000 represent approximately 60 per cent of the global loss, with South-East Asia accounting for the majority of this. Approximately 60 per cent of the region’s coral reefs are at risk. Suspended particulates are of concern in a growing number of cities and in over 50 per cent of reporting cities, average annual concentrations of NO2 have exceeded World Health Organization standard limits.

Despite these signs of stress, the need for further economic growth remains large. In the ESCAP region, about 670 million people were still living on less than $1 a day (PPP adjusted) in 2004, representing about 63 per cent of the global total. China and India account for approximately 80 per cent of the region’s poor.

In 2001, more than 1 in every 10 persons in the region was still undernourished. The per capita energy supply of the region is less than 60 per cent of that of the global figure, posing a significant barrier to social development.

Given the region’s limited ecological carrying capacity and the enormous need for further economic growth to reduce poverty and meet the basic needs of its vast and expanding population, the region has to find ways and means to reduce the environmental impact of its economic growth. As such, the Governments of countries in the region have agreed that Green Growth is the foremost strategy to ensure environmental and economic sustainability of the countries in the Asian and Pacific region.

2. GREEN GROWTH; BEGINNING TO EMERGE

The term “Green Growth” was first promoted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) to instill a new development paradigm for fast-developing Asian countries. Some countries adopted a similar concept called “ecomodernization” or the more widely-used “sustainable development.”

However, green growth sends a clear message that economic growth will not be compromised by the goal of environmental protection?a concept that is much better embraced in countries with strong development needs. Second, green growth focuses less on balancing development and protection but more on promoting investment in environmental protection, which in turn will foster economic growth.

Green growth is a very timely concept. With global climate change looming as the greatest challenge mankind has ever faced, we need inspired vision to actively address this enormous problem. Developed countries with historically strong public support for a sustainable society may be less dependent on such a strategy. However, countries with greater development needs and lower public environmental consciousness need a different approach to gather public support for a transition to a sustainable society.

3. CLIMATE CHANGE AND CITY DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable development has been the overarching goal of most countries. While climate change has added extra urgency to the sustainable development agenda, in some cases it has been treated as separate issue and not mainstreamed into sustainable development. A low-carbon green growth offers one way for climate change responses and sustainable development to find a mutually reinforcing synergy. There would be an expanding renewable energy use, stricter regulations on auto emissions, Emission trading system and energy-related tax system reform and building a green transportation system-activation of public transportation and bicycle. It all contributes to a better understanding of the demanding challenge of transforming existing cities into Green Cities. A green city movements are variously defined as:

A growth path that simultaneously restrains energy demand growth, drives new production towards low carbon sources, and provides sufficient, secure energy supply for global economic growth (Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership 2007)
Using low carbon substitutes to fossil fuels to reduce emissions of GHGs significantly, while at the same time ensuring economic growth and development and enhancement of human welfare (EREC 2008); and
Sustainable growth which helps reduce GHG emissions and environmental pollution (Cho 2008)

Also, there are some common elements that should be included in a consensus definition, comprising an optimal mix of (i) reducing energy demand; (ii) moving away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels and their associated GHG emissions; (iii) continuing to meet the development needs of all groups in society, but especially those that are poor and/or vulnerable; (iv) ensuring energy security; and (v) adoption of appropriate technology and policies that continuously lead toward a green society.

The focus on sustainable Green Cities is quite new. It requires a broad field of disciplines and competences as well as strong visioning and strong city governance. Both urban planners and local politicians should rediscover and redefine city values and corporate urban responsibilities. Green Cities need both the involvement of local expertise as well as passion in urban leadership.

Also, it involves all the stakeholders in the process, from country administration agencies, the city government agency to local communities and businesses as well other parties, such technology, product and service companies, NGOs and education and research institutes. And through a dynamic development process, it will expand and engage more organizations interested in joining the collaborative efforts, the ones who will impact this process and will in turn be impacted by the initiatives.

4. GREEN CITY ADAPTATION STRATEGIES

A. RENEWABLE ENERGY

“Low Carbon, Green Growth” is suggested as a solution to the current economic recession, as well as the energy problem and global warming. In particular, new and renewable energy has been receiving considerable attention as an effective means to realize green growth. Green City promotion will contribute to decreasing the demand for fossil fuels and also stimulate the development of renewable energy. Thus, the top priority for any Green City Development-movement should be to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels.

