Publications

Solid waste is a critical issue for cities in Asia and the Pacific. With changes in lifestyles, the problems faced by cities have compounded, including an increase in both solid and hazardous waste, issues pertaining to landfill management, and recycling, among others. There is often a contrast between cities with different economic levels and...

Germany is the leader among countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in reducing its emissions of the Kyoto basket of greenhouse gases (GHGs), having accomplished an emissions reduction of 18.9 percent from 1990 to 2000. This paper aims to explain the reasons for this success and to examine the...

The Kyoto Protocol can best be understood as being an economic instrument that uses flexible targets and market mechanisms to limit greenhouse gas emissions at the least cost. Its market orientation was largely inspired by the United States, which nevertheless opposes it on economic grounds. Yet a meaningful global regime requires the participation...

This paper aims to present, from the perspectives of Germany and Japan, some of the major issues facing the international community in reaching agreement on the Kyoto Protocol and its implementation. It also provides the background leading up to the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Berlin Mandate, and the Kyoto...

This article gives a brief overview of the Kyoto Protocol, its core features of long-term relevance, the outlook to 2012, and the options for moving forward with a new round of negotiations on international climate change responses. It is concluded that major elements of the Kyoto system are now irreversible. This is not only because of ongoing...

In Kemang, a mountain village in West Java, Indonesia, the local people call the hillsides pasir, a term which includes both privately owned hillside land or nationally owned forest land. It is apparent that the national forest lands function as a social safety net, serving as land where the middle-class and the poor can conduct "informal"...

In Making Microchips Jan Mazurek provides not only a broad overview of the environmental challenges facing the semiconductor industry and its regulators, but also gives insights on new-style regulatory initiatives. Mazurek's goal is not to propose a grand solution to the difficult problems the chip industry faces, but to provide the background...

Dust (yellow) storms are becoming a serious environmental problem in the Asia-Pacific region.1 Being part of this region, Mongolia is beginning to experience the consequences of global warming and climate change, as well as having its own impact on the natural environment. With the transition to a market economy, the number of livestock-the main...

Since 1999/2000, the Asia-Pacific region has been experiencing a boom in regional and bilateral free trade agreements, with the result that trade regimes are increasingly taking place in the context of FTAs and regional economic integration. Consequently, many of the key issues in the ever-growing interface between trade and environment have...

Development of markets for, and large-scale use of, renewable energy products and technologies have been hindered by their high up-front capital costs; the renewable energy industry's inadequate access to credit; subsidies for fossil fuels; and low purchasing capacity among potential consumers. While conventional funding and financial instruments...