Squanderers - Asia has real challenges in resources

DATA measured over 40 years from 26 countries in the Asia-Pacific should stimulate debate among policymakers and societies to consider the
consequences of relentless growth . . .

COUNTRIES of the Asia Pacific, including Australia, require three times the quantity of natural resources to produce one dollar’s worth of gross domestic product (GDP) as the rest of the world, according to newly-published indicators of resource use by SwitchAsia, a project developed by the CSIRO, an Australian Government research agency, for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The rate is five times higher in developing Asian countries, according to SwitchAsia indicators, which make it possible — for the first time — to measure natural resource consumption in this region.
SwitchAsia used its indicators to measure the use of biomass, metals, industrial and construction minerals and fossil fuels.
Asia-Pacific consumes more than half of the world’s natural resources each year — and per capita consumption is rising rapidly. Consumption in Asia-Pacific increased from 5.7 billion tonnes in 1970 to 37 billion tonnes in 2010, against a global total of 70 billion tonnes.
The SwitchAsia authors note that Asia’s great economic achievements and increased levels of economic wellbeing have been based on rapid increases in the use of metals, energy and water — and greater greenhouse emissions. Given that Asia is on a further growth trajectory, its demand for natural resources will continue to grow. SwitchAsia says a new industrial revolution will be needed to make the most of the spectacular growth — and to face down looming challenges for the region.
It says: “National resource use is the direct interface between the economy and our global environment, since the extraction of resources creates local environmental impacts and land use change, and the use and disposal of resources causes emissions to the air, water and soil systems on which we depend.
“As global resource demand grows and supply challenges become more frequent, countries need a basket of resource use indicators in order to make decisions about policy priorities, development and implementation.”
The message coming through is a need for sustainable development. In September, members of the United Nations are due to meet in New York to launch global Sustainability Development goals. UNEP is championing the goals.
The clear data emerging from SwitchAsia’s 118 indicators of resource use — measured over the last 40 years for 26 countries in the Asian-Pacific region — should stimulate debate among policymakers and societies to consider the consequences of relentless growth in materials consumption.
Janet Salem, a UNEP programme officer based in Bangkok, works on the SwitchAsia programme. She says UNEP understands the environment, and its charter has been to provide leadership in protecting that environment.
UNEP’s interest in resource use lies in its impact on the environment.
“Our goal is to work with nations to continue to achieve economic growth while progressively improving resource efficiency by 2030 in consumption and production,” says Salem.
“Our mission is to provide leadership and to encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring nations to care. We want to work to improve the quality of life – but without compromising future generations.” Salem says it took two and a half years for the CSIRO to develop indicators to help policymakers in the region plan their own sustainability goals.
Asked if developing Asia Pacific nations will find the UN Sustainability Development Goals at odds with their aspirations to shift to consumption to broaden their economic base, Salem says the SwitchAsia programme was, in fact, endorsed during a workshop convened by China in Beijing in 2013. “The Chinese have a lot of challenges in resource use,” she says, adding: “I find it surprising that a country — which is the manufacturing hub of the world — actually imports more than exports.”
She told ATI that China has a policy to embrace the concept of the circular economy. “They do have policies directing the way in which resources are used and emissions are managed,” she says. But Chinese authorities are only now starting to move from policy to enforcement and implementation of their environmental protection polices.
Politically, she accepts that it is difficult to change people’s aspirations to consume as their standards of living improve. “It is an issue that comes up in elections,” she says, “where governments offer access to subsidies on vehicles, and so on.”
Salem says: “We advocate resource efficiency. That doesn’t mean using less. It is about getting the best uses and benefits out of resources – so that you are not wasting water, fuel and agricultural products.
“In all countries, certainly there are people who believe that resource efficiency is critical — but they tend to be marginalised in policymaking in their governments.
“Then, there is another group which argues that they are grappling with poverty eradication and the need to grow their economies — they would like to increase resource consumption. This group also makes the point that they are, in fact, currently not consuming very much.
India appears to fall into this second camp.
Salem says: “India consumes resources at a rate of approximately four times per capita — relatively low compared to other countries — so Indian questions why it should be interested in resource efficiency.
“Our response is: If they think they can triple or quintuple their resource use, they need to be fairly sure that they can continue to import the resources from somewhere.
 “You can use resources as long as you know that they are within a safe rate of resource use — and in a manner that doesn’t compromise the environment for future generations.”
India, she says, is already grappling with water security issues. It is opening new mines in increasingly socially-sensitive areas, and is also facing major issues in agriculture.
“So if they want to triple, quadruple, quintuple the amount of mining or agriculture, they need to make sure that they use those resources more efficiently.”
Salem says India has “excellent experts” in sustainability development, but she is uncertain of the political stand of the Government.
Through SwitchAsia, Asian governments will now have a clear idea of their reliance on natural resources, and be able to use these indicators to measure themselves against other countries.
With the data, she says, Asia Pacific countries will be able to make vital decisions on sustainability — with a clear picture of resource use trends and scarcity in their own context .
On average, Asia and the Pacific needs 3 kg of materials to produce one dollar of GDP. Developing countries in this region use materials at the rate of 5 kg per dollar GDP. That is more than 10 times the amount use by industrialised  countries — at 0.4 kg per dollar of GDP.
China’s resource consumption is 6 kg to
create a dollar of GDP, while Japan is the lowest at just 250 grams per dollar.
Salem says Japan’s low consumption is
because it is a developed country. It has already built its infrastructure, so it is not putting as many natural resources into constructing buildings and roads. Countries which outsource their heavy industries also do not have to
import a lot of resources. Instead they import light finished products.  
Another reason for Japan’s performance is domestic politics and the efforts of the private sector. Japanese governments have implemented some very good polices for resource efficiency through pricing and regulations.
In many developing Asian countries, like
Vietnam, she adds, resource use is inefficient. Vietnam needs nine kg of resources per dollar GDP, Asia’s average is 3.5 kg per dollar.
For such countries, Salem says much needs to be done to increase the efficiency of material consumption — and to reduce wastage.
In the report, SwitchAsia says there is a window of opportunity for Asia Pacific countries to invest in policies and infrastructure to support sustainable consumption and production in the decades to come. The bottom line, Salem says, is in how governments can deliver the way of life that their people seek more efficiently, with less damage to the environment.
She accepts that, ultimately, UNEP respects the sovereignty of all countries to make their own decisions.