The environmental situation of the Asian countries

To get a general idea regarding the current environmental situation of the Asian countries, one can refer to the Environmental Performance Index from the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. Of the 133 countries ranked for 2006, Asian countries show the poorest performances. Apart from Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, the other ASEAN+3 countries are all ranked beyond 50th place. One can also add that Mongolia, Tajikistan, India, Yemen, Bangladesh and Pakistan are all between the 115th and the 130th place. As most of the Asian countries are in the process of development, they are not responsible for most of what is happening now. Indeed, while China and India account for 8 per cent and 2 per cent respectively of the cumulative CO2 emissions over the period 1900-2005, the US and the EU are responsible for more than half of these emissions. Nevertheless, in the past few years, Chinese and Indian emissions have soared.

Thus, according to certain sources, China could already be the first CO2 emitter worldwide and Japan and India are already fourth and fifth. And this Asian predominance is likely to increase as China and India account for 56 per cent of the increase in CO2 emissions between 2005 and 2030, in the reference scenario of the IEA, so that they would be the first and third CO2 emitters in 2030, while Japan would be the fifth. At that time, Chinese emissions are forecasted to be 66 per cent higher than those of the US, ranked second. Therefore, challenges in terms of CO2 mitigation are huge and should, at some point, take place in Asia. However, currently, climate change is not the form of pollution that worries most Asian inhabitants. Indeed, countries like India or China (as well as most of the South East Asian countries) rely heavily on coal and thus suffer from air pollution at both local and regional levels. Regional pollution is caused by acid rain which occurs when SO2 and NOX are mixed together in the air. This leads to the creation of acidic compounds that are absorbed by clouds, which in turn makes rain or snow more acidic. This impacts on vegetation, soil, crop yields, buildings and public health. It not only affects the place where the pollution is emitted but it can be transported over thousands of miles. For example, Japan and Korea are suffering from Chinese pollution through acid rain, while Bangladesh suffers from Indian pollution. As for the rankings, China is already, by far, the first SO2 emitter in the world and forecasts show that both Chinese and Indian emissions of NOX and SO2 will rise steadily.

For example, Indian emissions could double between 2005 and 2030. Measuring the impact of acid rain appears to be difficult as most of the studies differ widely in their conclusions. In any case, the numbers shown are not encouraging. Indeed, Chang and Hu found that the average yield for vegetables in Chongqing (China) has been reduced by 24.5 per cent. Another study undertaken by Zhang and Wen showed that Chinese agricultural production has already been lowered by between 5 and 10 per cent by acid deposition. Lastly, a World Bank study showed that crop losses in China due to SO2 and acid rain represented 30 billion RMB in 2003. The reasons for local pollution are the same: a heavy reliance on coal and non-conventional biomass that both emit large quantities of noxious gases (carbon dioxides, sulphur doxides, nitrous dioxides, particulate matter, etc.). Indoor air pollution occurs mainly in poor areas as it is related to the use of traditional biomass. For example, in developing countries, people tend to rely on wood, dung or crop residues for domestic energy. Exposure to this polluted air leads, among other things, to respiratory illness, cancer, tuberculosis, low birth weight and eye disease. For example, exposure to biomass smoke may explain 59 per cent of rural cases and 23 per cent of urban cases of tuberculosis in India. In China and India, it has been shown that two-thirds of women with lung cancer were non-smokers. And according to Zhang and Smith, indoor air pollution is responsible for more than 400,000 premature deaths annually in China.

As for outdoor air pollution, the burden of disease is mainly shared among developing countries, and Asia alone represents 65 per cent of that global burden related to outdoor air pollution. For example, in the last ranking of the world's most polluted cities, China accounted for twenty of them and according to a World Health Organization report, only 31 per cent of Chinese cities meet WHO standards in terms of air quality. There is, therefore, a high cost to be paid for that pollution as it causes illness and death. In its last report on this topic, the World Bank assessed the economic cost of Chinese pollution at between 3 and 6 per cent of GDP in 2003, depending on the methodology used.

The environmental situation of the Asian countries

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