International Perspective on Environmental Health - Assignment Example

International Perspective on Environmental Health – Case of Indonesia and Vietnam Case of Vietnam Vietnam is also a vulnerable country when it comes to climatic changes. Since it is one of the fastest growing economies in the Pacific Asia, its contribution to climatic change cannot be ignored. During the years 2005-2030, the emissions from the nation are expected to grow over 3% annually. Within the country, the sea levels have risen up to 20 centimeters more than average, while the temperatures have increased by 7 degree Celsius. Vietnam has recently taken its place in the countries suffering greatly from the adverse effects of the sea level rise and climatic changes. The major reason for the change in climate within the Vietnam is because of the activities increasing the emission of greenhouse gases. Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation by Vietnam There are a lot of options for climate change mitigation for Vietnam. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases below the current levels, or reducing the emissions in the current decade could offset the projected global emissions growth. The efficiency of distribution and supply could improve for better energy supplements. Similarly, using vehicles with cleaner diesel, fuel efficiency or hybrid vehicles could help promote transport solutions. Moreover, shifting the mode of transport from road to public and rail could also promote climate change mitigation (1). According to UNEP, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by replacing fossil fuels with bio-fuels is of primary concern right now (2, p.543). In the year 2012, the IPCC offered a lot of steps for mitigation in Vietnam that have been taken into consideration. These steps included: Improvement of demand-side efficiency in respective applications and sectors Improvement of supply-side efficiency including combination of power and heat energy Shifting from high-greenhouse energy sources including oil and coal, to lower-greenhouse energy sources including nuclear resources, fuels and natural gas Changing the behavior of the population by encouraging the promotion of better energy management and discouraging the use of energy-intensive goods and carbon-intensive services Using CCS systems (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage) for preventing the carbon gases generated by industrial process or post-combustion from entering the atmosphere. According to the report by Pham, Vietnam has a large potential of agricultural and biomass by-products. An estimate of 53.45 million tons of agricultural by-products and 25.09 million tons of wood biomass has been recorded for Vietnam (3). According to the experts from the IMHEN (Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment) at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment claimed that the impact of climatic change can cause negative effects on the lives of the people and economy. The government of Vietnam was a keen participant in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change, which shows that the government is keen to make changes in the field of developing measures against the negative climatic changes. Case of Indonesia According to a lot of studies carried out, it has been revealed that Indonesia is at a great risk of the impacts that will be caused by the climatic changes. These revelations have been backed up by the Asian Development Bank (4), Dasgupta et. Al (5, p. 3-4) and Yusuf and Francisco (6). Indonesia plays an important role in the global mitigation actions because of its contribution to deforestation and energy consumption. According to the analysis by CAIT database, Indonesia has contributed to over 5.9% of GHG emissions globally. Although all over the world, the climatic impact by forestation and land use accounts up to 16.3% of the total emissions, but Indonesia alone contributes to 4.7% of the entire global emissions (7, 323). Similarly, the numbers being consumed by Indonesia for energy consumptions cannot be avoided either. Indonesia is considered in the top 20 carbon emitters globally, and if it carries on going in the way it has been going, it will manage to take over United States in the middle of the 21st century. Because of Indonesia’s efforts to reduce poverty, create employment chances for its population and industrialization, these numbers will only grow further. Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation by Indonesia The president of Indonesia promised to bring the percentage of emission down to 26%-41% by the end of 2020. This has brought Indonesia in terms of climatic change commitment as one of the most progressive developing countries. Within the last few years, there has been a demonstration of several concrete steps and serious commitment by the Indonesian government in such a short time. The seriousness and political will of the SBY government are clearly visible through their actions by mainstreaming issues related to climatic change and comprehensive developmental planning. Indonesian BAPPENAS (2012) published the “National Development Planning: Indonesia Responses to Climatic Change” which served as a guide for the integration of the climatic change programs and transform it into a developmental process at a national level. Then in the year 2010, BAPPENAS released the “Indonesian Climatic Change Sectorial Road Map”, which covered essentials like responsive strategies, capacity-building, prioritized actions and vulnerability assessments. However, the effectiveness of this guide still remains to be seen at a demonstrative level. Comparing Indonesia and Vietnam After a full discussion, it is clearly visible that both Indonesia and Vietnam are in trouble as they face challenges at a national level in the integration of mitigation policies and adaption (8, p. 2016-2036). The reason is clear; both governmental agencies have overlapping or similar competencies and responsibilities, which cause a financial resource competition in both countries. Moreover, Vietnam has a limited understanding and experience to carry out local integration. NAMA: Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action for Indonesia and Vietnam NAMAs are the sets of actions and policies that Indonesia and Vietnam can take for the reduction of GHG emission as a part of voluntary commitment. The mission of the NAMAs were to assist Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines for the building sector to develop mitigation actions which could initiate on a national level. The project, which was initiated by the UNEP was a part of the International Climate Initiative and supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. It