Socially and environmentally responsible investments and products offer
strong business and job opportunities in the Asia Pacific region, says
a new report from the Asian Development Bank.
The report, Asian Environment Outlook (AEO) 2005, estimates the present
global market for environmental goods and services at $600billion
(£335bn) and predicts it will pass $800bn within ten years.
Asia Pacific countries’ share of this market is worth $37bn, but with
an annual growth rate of between eight and 12 per cent, the world’s
fastest, the report forecasts it will triple to $100bn within ten
years.
Nessim Ahmad, director of the bank’s environment and social safeguards
division, said: ‘We now see that governments across our region – from
India to Thailand to the People’s Republic of China – are increasingly
ready to take on environmental challenges. Enforcement of pollution
control laws is tightening, budgets for environmental protection are
increasing, and judiciaries are taking tougher stances.’ He said there
were also signs that consumers were demanding more environmentally
friendly products.
The report, presented to the sixth Asia-Pacific Roundtable for
Sustainable Consumption and Production in Melbourne, said a sustainable
future for the region – and for the whole planet – needed greater
corporate involvement and environmental responsibility.
Ahmad said: ‘Industry, government and communities must come together to
collaboratively solve environmental problems. The key is for
governments to give the private sector the incentive and flexibility to
find low-cost ways to meet agreed environmental management objectives.’