To overcome the dependence it is needed to enhance the supply of new and renewable energy sources such as those from waste, bio mass and use of solar, wind, hydro and other powers. Simply, new and renewable energy can be understood to mean clean fossil fuel energy or non-fossil fuel energy, including:

Bio-energy
Bio-energy is the energy derived from bio-mass, such as plants. Many industries, such as those involved in construction or the processing of agricultural products, can create large quantities of unused or residual biomass which can serve as a bio-energy source.
Bio-power
Some utilities and power generating companies with coal power plants have found that replacing some coal with biomass is a low-cost option to reduce undesirable emissions. As much as 15 percent of the coal may be replaced with biomass. Also, using biomass reduces nitrous oxide emissions.

A process called gasification-the conversion of biomass into gas, which is burned in a gas turbine-is another way to generate electricity. The decay of biomass in landfills also produces gas, mostly methane, which can be burned in a boiler to produce steam for electricity generation or industrial processes. Biomass can also be heated in the absence of oxygen to chemically convert it into a type of fuel oil, called pyrolysis oil. Pyrolysis old can be used for power generation and as a feed-stock for fuels and chemical production.
Bio-fuels
Biomass can be converted directly into liquid fuels, called bio-fuels. Because bio-fuels are easy to transport and possess high energy density, they are favored to fuel vehicles and sometimes stationary power generation. The most common bio-fuel is ethanol, an alcohol made from the fermentation of biomass high in carbohydrates. The current largest source of ethanol is corn. Some cities use ethanol as a gasoline additive to help meet air quality standards for ozone. Flex-fuel vehicles are also now on the market, which can use a mixture of gasoline and ethanol, such as E85-a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Another bio-fuel is biodiesel, which can be made from vegetable and animal fats. Biodiesel can be used to fuel a vehicle or as a fuel additive to reduce emissions.

Renewable energy can provide both opportunities and risks. In terms of opportunities, the renewable energy industry is expected to grow 10-20 percent annually, creating a number of new business opportunities, especially in countries where IT is highly developed with good business infrastructure and high quality labor. Risks in new ventures can be mitigated by taking advantage of government support programs. As for the risks associated with the industry, high production costs and low efficiency makes economic stability difficult to achieve. Also, while it may be easy to play catch-up in equipments and operations, there exists a high technological barrier in developing proprietary technologies. Moreover, excessive competition due to an overcrowded market is likely.

B. ZERO-ENERGY BUILDING

A net zero-energy building is a residential or commercial building with greatly reduced energy needs through efficiency gains such that the balance of energy needs can be supplied with renewable technologies. And the concept of the Zero-energy building is the idea that buildings can meet all their energy requirements from low-cost, locally available, nonpolluting, renewable sources. At the strictest level, a zero-energy building generates enough renewable energy on site to equal or exceed its annual energy use.

A zero energy building can be defined in several ways, depending on the boundary and the metric. Different definitions may be appropriate, depending on the project goals and the values of the design team and building owner. For example, building owners typically care about energy costs. Organizations are concerned with national energy numbers, and are typically interested in primary or source energy. A building designer may be interested in site energy use for energy code requirements. Finally, those who are concerned about pollution from power plants and the burning of fossil fuels may be interested in reducing emissions. Four commonly used definitions are: net zero site energy, net zero source energy, net zero energy costs, and net zero energy emissions.

Net Zero Site Energy: A site zero-energy building produces at least as much energy as it uses in a year, when accounted for at the site.
Net Zero Source Energy: A source zero-energy building produces at least as much energy as it uses in a year, when accounted for at the source. Source energy refers to the primary energy used to generate and deliver the energy to the site. To calculate a building’s total source energy, imported and exported energy is multiplied by the appropriate site-to-source conversion multipliers.
Net Zero Energy Costs: In a cost zero-energy building, the amount of money the utility pays the building owner for the energy the building exports to the gird is at least equal to the amount the owner pays the utility for the energy services and energy used over the year.
Net Zero Energy Emissions: A net-zero emissions building produces at least as much emissions-free renewable energy as it uses from emissions-producing energy sources. Keeping pace with the expectation of the times, it is needed to strive to create low-energy buildings. There is potential to influence the energy future in the world and help facilitate decisions that are economically responsible, environmentally sustainable. To create zero-energy building it should be:
Set concrete and measurable energy goals for all building projects;
Strive to meet those goals by using the envelope of the building to meet the comfort and programmatic needs of the occupants; and
Measure and report the actual performance of buildings.