was focused on building the capacity of the two nations through awareness-raising, trainings and workshops and providing support for policy through interface and consultations (9, p.13-18). Climate Strategies Promote Environmental Policy Integration and Strengthen Environment Ministries Climate policy highlighted an important area of focus for the development of climatic change mitigation for both nations, Indonesia and Vietnam. With the participation by the heads of governments and the ministers, the processes to tackle the climate policy changes have elevated to their maximum levels. In Vietnam for example, a steering committee was chaired by the prime minister in response to Climate Change through the initiation of Vietnam’s National Target program. Similarly, in Indonesia, a council by the name of Indonesian National Council on Climatic Change (DNPI) was built under the supervision of president (10). While some argue that these committees have only been drafted so that the policy makers may be distracted from the general issues that still need attention, the results have been otherwise. The climatic change strategies have exceeded the measurements of greenhouse gas emissions, placing emphasis on adaptation to climatic changes and covering a number of sector policies. The NAPACC program in Indonesia (National Action Plan Addressing Climate Change) has been effective in preparing itself against the weather pattern changes. NAPACC has been working at the stabilization of the water to improve water resources (11, p.61). The National Climate Change Strategy added by the Government of Vietnam in 2011 has also added protection for afforestation and biodiversity (12). The climate policy has been successful at strengthening the environment ministry roles in Vietnam, although not so much in Indonesia. In Vietnam, the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment has been successfully implementing the role of coordination of policy dialogue with sponsors and leading the National Climate Change Strategy (13, p.16). In Indonesia, the mandate of environment ministry is the weakest. Even then, the ministry has been successful at implementation of important coordination functions like development of the Sectorial Roadmap for Indonesian Climate Change (14). Climate Strategies and Policies for Clean Technology Development and Green Growth in Both Countries Development of low-carbon technologies and climate change have spearheaded the innovation of new policies and instruments beyond the high-level strategies development. In Vietnam, a debate on the climatic change led to the initiation of reforms in ecological taxes, which eventually led to other environmental challenged. The tax was not only imposed on the oil and coal based fuels but also on chemical products, pesticides, and HCFC and plastic bags (15). Similarly, a lot of clean technology and climatic policy innovations were seen in Indonesia, as the Indonesian government embarked upon the programs to adjust tax and fiscal incentives for carbon emission reduction. According to a green paper which was published by the ministry of finance, there were a lot of amendments and suggestions for the economic and fiscal strategies of the climate change mitigation such as phase-out of fuel subsidies and introduction of carbon levy/tax (16). The taxes were input before the end of the government’s tenure in 2014, and have been planned to increase by five percent every year until the end of 2020 (17). Conclusion Achieving effective mitigation objectives and adaptation at a greater level in the policy frameworks and processes, so that there is a facilitation of the realization of potential synergies and minimization of trade-offs. Moreover, in order to integrate the adaptation and mitigation policies effectively, governments need to search for ways that could help them make policies mutually supportive explicitly, realize mutual benefits and exploit the potential for spillovers positively. Reviewing present policies can also help them achieve better results. References 1. Hinostroza, Miriam L., Sudhir Sharma, and Maryna Karavai. "Institutional aspects of NAMA development and implementation." (2014). 2. UNEP. “United Nations Environment Programme”. Global Environment Outlook GEO-4, 2007; 540. 3. Pham, K.T. Final Report of scientific and technical project “Quantitative study of the feasibility of using solar energy, small hydro and biomass on the industrial scale in Vietnam”. Institute of Energy; 2005 4. Asian Development Bank. The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review. Manila: Asian Development Bank; 2009. 5. Dasgupta, S., Laplante, B., Meisner, C., Wheeler, D., & Yan, J. The impact of sea level rise on developing countries: a comparative analysis. Climatic Change 2009; 93: 3-4 6. Yusuf, A. A., & Francisco, H. Hotspots: Mapping Climate Change Vulnerability in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia; 2010. 7. Parker, L., John Blodgett. Greenhouse gas emissions: perspectives on the top 20 emitters and developed versus developing nations. International Journal of Energy, Environment and Economics. 2010; 18(3): 323. 8. Thuy, Pham Thu; Moira Moeliono; Bruno Locatelli; Maria Brockhaus; Monica Di Gregorio; Sofi Mardiah;. Integration of adaptation and mitigation in climate change and forest policies in Indonesia and Vietnam. Forests 2014; 5(8): 2016-2036. 9. Olsen, Karen Holm. NAMAs for sustainable development. Mitigation Talks. 2013; (3): 13-18. 10. Quitzow, Rainer, H. Bär, and Klaus Jacob. "Environmental Governance in India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia: A Tale of Two Paces." Environmental Policy Research Centre ffu-Report. 2013. 11. State Ministry of Environment. National Action Plan Addressing Climate Change. Jakarta; 2007. 12. Government of Vietnam. Decision No: 2139/QĐ-TTG On approval of the National Climate Change Strategy. 2011: Hanoi. 13. Government of Vietnam. Decision No: 2139/QĐ-TTG On approval of the National Climate Change Strategy. 2011: 16 Hanoi. 14. Government of Indonesia, 2009 15. Willenbockel, D. Impact Assessment Report of Draft Environmental Tax Law for Vietnam: GTZ, Danida, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen; 2010. 16. Indonesian Ministry of Finance. Economic and fiscal policy strategies for climate change mitigation in Indonesia. Jakarta: Ministry of Finance, Republic of Indonesia, Australia Indonesia Partnership; 2009. 17. Jotzo, F., & Mazouz, S. Indonesia climate green paper: towards carbon pricing, geothermal power and regional incentives: East Asia Forum; 2009. Accessed at http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/12/09/indonesia-climategreen-paper-towards-carbon-pricing-geothermal-power-and-regional-incentives/. Read More