This study shows how transport affects social, economic and environmental sustainability. It deals with issues and best practices for inland transport, namely road, rail, inland waterway and intermodal transport. It also outlines UNECE contributions and reviews progress towards the development of more sustainable inland transport.
This publication suggests solutions that can be built into the design of urban development projects undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to address the common problems and grievances of the urban poor, and to improve urban governance overall.
It also identifies successful or promising community-based approaches to dispute resolution that can be useful in urban project design.
It uses ADB's Governance policy as a framework for analyzing key findings of Access to Justice for the Urban Poor, a regional technical assistance grant to four developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific - Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. The findings consist of case studies illustrating typical problems encountered by the poor in connection with access to urban assets and services, and identifies the types of grievances or disputes that may arise because of these issues. The publication reproduces key case studies to illustrate significant concepts.
Over the past decade, Asia and the Pacific has made significant progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. However, accelerating climate change is threatening to reverse these gains, and those who are already economically and socially vulnerable are likely to suffer soonest and most. To enable member countries cope with the inevitable impacts already locked into the climate system, as well as to transition them to low-carbon economies, ADB is working with urgency to put in place integrated solutions that will address both the causes and consequences of climate change in the region.
In 2009 to August 2011, ADB’s climate change-related interventions span a total of more than 110 projects, involving an investment of about $10 billion. During the same period, ADB has also provided more than $245 million in technical assistance to improve knowledge and capacities, support policy and institutional development, and ensure the feasibility of investments related to climate change.
This report captures the mission and actions of the Asia Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI), launched by Asian Development Bank (ADB) in May 2010, in response to the exponential growth opportunities to install solar energy capacity in Asian and Pacific.
The report provides information to relevant stakeholders on the importance and benefits of developing the solar energy sector in Asia and the Pacific, investment opportunities and challenges in the sector, and the approach adopted by the Asia Solar Energy Initiative to facilitate the rapid deployment of solar energy applications in the region, including knowledge management, project development and innovative finance.
Universal access to safe, reliable energy is a necessary condition for providing the poor with safe water and sanitation, for maintaining adequate standards of living, and for achieiving the Millennium Development Goals. The Asian Development Bank recognizes the importance of electricity and water access for the poor and has committed to providing such access by establishing the Energy for All and Water for All initiatives.
While broad efforts aimed at regulatory reform and increasing energy and water access may be helpful, targeting interventions, measures, and approaches are often needed to ensure that the poor benefit from these efforts. This publication identifies specific infrastructure and utility service reform measures that can be taken to advance the interests of the poor.
This paper takes stock of developments in Asian and Pacific countries as they prepare to take advantage of emerging financial incentives for forest conservation created through the “REDD+” approach for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and other actions that conserve and enhance forest carbon stocks. The paper contributes to the active dialogue on how best to organize for good knowledge management and coordination in Asia and the Pacific for implementing the REDD+ approach. Countries of the region, and especially those of Southeast Asia, have the potential to significantly contribute to mitigating global climate change through forest conservation with incentives provided through REDD+ payments. Current REDD+ arrangements and actions in the region are reviewed along with the extent to which existing multilateral and bilateral REDD+ support mechanisms are allocating their time and resources to support countries of the region. Asian and Pacific countries are receiving considerable support, and coordination is improving as all try to use the new REDD+ incentives to address the major drivers of deforestation in the region.
The widespread loss of natural ecosystems and biodiversity is much more than a conservation issue. Natural ecosystems provide socially and economically valuable services, such as food and fiber resources, clean water and climate regulation, that are fundamental to human welfare, but are often overlooked in decision-making processes.
Produced through a partnership between ADB and WWF International, this report provides examples of promising approaches for sustainably managing natural capital in the region. These are based on experiences from four important regional cooperation initiatives, which demonstrate the commitment of the participating governments to protecting the integrity of natural ecosystems while improving livelihoods and reducing poverty.
This paper firstly reviews the emerging literature on green growth, with a focus on the origin and meaning of the concept, as well as the justifications for and criticisms of the concept. The general idea of taking into account the impact of economic growth policies on the environment is not very controversial, but the possibility of simultaneously achieving conventional GDP growth and environmental protection is debated. It then discusses how China might move on to a green growth path. It summarizes a sizable literature that traces China’s rapid economic growth and the associated environmental problems to its unique and fundamental institutions, and discuss the implications of this on how China might grow more sustainably.