27 September 2012: The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) has released a white paper, titled “Greening Governance in Asia-Pacific,” which offers recommendations for governance arrangements and policy solutions to help accelerate the transition to a green economy in the Asia-Pacific region.

This paper is the fourth in the series on key policy agendas in the Asia-Pacific region, published by IGES biennially. The paper aims to help improve the governance arrangements that were in place during the failure to operationalize sustainable development over the past two decades. It examines some of the innovative approaches to governance that have emerged from the Asia-Pacific region, and suggests changes in order to achieve sustainable development.

The paper concludes that realizing sustainable development in Asia-Pacific will require significant governance reform. It calls for, inter alia, improved mechanisms for information sharing and capacity development, and better coherence and coordination among the many policies and networks in the region. It proposes establishing a capacity and information exchange platform, suggesting that this platform could represent the first step in establishing a regional environmental organization.

The paper also examines: green economy and domestic carbon governance in Asia; the opportunities and challenges for community forest management and REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus the role of conservation, sustainable management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries); achieving environmentally sound development in Asia through the transfer of low-carbon technology; networking cities for better environmental management; and a policy framework for international collaboration towards sustainable resource circulation and management in Asia. [Publication: Greening Governance in Asia-Pacific]