Asia-Pacific environment at boiling point; green growth crucial, UN report warns
25 Dec '06
2 min read
Asian and Pacific societies are already living beyond their ecological means, and if they are to continue their much-needed economic expansion, they will have to shift towards efficient 'green growth' patterns, according to a new United Nations report released.
Meeting human development needs based on current 'grow first, clean up later' economic growth patterns is likely to result in mounting ecological problems, according to the latest regional State of the Environment report published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
Problems cited include a population density 1.5 times the global average, the lowest freshwater availability per capita of all global regions, a biologically productive area per capita that is less than 60 per cent of the global average, and arable and permanent crop land per capita that is less than 80 per cent the global average.
Meanwhile several highly polluting industries are growing more rapidly in regional developing countries than in regional developed countries, agro-industry is highly chemical-, energy- and water-intensive and, as incomes increase, lifestyles are becoming increasingly waste- and energy- intensive.
While plantation forests advance, natural forests are retreating, especially in South-East Asia, water extraction rates are already unsustainably high in at least 16 countries and irrigation systems, the biggest user of water, are highly inefficient and poorly maintained in most countries.
News 
marketing@alchempro.com