C. GREEN TRANSPORTATION

Expanding economies and growing populations throughout the world are increasing emissions of these greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from transportation which uses are also the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in urban cities. The use of transportation fuels made from fossil fuels, such as gasoline and diesel, result in large quantities of CO2 emissions. Other transportation fuels may produce fewer tailpipe emissions but the production, transportation, and use of these fuels results in significant greenhouse gas emissions.

Local governments can get started minimizing green-house gas emissions and air pollution from the transportation in their communities for Green Development in cities by doing this following:

Analyze the existing transportation system. Determine the miles of existing roads and highways, the number of vehicle trips and miles traveled on average, the amount of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions generated from transportation activities, the percentage of transit use, and review land-use plans to identify major developments.
Set goals for lower motor vehicle use and emissions. These goals should be applied to both municipal operations and the community as a whole goals should include percentage reductions in travel and emissions, how that reduction is measured and the date by which the reduction should be achieved.
Select an appropriate combination of transportation options. Implementation of the selected options should be both technically feasible and politically realistic. The options chosen should represent a balance that will achieve emissions reductions in the short-and long-term in order to build both immediate and lasting support.

5. ROLE OF PUBLIC SECTOR TO PROMOTE GREEN CITY: GOVERNANCE STRATEGY

Until recently, the conventional environmental management approach just focused on improving environmental performance by controlling and regulating pollution and effluents from production processes. Despite the progress achieved, pollution control alone does not provide for lessening the pressures from the current pattern of economic growth and change of climate. Nor does it promote “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In order to “ensure the Green Development of Cities” of the society, it is imperative to also improve the efficiency governance strategies.
Certainly, it should seek to harmonize economic growth and improved environmental sustainability in cities, while enhancing the synergy between environment and economy. Consequently, the public sector’s role is to participate in both the regulations of private sector urban development; work with other levels of government to influence the design of system it controls; and make decisions about the infrastructure it builds, owns and controls including:

Improve pollution control by strengthening the environmental standards and regulations
Promote the environment as a growth driver, business opportunity and employment creator;
Create a win-win synergy between the environment and the economy to promote:
- Environment as a growth driver and employment creator, not as a burden on growth;
- Environment as a business opportunity for the private sector, not as an extra cost to business; and
- Environmental regulations/standards as a research and development opportunity for improved industrial competitiveness.
Decouple the increasing environmental pressure on the carrying capacity from economic growth; At the regional level, countries must work together to:
Establish and develop a regional and subregional policy consultation forum to create a conductive environment for stimulating the integration of economic, social and environmental considerations into overall development plans in support of achieving the Millennium Development Goals on sustainable development, environmental sustainability, poverty reduction and gender equality and implementing the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation ;
Create a regional knowledge hub to exchange information and examples of best practices for application and putting into practice the concept and system change towards environmentally sustainable economic growth;
Develop and implement a regional and subregional strategy to create synergy between the environment and the economy with focus on environmental sustainability and eco-efficiency;
Support the long-term perspective of resource allocation for the environment.

6. CONCLUSION

In the past few years, growing concerns about the environmental unsustainability of past economic growth patterns and increased awareness of a potential climate crisis have made it clear that it requires actions and commitment by political leaders, corporations and citizens. Moreover, change of environmental conditions will inevitably make countries in Asia and the Pacific more vulnerable to dramatic climate events.

In response to the anticipated impacts of climate change, most of countries in Asia and the Pacific have to change the trend of increasing GHG emission, many developing countries still face an imperative development challenge in ensuring that they meet the demand of energy. Meeting basic energy needs naturally increases the demand for oil and gas, GHG emission and the financial burden of the developing countries for new investment. Thus, the question is how to meet basic needs with less environmental and economic cost. Minimizing the potential adverse impacts requires looking at an alternative option rather than following conventional paths.

Consequently, it is necessary to enhance the linkage between city development policies/measures and the mitigation of GHG emission; support the development of new and renewable energy; improve the efficiency of transport system; and develop building-energy efficiency. Furthermore, policymakers, the private sector and other stakeholders should work together to maximize the compatibility between climate change action and economic growth for supporting the development of Green City.

With a vision to create a synergy for the corporate sector as a whole to move towards Green City Development, the 5th SINGG Policy Forum will offer an opportunity for articulating the views and concerns of Green City Development towards reaching for Green Growth in Asia and the Pacific region. We expect that this policy forum can act as a catalyst in this process, encouraging and sharing experiences, disseminating effective practices from the countries to achieve environmental sustainable economic growth.