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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE COMPLETION REPORT

Division : Environment and Safeguards Division

TA No., Country and Name Amount Approved: US $400,000

TA 6292-REG: Promoting Environmental Investment in Asia and

the Pacific

Revised Amount: : US $400,000

Executing AgencyAsian Development Bank

Source of FundingTASF and Government ofFinland

1

Amount Undisbursed:$89,757

Amount Utilized:$310,243

TA ApprovalDate:19 Dec 2005

TA SigningDate:(n/a)

Fielding of FirstConsultant{s}:26 Sep 2006

TA Completion DateOriginal: 30 June 2007 Actual: 30 June 2008

Account Closing DateOriginal: 30 June 2007 Actual: 31 Dec 2008

Description. The robust growth in Asia and the Pacific has contributed to poverty reduction in the region but hascome at a significant environmental cost. Environmental investments are needed to remediate the negative impactsof economic growth and ensure that future development is sustainable. In particular, increasing attention is neededto reducing waste, and reusing and recycling resources and productsthe so-called 3Rsas the basis of a sound

material-cycle society or circular economy in which both the consumption of natural resources and theenvironmental footprint from economic activity are lowered. Opportunities exist for promoting increasedenvironmental investment particularly through adjustment of environmental policies, financing arrangements andtrade policies. ADB has considerable experience in promoting environmental sustainability in the region and hasinitiatives, programs and funding mechanisms that can support such efforts in DMCs. The design of the regionaltechnical assistance (TA) builds on these opportunities and identifies policies, reforms and other initiatives toimprove resource efficiency in the region.

Expected Impact, Outcome and Outputs. The TA focuson 3R as a theme of investment was appropriate as 3R isemerging as an accepted approach to addressing environmental sustainability through reducing waste generationand material consumption, reusing goods and recycling waste materials. It is promoted in the region and globallyunder the G8 3R Initiative.

The anticipated impact of the TA is that governments, private sector and/or financial institutions increase theirinvestments for measures to improve environmental management in the region. Expected outcome is the adoption

of environmental policies and/or other actions of financing and trade opportunities for the promotion of environmentalinvestments. Expected outputs included (i) application of holistic planning concepts such as Life Cycle Analysis(LCA) and 3R are promoted to achieve sustainable development in the region; (ii) public and private financingopportunities for environmental investment are identified and policy approaches developed to facilitate investment;and (iii) opportunities to promote environmental investment through adjustment of trade policies are identified forapplication in the region.

Delivery of Inputs and Conduct of Activities. A total of seven international consultants and one local consultantwere engaged for the TA. The consultants worked on policy issues, financing and business opportunities onenvironmental investments, and in preparing and finalizing reports.

ADB cooperated with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) on several activities including thepreparation of knowledge products and conduct of regional dialogue workshops. A report, Towards Resource-Efficient Economies in Asia and the Pacific, which integrated elements from each of the three components waspublished in March 2008 and was extensively disseminated.

Two workshops were conducted: South Asia Subregional 3R Expert workshop in cooperation with IGES in August2006 and the East/Southeast 3R workshop in February 2007. These workshops were jointly organized by ADB, theUnited Nations Centre for Regional Development, United Nations Environment Programme, IGES and otherinternational or regional entities cooperating through the G8 3R Initiative. The workshops which were participated bygovernments, non-government organizations, research organizations and international organizations, provided avenue for sharing experiences and knowledge, in-depth discussion of issues on promoting 3R in the region, and theroute forward to widespread achievement of 3Rs.

1Through the Channel Financing Agreement (Technical Assistance Program) between the Government of Finland

and the Asian Development Bank

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The preliminary highlights of the main report were presented at Eco Asia 2007, in Japan in 8 September 2007 and atG8 3R Senior Officials Meeting in, Germany on 4-6 October 2007. The main report entitled Toward Resource-Efficient Economies in Asia and the Pacific was presented at the Second Asia 3R Conference in March 2008 inJapan, and has provided inputs to the G8 Summit process to drive the 3R initiative.

Evaluation of Outputs and Achievement of Outcome. The publication entitled Toward Resource-EfficientEconomies in Asia and the Pacific was published together with its highlights. The report provided an overview ofresource inefficiency and its consequences in the Asia and Pacific region, describes challenges and key actionstaken in the region, and identifies new business opportunities and some directions for the way forward. By providinga review of these issues and laying out a range of options for pursuing more resource-efficient economic growth, thereport assisted decisions makers in identifying strategies, policies and priorities for associated public and privatesector investments to meet these objectives.

The level of shared awareness of issues of various stakeholders has also increased through the dissemination of thereport and their participation in intergovernmental meetings, as well as identification of priority actions at national,regional and subregional and international levels.

Overall Assessment and Rating. The TA is rated as successful as it generated an important knowledge product inan area where the awareness is still getting built, and contributed to an important follow up activity (3RKH) that hassignificant potential to develop practical application in promoting resource efficiency in developing economies. Thestudies generated by the TA provided useful inputs during the regional workshops and provided the basis forinformed discussions and action planning.

Major Lessons. TA 6292-REG provided useful information to help identify measures for a more a sustainable andresource-efficient development path. The TA through the studies and workshops was able to bring together differentstakeholders and discuss ideas for measures that contribute to sustainable development in DMCs. Specificmeasures for different sectors, e. g. water, energy, waste management and regional trade were also extensivelydiscussed. Some of the important suggestions include promoting decentralized wastewater systems with emphasison recycling instead of large centralized ones, material recovery and recycling from waste instead of reliance onlandfill and incineration, and adopting resource efficiency technologies for manufacturing. Application of these ideasto concrete projects could have been a useful component to demonstrate the usefulness and feasibility of the variousrecommendations, as well as commitment of DMCs.

Recommendations and Follow-Up Actions. As a follow up to TA 6292-REG and to fill the knowledge gap in 3R inAsia and Pacific, a 3R Knowledge Hub (3RKH) was established under another TA 6295 in collaboration with theUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and thePacific (UNESCAP) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), to collect, store and share information andresources related to reducing waste, reusing and recycling resources and products. TA 6292-REG thus directlycontributed to an institutional strengthening measure to promote environmental investment in the region. The Hubhas been welcomed by the countries in the region and was recognized as a support mechanism to the 3R initiativeand the Regional Ministerial Forum on Environment and Health for East and Southeast Asia.

The recommendations of the knowledge product prepared under the TA 6292-REG should be reflected in futuredevelopment programs such as the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) and technical studies under TA7450: Project Preparation Support for Livable Cities in Asia and the second phase activities under 3RKH. Theactivities under 3RKH should be extended to include management of e-waste, recycling of construction waste,recycling treated wastewater and adoption of low material technologies for construction to promote 3R practices andachieve higher resource efficiency.

ADB is currently preparing the Asian Environment Outlook 2010 report in collaboration with UNEP and UNESCAP.The report which will have the title "Green Growth, Resources and Resilience" utilizes outputs from the TA. Thereport will be presented in the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific(MCED6) in Astana, Kazakhstan on 27 September to 2 October 2010.

Prepared by: Vijay Joshi Designation: Environment Specialist

In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to aparticular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any

judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.