Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) in North-East Asia:

Patterns, Initiatives, Areas for Cooperation

Ma. Fideles SADICONEconomic Affairs Officer UN ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office

Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2020: “Living within our planetary limits”

UNCC ESCAP, Bangkok, 17-18 October 2019

Outline I. SCP: Context and Patterns

▪ Broader Policy Context: Mapping SDGs in National Priorities

▪ SDG 12 Indicators and other statistics

II. Initiatives: Case Studies

▪ Consumption Side: Republic of Korea

▪ Production Side: Japan

▪ Rapid Urbanization: Cities in Action (China and Mongolia)

III. Areas for Cooperation: Subregional Perspective

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I. SCP: Broader Policy Context

Mapping SDGs into national priorities: Varies across economies, but there is more evidence of a top-bottom, whole-of-government approach

• China: Integrated into the 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development and other mid- and long-term development strategies

• Japan: SDGs Promotion Headquarters agreed on the SDGs Action Plan 2018; local government involvement

• Mongolia: Mongolia Sustainable Development Vision-2030 approved by Parliament of Mongolia (Feb 2016); 1st Voluntary National Review (July 2019)

• Republic of Korea: 3rd National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Development covering 2016-2035 was developed (December 2015); local government involvement

UNESCAP –UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION

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I. SCP: Broader Policy Context

National Frameworks addressing Sustainable Consumption and Production

• China: China’s National Plan on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2016)

• Japan: Basic Act and Fundamental Plan on Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society (2000)

• Mongolia: Implementation Action Plan of Green Development Policy (2016)

• Republic of Korea: National Strategy for Green Growth 2009-2015 (2008)

Source: Shaping the Economy of Sustainable Development (UNEP, 2018)

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I. SCP Patterns: Snapshots

Material footprint

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I. SCP Patterns: Snapshots

CO2 emissions per capita

UNESCAP –UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION

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I. SCP Patterns: Snapshots

Energy intensity and recycling

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II. Initiatives: Consumption-side

Case Study: Korea’s Green Card

▪ Released in 2011 by Ministry of Environment and Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute; Green Card Version 2 released 2016

▪ Users are rewarded with points that can be: converted to cash or donated to environmental funds

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II. Initiatives: Consumption-side

Case Study: Korea’s Green Card▪ Point accumulation when practicing low carbon/ eco-friendly living (e.g.

saving energy, using public transportation and purchasing green products) through government offices, local governments and businesses by using credit cards and point system

✓ Eco Money when purchasing EPD certified products (3%); low carbon products (5%)

✓ Using public transportation (bus, subway, KTX, express bus): Up to 10,000 points a month

✓ Energy saving: Up to 100,000 points

✓ Using public facilities (tourism, culture, sports): Discounts, including free admission to 933 facilities nationwide

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II. Initiatives: Consumption-side

Case Study: Korea’s Green Card▪ Total of 17.63 million cards have been issued after the release of Green

Cards in 2011

▪ Participating Institutions

✓ Finance Companies (20)

✓ Corporations (231)

✓ Public Facilities (797)

▪ Estimates (as of 2015)

✓ Total sales using Green Card: KW25.5 trillion

✓ GHG Emission Reductions: 1.9 million tonnes of CO2

Total 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

17,637,165 733,047 3,852,871 2,763,404 2,044,201 2,575,595 2,498,267 1,521,726 1,648,054

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II. Initiatives: Production-sideCase Study: Japan’s Sustainable Companies

▪ Global 100: World’s most sustainable companies

✓ Annual ranking of corporate sustainability performance based on 21 KPIs covering resource management, employee management, financial management, clean revenue and supplier performance.

✓ Released during the World Economic Forum

▪ 2019 ranking includes 7 Japanese companies and 3 Korean companies

✓ ROK: 7th Shinhan Financial Group Co (Banks) ; 30th LG Electronics Inc. (Computer Hardware); 83rd Samsung SDI Co., Ltd (Electrical Equipment + Power)

✓ JPN: 73rd Eisai Co., Ltd. (Biopharmaceuticals); 78th Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (Biopharmaceuticals); 82nd Yokogawa Electric Corp (Industrial Conglomerates); 89th Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd. (Other Materials); 95th Toyota Motor Corp. (Consumer Vehicles and Parts); 96th Konica Minolta, Inc. (Computer Peripherals ); 100th Panasonic Corporation (Computer Hardware)

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II. Initiatives: Production-side

Case Study: Japan’s Sustainable Companies ▪ Government active in SDG Business Management Promotion

Initiative – promoting the incorporation of SDGs into the management strategies of corporations (in line with Expanded SDGs Action Plan 2018)

▪ METI released “The Guide for SDG Business Management” in May2019 – highlights current SDG practices of companies

✓ Supplying sustainable products by collaboration with other companies (Mitsubishi Corporation)

✓ Manufacturing from an ESG perspective (Kao Corporation)

✓ Solving increased costs caused by new regulations with a joint logistics platform (NIPPON EXPRESS Co., Ltd.)

✓ How steel is made in a new era (JFE Holdings, Inc.)

✓ Conserving resources (Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd)

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II. Initiatives: Rapid Urbanization – Cities in ActionIn Focus: China’s Cities

Energy Climate Action Waste

Source: Climate Solutions from Cities in the People’s Republic of China (ADB, Nov 2018)

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II. Initiatives: Rapid Urbanization – Cities in ActionIn Focus: China’s Cities

Land Use and Resilience Mobility

Source: Climate Solutions from Cities in the People’s Republic of China (ADB, Nov 2018)

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II. Initiatives: Rapid Urbanization –Cities in Action

In Focus: Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia)

Waste management is receiving policy attention

▪ 2018: 3.4 million tons of waste removed from 390 centralized waste points nationwide (91.8% percent of total waste disposal from household; 8.2% industrial waste)

▪ Less than 10% waste being recycled (though 50% of total ordinary waste is recyclable

Source: Mongolia Voluntary National Review Report 2019 (July 2019)

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II. Initiatives: Rapid Urbanization –Cities in ActionIn Focus: Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia)

▪ In Ulaanbaatar (with almost half the country’s population)

✓3000-3500 tons of waste on average received at three centralized waste points/day; removed by landfill technology

✓In 2009, generated 425.3 thousand tons of waste; by 2016, increased to 197 thousand tons

✓In terms of waste sources: 14% from residential apartment areas; 38.9% from ger districts; 25.2% from business entities

▪ Law on Waste amended in 2017

✓to improve waste management, increase waste recycling, nurture responsible behaviour towards waste management among the population

Source: Mongolia Voluntary National Review Report 2019 (July 2019)

III. Areas for Cooperation : Subregional Perspective

The Case for North-East Asia ▪ Applications of good practices/approaches in transport/economic

corridors

✓China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (involves 32 projects)

✓Technical assistance for institutions handling project appraisals (e.g. Investment Research Center in Mongolia)

▪ Harness subnational platforms for targeted/localized solutions

✓North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC): North-East Asia Low Carbon City Platform (NEA-LCCP)

✓The Association of North East Asia Regional Governments

✓Greater Tumen Initiative Local Cooperation Committee

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