Southeast Asia: Environmental Problems

1
Southeast Asia Environmental Problems

• Dr. Timo Vuorisalo
• University of Turku
• AsiaNet 2005

2

• Total land area
• More than 435 million hectares
• About 3 of the earths land surface
• Population
• 563 million (2004)
• 8.8 of the world population
• Average population growth
• 1.5 per year
• World average 1.3
• Urban population
• 39
• Urbanization grows at 3.5 per year
• Biodiversity
• About ½ of the worlds terrestrial and marine
  biodiversity

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Southeast Asia Shared environmental problems

• (UN, 2000)
• Deficient urban infrastructure
• water supply and sanitation, waste management
• Deforestation and biodiversity loss
• average deforestation rate 1.8 per cent
• Degradation of the marine environment
• rapid coastal population growth (103 increase
  1980-2000)
• overfishing, water pollution, aquaculture

4
Southeast Asia Shared environmental problems

• Forest fires
• clearing land by fire
• significant transboundary air pollution problems
• Atmospheric pollution
• urban air pollution
• Land degradation
• soil erosion (water erosion) and contamination

5
Urban environment

• Cities with more than 3 million residents
  include
• Indonesia Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor,Malang
• Thailand Bangkok
• Philippines Manila
• Singapore Singapore
• Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City

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Indonesia

• Urban growth has been rapid
• Urban population
• 1930 7.5
• 1961 15
• 1971 17
• 1990 31
• 1999 39
• Rural push Urban pull

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Urbanization and environment in Jakarta, Indonesia

• Coastal city, average height 7 meters a.s.l.
• Population of Jakarta 9.4 million (2000)
• the largest city in Southeast Asia
• urban agglomeration of Jakarta up to 18 million
  residents (2004 est.) (includes the central city
  and bordering urban areas)
• Very rapid urbanization
• 3.6 annually (1995-2005)
• First environmental overview by UNEP (1983)

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Urbanization and environment in Jakarta, Indonesia

• Key environmental problems
• Poor waste management
• poor solid waste collection
• 37 of homes with no garbage collection
  (Habitat Report 2001)
• wastes often end up in canals and rivers and
  along roadsides

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Urbanization and environment in Jakarta, Indonesia

• 2) Water supply and sanitation problems
• a) water supply
• 1/3 water vendors
• 1/3 wells, river water
• 1/3 piped water
• energy cost of boiling of drinking water USD
  50million per year
• nearly 2/3 of population rely on groundwater gt
  overpumping
• water table has fallen
• seawater intrusion widespread
• land subsidence

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Urbanization and environment in Jakarta, Indonesia

• b) Sanitation problems
• no central waterborne sewage system, over ½ all
  dwellings have no indoor plumbing
• 68 septic tanks
• 17 pit latrines toilets
• 6 public toilets
• 9 no formal toilet facilities
• all rivers crossing Jakarta heavily polluted, as
  well as the seawater and sediment in Jakarta Bay
  (also Pb, Hg, Cd)

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Urbanization and environment in Jakarta, Indonesia

• 3) Loss and degradation of agricultural land due
  to urban expansion
• 4) Severe air pollution problems
• - emission of pollutants (1999)
• SO2 516,483.11 tons
• NO2 92,801.89
• HC 37,844.26
• CO 686,864.46
• Particulate 80,510.03
• Sourcehttp//www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/activi/BAQ2002
  /BAQ2002_files/Proceedings/Subworkshop1/sw1a-6Wira
  hadikusumah_paper.pdf

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Urbanization and environment in Jakarta, Indonesia

• pollution sources
• motor vehicles (2001) 3 544 723
• motor cycles 1 813 136
• passenger cars 1 130 496
• motorcycles are the biggest source of
  particulates and hydrocarbons
• factories (2000 2 143)
• mainly textiles/clothing/leather, plastic product
  and machinery/equipment industries
• households
• (Wirahadikusumah 2002)

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Policy responses to environmental problems of
Jakarta

• National Urban Development Strategy (NUDS, NUDS
  2)
• improvement of urban services (e.g. sanitation,
  solid waste disposal) in Indonesian cities
• Case Air quality management in Jakarta
• monitoring of air quality since 1985 by the
  Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD)
• SO2, NOx, TSP
• periodical vs. continuous monitoring stations

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• Clean Air Program in The Five Year Regional
  Development Plan
• The Blue Sky Program of the Ministry of
  Environment (20 factories or power plants in
  Jakarta have signed an agreement with the
  Government of Jakarta that they will fulfil
  emission standards by the end of 2004)
• Air quality management is a new priority of the
  Jakarta Strategic Plan
• Specific programmes
• phase-out of leaded gasoline
• since July 1st 2001, the National Oil
  Enterprisehas supplied unleaded gasoline in
  Jakarta and itssuburbs, without increasing fuel
  price
• catalytic converters in buses, taxis and official
  cars of the local government
• Inspection and Maintenance Program (IM) 1997-
  emission tests private sector strongly involved

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Regional cooperation on environmental issues the
case of forest fires

• Regional cooperation of Southeast Asian countries
  dates back to the first subregional environmental
  programme in 1977 gt ASEP I
• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
  (ASEAN)
• founded in 1967 to promote stability in the area
• environmental management was included in
  consultations following the Stockholm
  Conferenceon the Human Environment in 1972

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• Forest fires
• air pollution from burning biomass in
  SoutheastAsia has become a considerable
  challenge thatcauses serious adverse economic
  and health impacts
• problem is greatest in Indonesia
• in 1997, smog caused by forest fires in
  Kalimantanspread through Southeast Asia gt
  estimated damage USD 4.4 billion
• health impacts
• loss of forest and agricultural land
• decrease in tourism
• Widespread smog or haze problem has gained
  worldwide publicity http//www.cnn.com/EARTH/9802
  /25/indonesia.fires/
• From July through November last year, much of
  Southeast Asia was smothered by thick smoke from
  deliberately set forest fires in
  Indonesia.CNN/Earth Story Page, Feb 25, 1998

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ASEAN combat against forest fires

• 1995 Cooperation Plan on Transboundary Pollution
• included air pollutants, ship-borne pollution and
  transboundary movements of hazardous wastes
• 1998 Meeting of subregional Ministers
• Indonesia proposed an aerial surveillance plan
• 1999 Meeting of Environment Ministers
• comprehensive plan to stop forest fires through a
  coordinated fire-prevention campaign

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• 2002 ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary
  HazePollution
• signed on 10 June 2002 in Kuala Lumpur
• objectives
• prevent land and forest fires through
  bettermanagement policies
• establish operational mechanisms tomonitor land
  and forest fires
• strengthen regional land and forestfire-fighting
  capability and other mitigating measures
• ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze
  Pollution was also established

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Conclusions

• Prospects for good environmental governance
• environmental legislation is usually sufficient
  to protect the environment, but enforcement
  hasbeen weak or even non-existent
• environmental policy initiatives are moderately
  advanced, and institutions and mechanisms
  oftenexist for their implementation
• the concept of public consultation in
  decision-making is at an early stage of
  development, and the importance of NGOs is
  usually marginal
• Southeast Asian countries have a strong history
  of environmental cooperation
• the greatest future challenge is to balance
  economic development with long-term environmental
  goals and responsibilities (State of the
  Environment in Asia and the Pacific 2000)