‘‘Your arrival has stopped the rain. We can even see the sun today,’’ said Ren Lee of Xinhua News Agency when he greeted us at the airport.

We were in Chongqing, one of China’s industrial centers. Ren is a reporter of Xinhua’s Chongqing Bureau.

‘‘Sun? What sun?’’ I looked up but all I saw was a fuzzy part of the sky that was somewhat round and shiny.

In the 1980s, many Asian countries jumped headlong into industrialization. They rushed through an intense process of development. The entire modernization process was squeezed into a single generation, whereas Western countries and Japan, which moved more slowly, devoting several generations to the program.

The rush and the squeeze have taken their toll, especially on the environment, and Asia has become the world’s biggest problem area.

The air and water are polluted, cities are overpopulated, water resources are scarce and industrial waste is piling up. A variety of environmental hazards are occurring simultaneously in numerous locations, creating a crisis of unprecedented scope. Globalization is bringing on massive tide of competition, and sheer economic survival may make efficiency so important that environmental concerns are forced onto the back burner.

In Asia’s developing regions, poverty is the driving force behind pollution, and pollution is exacerbating poverty in a typical vicious circle. If the arrival of market economy serves only to widen the population’s income gap, there is no hope for sustainable development.

More than half the world’s population lives in Asia. If Asia fails to balance the economy and the environment, the future of the human race itself might be affected.

There is a pressing need to switch the model being followed. The age-old equation in which mass production and mass consumption are considered essential to development must be changed. A more effective, sustainable use of natural resources is necessary. A society geared toward recycling resources and reducing waste is crucial. This is the future society Asia should choose as its development model, and Japan should be spearheading the change.

Simply copying the Western prescription will not lead to a cure. Asia has a rich tradition of community-based lifestyles, which offer great insight into the new modernity the continent should strive toward. Asian societies need to stop relying on their governments to hand them solutions, and instead aim toward people-based environmental policies that would utilize their people’s traditional wisdom and experience.

Many of the issues, such as acid rain and the marine environment, cross national borders and require multinational efforts. In many cases, anti-pollution solutions can be exported from one country to another. To mobilize government efforts in these cases, civil societies also must cross national boundaries and establish grassroots transnational collaboration. This civic movement is crucial to protect Asia’s natural resources and its people’s well-being.

Asia needs environmental protection and anti-poverty programs that are impervious to market forces. It is, therefore, also important to curb the negative effects of globalization as much as possible. As a mid- to long-term policy goal, Asian countries should also consider the regional unification of individual environmental policies.

Asia is a continent with a rich variety of cultures, traditions and political systems. A uniform, cookie-cutter policy will never work. Governments, companies and civil society must overcome their differences and collaborate their efforts in maintaining the environment. A region-wide environmental governance effort is crucial if Asia is to achieve a future comprising sustainable development.

With this agenda in mind, the Asahi Shimbun Asia Network research team organized a 12-month research project in collaboration with outside scholars. Their reports and policy recommendations follow.

(IHT/Asahi: April 5,2002)

【　Recommendations　】 　* Initiate a Japanese model of sustainable recycling society 　* Policies should reflect the wisdom and experience of local people 　* Trans-boundary cooperation among civil societies should be promoted 　* Break the vicious circle of poverty and environmental deterioration 　* Create an ‘‘Asian Environment Agency’’

Senior resercher:
*Takeshi Kawasaki, Foreign News Depertment

Reserchers:
*Fumihiko Yoshida, editorial writer
*Toru Ishii, Electronic Media and Broadcasting Division

Guest reserchers:
*Jusen Asuka, Associate Professor, Center for North East Asian Studies, Tohoku University
*Jin Sato, Associate Professor, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Tokyo