The Asian countries have diverse economic profiles, energy consumption patterns, greenhouse emissions, climatic conditions and socio-political landscapes. These dynamics bring into focus that drawing a uniform framework to define the energy transition process for the region is a difficult task. Keeping in view of this reality, this book identifies...
Remote sensing technology has seen a massive rise in popularity over the last two decades,
becoming an integral part of our lives. Space-based satellite technologies facilitated access to the
inaccessible terrains, helped humanitarian teams, support complex emergencies, and contributed to
monitoring and verifying conflict zones. The scoping...
Understanding Myanmar’s solid waste systems presents a challenge for anyone working in the sector. While waste collection and disposal challenges faced by Myanmar’s cities and towns share similarities, strategies to overcome them evolve locally and are often not well-communicated between different local government bodies. Data on the country’s...
An ADB stocktake highlights that weak governance and a lack of incentives and finance are among the factors holding back the region’s progress on environmental sustainability. The authors urge decision-makers to prioritize investments that privilege the environment and to apply integrated development approaches, systems thinking, and a circular...
This mini review describes the current status and challenges regarding institutionalisation of wastewater surveillance systems against COVID-19. Monitoring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has been proposed to be a potential tool to understand the actual prevalence of COVID-19 in the community, and it could be an effective approach to monitor the trend...
Starting in August 2019, the SWITCH Asia SCP Facility has provided technical support to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) for development of the National Action Plan on Sustainable Consumption and Production (2021.2030) (NAP on SCP). The SCP Facility established a team of international and national experts to conduct an assessment on...
Learning from cultural traditions and philosophies could help place countries in Asia on more sustainable development paths. This paper argues why and outlines how countries in Asia should collaborate in pooling and promoting good practices grounded in indigenous knowledge and philosophies to mainstream sustainability at the local, national...
The Best Practices for Solid Waste Management: A Guide for Decision-Makers in Developing Countries (Guide) is focused on best practices for solid waste management in medium and large urban centers in developing countries (generally referred to as “cities” in the Guide), because they face the most substantial solid waste management challenges. Given...
The government of Indonesia has pledged to meet ambitious greenhouse gas mitigation goals in its Nationally Determined Contribution as well as reduce water pollution through its water management policies. A set of technologies could conceivably help achieving these goals simultaneously. However, the installation and widespread application of these...
Unmanaged plastic waste poses a major socio-economic, environmental and health risk to urban and marine environments in the Asia Pacific. Each year South-east Asian countries produce 11.7 million metric tonnes of plastic waste, of which over 60% is derived from urban areas. Therefore a focus on effective city governance will be vital to tackle the...