The Asia-Pacific region is witnessing rapid economic growth. Along with rising incomes, the lifestyles of the large middle class are moving quickly towards a buy-and-discard consumer model that involves carbon-intensive products and services. This paper attempts to identify lifestyle changes at...

The paper argues that United States (US) participation in the East Asia Summit (EAS)—regional integration architecture led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—was motivated by four changes in the regional economic landscape: (i) the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and...

It is an empirical fact that it is very difficult to balance economic growth, poverty reduction, and environment protection, particularly for developing and transitional economies. While the economic environment of a country is influenced by conditions within the country, it is also influenced...

This paper reviews selected initiatives taken by Asian countries to comply with emerging global sustainability standards, reporting, and management systems, and tracks the response of Asian businesses to global environmental concerns, examines market based innovations including new regulations...

There is an urgent need to mainstream the key challenges of climate change into sector and development planning and decision making processes to create sustainable long-term development. Empirical results in this study emphasize that more caution is needed in directing overseas development aid...

Developing Asia is the driver of today’s emissions intensive global economy. As the principle source of future emissions, the region is critical to the task of global climate change mitigation. Reflecting this global reality and a range of related domestic issues, the governments of the...

Growth led by low-carbon goods and services (LCGS) is an imperative for the countries of Asia and the Pacific, and particularly for emerging Asian economies, which are heavily dependent on imported energy and resources. The objectives of this study are to (i) measure the potential of major...

The developing economies of Asia are confronted by serious environmental problems that threaten to undermine future growth, food security, and regional stability. This study considers four major environmental challenges that policymakers across developing Asia will need to address towards 2030:...

An increasing services orientation is likely to be a key feature of the economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the People’s Republic of China, and India (collectively referred to as “ACI”) over the medium-term. This paper aims to present a compendium of relevant...

While bringing positive impacts and benefits, cross-border infrastructure projects face additional challenges relative to national projects. Moreover, such projects involve a variety of technical, regulatory, institutional, and legal factors, and their obstacles constrain the development of...