Back To Nature

Investing in nature is more important than ever to safeguard economies, health, and wellbeing.

By Asian Development Bank

June 4^th, 2020

Oceans

Oceans like the Pacific (which surrounds countries like Tuvalu, pictured below) underpin the livelihoods of tens of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific, but climate change, pollution, coastal and marine resource degradation, and illegal and unregulated fishing threaten this way of life. The use of innovative blue finance mechanisms will be needed to meet the large financing needs required for meaningful action for oceans. To meet this challenge, ADB is working on a $5 billion healthy oceans action plan focused on promoting sustainable tourism and fisheries, protecting coastal and marine ecosystems, reducing pollution, and boosting sustainability of port and coastal infrastructure.

Air Quality

Seven million people worldwide die prematurely each year from diseases related to air pollution; four million come from Asia and the Pacific. Ninety-two percent of the region’s population are exposed to levels of air pollution that pose a significant risk to their health. Improving air quality is a major priority of ADB, underscored by a recent $160 million loan to cut pollution in Ulaanbaatar (pictured), the capital of Mongolia. Air pollution costs the country 5.6% of its gross domestic product, according to the United Nations Development Programme. ADB’s actions are aimed at supporting DMCs to transition to clean and renewable energy and promoting energy efficient buildings, clean-air monitoring, and long-term integrated urban and energy plans. ADB is also supporting region-wide action to assess air quality contexts and practices, promote policy and technology options for reducing air pollution, and develop city-level clean air action and investment plans.

Sustainable Tourism

Tourism operators across Asia and the Pacific like Koroseta Legalo (pictured), a hotel owner in Samoa, have largely ground to a halt due to COVID-19. While this has crippled an industry worth more than $500 billion to the region, it is also providing the opportunity to consider how the industry can eventually reboot in ways that are more sustainable to the natural environment and bring equitable benefits to communities. Laws and regulations that protect the ecological balance, along with improved infrastructure around waste management and water and sanitation services, are two critical areas of focus. A renewed emphasis on domestic tourism, as well as overhauls to the airline industry, will also help greatly in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pressures on natural resources.

Green Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a wakeup call to rethink our relationship with the natural world and how a green and inclusive recovery—via actions that benefit the environment, the economy, and our health and wellbeing—might take shape. Improving air quality and hygiene to reduce the risk of infection, protecting wildlife and ecosystems to address the root cause of the pandemic, supporting sustainable agriculture to improve food security (in countries like Nepal, pictured), investing in green businesses and jobs, building resilience to disasters and future shocks, and promoting innovate financing to support green investments are just six of the ways through which the world can launch a green recovery.

Circular Economy

Plastic waste in our oceans and our waterways (pictured), are just one example of the impacts of the take-make-dispose economy. What we need instead is a circular economy, in which the world minimizes resource use by maintaining value in already produced materials and products and recirculating them back into the economy once they become waste. A circular economy can help create more sustainable livelihoods while reducing threats to the environment and health. ADB is supporting region-wide action to promote source-to-sea solutions to reduce marine plastic pollution and enable a transition to circular economy models.

Biodiversity

Economic development is vital for lifting people out of poverty, but that development must also consider, complement, and sustain the surrounding environment. Protecting biodiversity and ecosystems—which often provide the livelihoods for communities—is a key priority of ADB’s strategy. ADB is supporting efforts to stamp out the illegal wildlife trade in the Philippines, plan and design sustainable road projects that protect native flora and fauna in Bhutan and the Solomon Islands, and promote community-based forest protection and restoration in Viet Nam (pictured).

Climate Change

Countries in Asia and the Pacific are at the forefront of the fight against climate change, which risks the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people who live on or near critical ecosystems and rely on natural resources for their daily needs. While the fight against climate change is a multi-pronged one, nature-based solutions have emerged as a key defense. These approaches focus on protecting and managing natural systems where they are currently under threat, and by restoring them where they have been disturbed or removed. A good example of this approach is how restoring coastal habitats like mangroves helps to reduce the impact of increased storm surges and sea level rises in countries such as Kiribati (pictured).

Footnotes

Photos by: Biggs Javellana, Luis Ascui, Samir Jung Thapa, Al Benavente, Lester Ledesma, Tomas Eric Sales, and Francesco Ricciardi (Cover)

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FootNotes

Photos by: Biggs Javellana, Luis Ascui, Samir Jung Thapa, Al Benavente, Lester Ledesma, Tomas Eric Sales, and Francesco Ricciardi (Cover)