Abstract

Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Masahiro Kawai, and Bindu Lohani
Asia’s economic success over the past 5 decades has been coupled with remarkable achievements in reducing poverty and improving the quality of life. But the region’s economic growth has also resulted in a significant increase in global warming greenhouse gas emissions. Asia’s share of worldwide emissions increased from 8.7% in 1973 to 28% in 2010, and is expected to increase to 40% by 2030 if present industrial production and energy consumption growth rates continue. Asia needs to switch to a less polluting pattern of production and consumption while maintaining the growth and social development it requires. Energy consumption, the burning of fossil fuels in particular, is the main source of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions—the main cause of climate change. But energy is also a fuel for growth, particularly for the rapidly developing economies of Asia. The challenge for developing Asia is to maintain economic growth while reducing the carbon content of energy and increasing the efficiency of resource use. The way in which Asia manages its future developmental activities in a low-carbon resource-efficient way is critically important, as the world increasingly looks to Asia for its growth. Asia can also be a model for measures to mitigate climate change......