East Asian countries could be in for trouble if they continue to pursue developmental policies that are not eco-friendly
IF SIGNIFICANT changes in the development policies of east Asian countries do
not come about, each country will suffer
serious damages from global warming,
acid rain and local air pollution, among
others; and it is the environmental
NGOS in this region that should lead the
way to initiate these changes. With this
agenda in mind, the Atmospheric
Action Network of East Asia (AANEA)
held its second meeting in Osaka, Japan,
this March and adopted an action plan
of mutual cooperation. The AANEA,
formed last year to network environmental NGOs, now consists of 19 groups
from China, Korea, Hong Kong,
Mongolia, Far East Russia, Taiwan and
Japan.
It is for the first time that such
cooperation was established among the
region's NGOS. At the meeting, guest
speaker Lando T Velasco of the
Southeast Asian Climate Network
pointed out that east Asian nations have
a great influence on global climate, due
to the region's growing contribution to
greenhouse emissions resulting from its
various economic activities.
In 1990, the average per capita carbon dioxide emission in the region was
6.7 metric tonne - well above the per
capita sustainable emission of 1.69
tonne. Velasco also stated that the
region's very long coAtline makes it
very vulnerable to sea-level rise, thus
endangering millions of people inhabiting the coastal areas and affecting the
infrastructure and economic base of
east Asian countries.
Hye-Sook Park, assistant professor
at Mie University in Japan, predicted
that emissions of sulphur dioxide will
double by AD 2010 in this region if the
nations do not alter their development
and environment policies. However,
reportedly, east Asia is the only place in
the world where regional cooperation
among nations is very sparse as they
happen to be very diverse.
The Chinese presence in the meet
was significant. Said Zhang Haz-Bin,
assistant professor at Beijing University,
"In China, the Central government
dominates everything. People tend to
think that it is the government, not they
themselves, that deliberate
policies, so they do not
show any concern for
environmental issues. But
as you can see, China is on
the road to democratisation, environmental NGOs
have started their activities and the government
has begun to recognise them."
Ts Aduaysuren of
Mongolia reported that
the climate of Mongolia
was becoming drier and
the mean temperature has
actually increased by 1.8'c
in the mountains due
to forest felling in China.
Air pollution has also
adversely affected humans
and the environment in
Khavarovsk in Far East
Russia, where infant mortality in 1992 stood at
18.2 per 1,000 new-bornbabies.
In Hong Kong, the atmospheric
particulates are reported to be far above
the acceptable levels. Respiratory diseases among children is 1.5 times higher
than those in non-industrial areas.
Except for Japan and a few other countries, little has been done to slow down
the emissions of greenhouse gases.
During the second meeting of
AANEA, apart from member nations,
delegates from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Fiji and Germany attended as
guests. The meeting adopted the AANEA
action policy which recommends monitoring of air pollution by NGOS in this
region using simple instruments; AANEA
also plans to send a delegation to the
Conference of Parties (cop)-2 for the
Geneva climate talks this July to
strengthen cooperation between east
Asian NGOS to prepare for the COP-3 next
year in Japan.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.