Official Development Assistance (ODA)
5. Assisting Developing Countries to Combat Pollution through ODA
Many of the problems of air and water pollution and waste in developing countries resemble problems that Japan faced in the past, though many far exceed, in scale and severity. In many cases these environmental problems have been neglected by developing countries because they have put a higher priority on development. However, in Asia and other parts of the world, as the problems increase in severity and economic development continues, more and more developing countries are taking their environmental problems seriously. Developing countries themselves must take environmental protection measures, using methods they have independently devised in the course of their economic development. ODA can function as an incentive for developing countries to tackle their specific problems themselves.
1. The environmental-center approach
Helping developing countries to improve their capabilities for dealing effectively with their environmental problems, such as pollution monitoring and administrative efforts, is extremely important because it assists these countries' own efforts to solve their own problems. To improve these capabilities, Japan is working to support capacity development through "environment centers."
This includes specifically the construction of the buildings that will be the headquarters for these centers. It built the Environmental Research Training Center in Thailand, the Environmental Management Center in Indonesia, and the Japan-China Friendship Environmental Conservation Center in China, and helps these centers with the dispatch of JICA experts, the acceptance of trainees, and the grant of equipment (project-type technical assistance).
2. Acid deposition monitoring network in East Asia
With ongoing industrialization in recent years, air pollution in East Asia has worsened and, it is feared, its effects will be felt in neighboring countries and other regions in the form of acid rain. The region as a whole has been slow to respond to this threat, and as a premise for future action against it, it is necessary to build a shared awareness of the problem in countries in the region, through each country's monitoring of the acid rain situation and sharing the resulting data. For this reason, Japan is proposing the establishment of an Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia.
It is Japan's intention to lend bilateral support tailored to local realities to developing countries wishing to join the network in the future. In FY1997, Japan began to offer a training course in acid rain monitoring in Japan, and will examine related support measures through ODA (dispatch of experts, grant of monitoring equipment, etc.) upon request from other countries.
3. Antipollution measures "directed at the source"
For developing countries to be able to take measures against pollution (factories that emit wastes, etc.), they must set appropriate levels for allowable emissions and enforce them strictly. Financial and technical assistance is important to support their efforts to follow these environmental regulations.
When factories causing pollution are operated by the state, stack scrubbers to remove sulfur oxides can be installed and production facilities can be improved by providing the necessary funding through ODA loans. Such cooperation between Japan and China to combat atmospheric pollution is taking place through the "Liuzhou Environment Improvement Project" and "Shenyang Environment Improvement Project," for example.
The "two-step loan" approach is effective when many private enterprises are causing air or water pollution or generating untreated wastes. In this approach, Japan provides a loan to the recipient government, and through its state financial institutions, the foreign government finances eligible business enterprises' purchases of pollution prevention equipment. Japan has granted two-step loans to Thailand and the Philippines under this kind of arrangement.
ODA must also be used to stimulate technology transfers at the private-sector level.
The Environmental Management Center in Indonesia.