IGES Policy Briefs

This policy brief explores opportunities to improve Japan’s strategy for promoting and strengthening green markets across East Asia by addressing both Japan’s domestic strengths as an environmental leader and also the emerging needs for green market development in other East Asian countries. Responding to a diversity of factors, this brief proposes...

This policy brief explores the debate on the green economy concept for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, and covers initiatives in various countries. It also makes a proposal on the vital role of Japan in linking green economy policies from developed countries to global...

In tropical developing countries, illegal logging is a significant cause of forest degradation and can lead to permanent forest loss. This policy brief presents the findings from an IGES-The Nature Conservancy (TNC) study that investigated the potential for customs authorities to contribute to combating the international trade in illegal timber...

There is ample evidence of underproduction of renewable energy across the world, in spite of there being the necessary resources to produce RE, including technology and finance. It seems politicians and law-makers have yet to be persuaded about the importance of renewable energy to solve the problem of energy security and sustainable development...

Solid waste management is a common, as well as a primary, environmental concern for many cities in developing countries. Despite the fact, Surabaya City, the second largest city in Indonesia with a population of three million, has successfully reduced its waste generation by more than 20% over a short period of time. The city has intensively...

Developing countries in Asia are struggling to cope with the negative impacts of concentrated industrial activities. Inspired by the theory of industrial ecology, eco-towns or eco-industrial parks are frequently promoted in many localities as a strategy for reducing the environmental burden of industry in a way that is consistent with economic...

This policy brief includes a comparative analysis between Japan's public timber procurement policy and those of several European countries. In addition to identifying a set of elements that public timber procurement policies must include to favour legal and sustainable timber, it provides recommendations for further strengthening Japan's policy on...

Partly due to the worldwide upsurge in industrial demand for timber, the number of planted forests has increased ten-fold in the last 20 years. These planted forests currently comprise only about 5% of the world’s forest area, but supply 35% of industrial logs and have critical roles to play in releasing pressure on natural forests, mitigating...

The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, committed industrialised countries to accept legally-binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions collectively by an average of 5% below 1990 levels in the first commitment period from 2008 to 2012. According to the latest report by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)...

Many Asian cities have greatly relied on groundwater in the course of their development. Large populations and concentrations of industrial activity in urban areas intensified the stress on groundwater. Such stress has resulted in environmental problems, such as the drawdown of water tables, land subsidence and saltwater intrusion, which interfered...