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The United Nations designated 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action "Water for Life." In April 2005, its Comission on Sustainable Development identified water as one of its three important issues. On the World Environment Day of June 2005, the UN secretary general said that by 2030, more than 60 percent of the world's polulation will...

Asia is becoming the focus of global environmental concern. Of the world's 15 most polluted cities, 13 are in Asia; a third of Asians have no access to safe drinking water; and half of Asians have no access to adequate sanitation facilities.1 The rapid growth of two Asian giants, India and China, hints at a new world order coming, including a great...

According to an estimation by the United Nations, 15 cities in the Asia Pacific region will become megacities with a total population exceeding 10 million by 2015, and 60 percent of the total population in the region will live in urban areas by 2030 (APFED 2005). Urban environment management in Asia is now one of the most critical subjects. Being...

IGES published its first white paper entitled, "Sustainable Asia 2005 and Beyond - In the pursuit of innovative policies," which consolidates the primary outcomes of its policy research for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific region since its establishment in 1998. Driven by buoyant economic development and continuous population growth...

The Kyoto Protocol was signed at the third Convention of the Parties (COP 3) in 1997, and its participating nations are now formulating national and international guidelines to achieve the protocol’s goals as they wait for it to come into force. At the same time, nations not participating in the protocol are taking measures to achieve parallel...

Water shortages and water related problems in Asia are increasingly attracting concern. Ahead of the Third World Water Forum (WWF3), this issue of IRES, featuring on the sustainable management of freshwater resources, introduces issues and challenges in Asia and provides invaluable suggestions to future research. EDITOR'S NOTE http://enviroscope...

The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, IGES, completed its second research project phase in March 2004. This three-year period has been a time of growth for IGES; relocation to a new, larger research facility, expanding research staff, and strengthened research activities. In accordance with this growth, the International Review for...

Environmental education is one of the most effective strategies for increasing general levels of public environmental awareness, developing skills for solving environmental problems, and maintaining and improving quality of life and the environment. The word “Environmental Education” originates from the founding meeting of IUCN (International Union...

Nation-states founded in Europe during the eighteenth century formed their own economies, political institutions, and societies. Although the interdependence between states deepened through trade, in the twentieth century these states still basically functioned as distinct economic, political, and social units. In the latter half of twentieth...

Pleasant weather and beautiful scenery refresh us, polluted air and water cause us concern about ecosystems and human health, and global environmental disasters threaten us on a larger scale. Yet it seems difficult for people in industrialized countries to realize how much they owe to the environment, while people in developing countries are often...