• Energy Research

AbstractThe effective control of climate change rests, to a great extent, on governance mechanisms to protect the global commons as a type of common pool resource on a global scale. This calls for action beyond the boundaries of the state and of local interests. Collective solutions at the global level are needed as a means of sharing in the promises that globalisation holds. Moreover, global policies need to rest on the harmonisation of local and national interests in order to be effectively implemented. The attendant implementation challenges are addressed in this article with reference to Brazil's experience, against the backdrop of considerations also applicable to other developing countries. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Because of the size of its population and economy, good environmental governance in Asia is fundamental not only for the well-being of the region's population but also for the health of the planet. This article introduces the challenges of governing the environment in Asia. The issue evaluates the outcomes and institutional changes in selected countries related to substantive environmental issues such as air pollution, water quality, municipal solid waste, transport, land use, and climate change. By synthesizing the main research issues, methodology and findings of the growing literature on the region, we highlight the trends in environmental governance and gaps in policy and research. Despite the efforts made, there are still remaining environmental governance challenges to be addressed by both the academics and practitioners in Asia.

Abstract The term “co-benefits” refers to positive outcomes accruing from a policy beyond the intended outcome, often or usually in other sectors. In the urban context, policies implemented in particular sectors (such as transport, energy or waste) often generate multiple co-benefits in other areas. Such benefits may be related to the reduction of local or global environmental impacts and also extend into the area of public health. A key to identifying and realising co-benefits is the adoption of systems approaches to understand inter-sectoral linkages and, in particular, the translation of this understanding to improved sector-specific and city governance. This paper reviews a range of policies which can yield health and climate co-benefits across different urban sectors and illustrates, through a series of cases, how taking a systems approach can lead to innovations in urban governance which aid the development of healthy and sustainable cities.

Abstract High concentrations of people and economic activities in urban areas have strengthened the links between cities, health and the environment. Cities are not only responsible for environmental and health problems but also they hold the key for a greener economy and a sustainable future. Urban built environment is a policy field where appropriate policies and actions could yield significant human and ecological benefits. Among different elements of urban built environment, buildings deserve particular attention due to their large contribution to environmental and health problems. The concept of sustainable (green) building is a recent response to address the problems that stem from the building sector. However, the widespread implementation of the concept is hindered by significant challenges. This paper argues that manifestation of multiple benefits that sustainable buildings deliver could help overcome some of these challenges. The paper presents the extent to which green buildings could generate co-benefits, and underlines the opportunities and barriers to push green building agenda forward. The results indicate that green and sustainably renovated buildings could yield significant benefits in terms of energy and CO 2 reduction, cost savings, and improved health situation for building users. The case study buildings with the best two performances are found to achieve 33% and 26% reduction in energy use intensity, and 38% and 32% reduction in CO 2 emissions intensity in comparison to benchmark values. Reduction in energy consumption in the top two buildings corresponds to an energy cost saving of $ 1–1.5 Million per year per building. Furthermore, the top two buildings are found to provide improved healthy environment due to improved indoor and ambient air quality, better thermal comfort and more natural lighting indoors. Making more explicit the multiple benefits of sustainable buildings needs further consideration in this regard. We recommend that the public sector could take key actions to accelerate the number of green buildings including fiscal support, technical assistance and policy reforms.

The growing cities in developing Asia require a massive provision of infrastructure, public transportation, housing and jobs for their population, as well as a healthy environment. On the other hand, urban Asia contributes increasingly to climate change, and suffers its impacts. The climate co-benefits approach in this paper refers to the development and implementation of policies and strategies that simultaneously contribute to addressing climate change and solving local environmental problems, which also have other development impacts. The co-benefits approach is important especially for developing countries, which have to overcome many challenges simultaneously with limited capacities and resources. Thus, the objective of this paper is to examine the main obstacles, opportunities and challenges to implementation of environmental co-benefit related policies in urban areas. The paper focuses primarily upon sub-national processes, particularly in cities in developing countries, but the research also looked into the links of sub-national processes to national and international processes. The paper relies on the results of research done in China, Indonesia and India. It offers a series of lessons for understanding initiatives that generated co-benefits and the factors that influence them. This paper provides insight on successful ways to promote, design and implement the urban co-benefits approach in urban areas.

Abstract China's initiative on pollutant emissions reduction has attracted global attentions. Sustainability responsibilities endorsed by the Chinese central government indicate that pollutant emissions reduction should be one of the top priorities. This paper aims to review the performance changes during different five-year plan stages for emission control, address the major issues and identify options for the future improvement of China's pollutant emissions reduction. The temporal changing of controlled pollutants during variously five-year planning periods was analyzed firstly, followed by policy recommendations including reforming the environmental data system to improve data reliability, perfecting a market-oriented emission trading system toward reducing social costs, promoting investment, and approaching co-benefits for policy integration.

Institutions for environmental governance evolve differently across sectors. They also vary in the same sector when governments at two levels (national and subnational) have different political alignments. As the policy environment becomes more complex, with global problems like climate change, and politics more dividing, better coordination among various levels of government is a tough governance challenge. Scholars and practitioners need to realize how best to build institutions to bridge the various levels of government in different political environments and environmental sectors. This research analyzes the influence of intergovernmental relations in two environmental sectors in two localities with contrasting political alignments between two levels of government. It draws lessons from solid waste management and climate policy in two Malaysian states (Johor and Penang). In an evolving State and new policy arenas, when formal institutions for intergovernmental relations may not be effectively in place, politics play an even larger role through the discretionary power of federal and subnational authorities. An open political process can help with the engagement of different political groups and civil society to bring legitimacy, resources and efficiency to environmental management, if it is done with robust intergovernmental institutions; otherwise, intergovernmental relations can also become a tool for zero-sum games, cronyism and patrimonialism, which can undermine policies, and result in inefficiencies and ineffectiveness in environmental management.

Abstract Meeting the global demand for palm oil poses great sustainability challenges. Indonesia is experiencing one of the largest oil palm expansions worldwide. Important socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the palm oil sector remain unsolved including conflicts over land tenure, loss of biodiversity, air pollution and emission of greenhouse gases. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a multi-stakeholder alliance promoting best practices along palm oil supply chains. However, the RSPO’s potential to truly enhance the sustainability of palm oil production and consumption has been questioned. The different stakeholder groups that comprise the RSPO often hold different agendas and perspectives, posing a barrier for enhancing the sustainability of the sector. Moreover, RSPO stakeholders’ perceptions may not be necessarily attuned to local realities and sensibilities in Indonesia. This paper, (a) provides a rapid appraisal of the perceptions on the barriers for improving palm oil sustainability as held by the main RSPO stakeholder groups and (b) contrasts them with the views of local communities in oil palm expansion areas. Our results suggest that RSPO stakeholders’ perceptions about enhancing palm oil sustainability are overall highly divergent. However there seemed to be an underlying common optimism among some RSPO stakeholders and local communities about the feasibility of a technical fix. Understanding RSPO stakeholders’ perceptions can enrich the current debate about the sustainable production and consumption of palm oil that is usually informed by rigorous yet highly compartmentalized research.