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ANE Regional Activities
>> Regional Overview >> ANE Regional Activities Overview ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: Asia and the Near East Regional
TITLE AND NUMBER: United States-Asia Environmental Partnership,* 498-009
STATUS: Continuing
PLANNED FY 2001 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $16,100,000 DA
PROPOSED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $18,100,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1992 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: ContinuingSummary: The rapid growth of developing Asia has produced alarming environmental consequences. Yet concerns for the environment must take into account aspirations for prosperity, just as aspirations for prosperity must take into account the environment. The United States-Asia Environmental Partnership (USAEP) recognizes this fundamental principle and integrates environmental and economic growth perspectives into its approach to Asia's environmental degradation. Its purpose is to promote and reinforce the introduction of a sustainable, clean growth regime in Asia by influencing the decision-makers involved in Asia's industrialization and urbanization. A significant spurt of growth in Asian industrial and urban infrastructure is imminent, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get ahead of the investment curve before large quantities of inefficient, polluting technologies and infrastructure are installed. USAEP focuses on four activity areas: public policy and environmental regulation; urban environmental management; industrial governance performance; and the transfer of U.S. environmental technology, expertise and practices. As the primary engine of economic growth, the private sector is actively engaged, in Asia and the U.S. The program represents an important economic opportunity for the United States since it promotes the export of environmentally sound U.S. technologies, practices and services to Asian clients. Beneficiaries of the program are the citizens of participating countries, the local and global environment, and U.S. business and labor.
Key Results: A fundamental approach of USAEP is to work with partners who will multiply the work of USAEP many times over. One result is that 15 large U.S. and Asian companies have adopted programs to "green their supply chain," requiring certain standards of environmental management of their extensive network of suppliers, numbering in the thousands. USAEP has also been instrumental in institutionalizing the International Standards Organization (ISO) 14000 series of environmental standards in Asia. All ten USAEP target countries now have a national ISO 14000 accrediting agency and at least one national certifying agency (not counting Vietnam, where a USAEP presence was just established in 1999). USAEP is now working on the next step: to obtain international reciprocity for these new accreditation and certification agencies. Since international requirements for reciprocity have not been defined yet, USAEP is on the forefront participating in their development. As a testimony to the mutual benefit generated by USAEP for Asia and the U.S., USAEP-assisted sales of U.S. goods and services was over $152 million in FY 2000.
Performance and Prospects: USAEP mobilizes U.S. Government agencies to partner with U.S. and Asian stakeholders to demonstrate that resource efficiency and environmental rigor are compatible with economic growth, and advance prosperity over the long term. For example, a partnership between USAEP and the Council of State Governments matches the regulatory and environmental experience of U.S. states with Asian needs for environmental and energy efficient technologies and services. Through this partnership, USAEP has invested about $5.0 million in 36 projects involving 23 states and 11 Asian economies. Partners have matched these grants with more than $7.7 million, resulting in $5.5 million in confirmed sales and a dozen Memoranda of Understanding. Eighty-five U.S. companies, 110 state agencies, 35 academic institutions, and several dozen NGOs are participating in this effort. In the Philippines, USAEP helped five multinational companies (including Ford Motor Co., Shell, and Nestle) and one Philippines industry federation to adopt "greening the supply chain" programs. Greening the supply chain is a process in which large buyers of equipment, supplies and parts require their suppliers to adhere to certain environmental standards. As a result of this USAEP intervention, over 3,000 first-tier suppliers to these buyers have modified their environmental behavior. The suppliers are required to implement and maintain an environmental management system that meets the buyer's corporate standards, and they must obtain formal certification of their system.
In promoting technology transfer, USAEP matches Asian buyers with U.S. sellers using its Environmental Technology Network for Asia, a computer database of 4,800 U.S. firms that has provided over 5,500 trade leads. One measure of the impact of these leads is that USAEP has contributed to the confirmed export sales of $1.26 billion worth of U.S. environmental goods and services, plus numerous consulting and licensing agreements and joint ventures. Another USAEP program to promote the transfer of U.S. environmental technologies is the Environmental Technology Fund, a partnership with the National Association of State Development Agencies. Since its inception in 1992, the Fund has made grants to companies in 46 states totaling about $6.5 million, generating more than $350 million in export revenues and creating more than 850 new U.S. jobs. The Fund provides matching grants of up to $20,000 to U.S. firms to market their environmental goods and services in Asia, usually via technology demonstrations, training, and technical assistance. The visits of American firms to Asia are often coordinated by the USAEP field representatives, who link them with Asian decision-makers and private sector firms. Independent research found that the grant funds, together with field representative assistance, were the reason that 90% of Fund recipients were able to make their first trip to Asia, making a significant impact on introducing U.S. environmental technologies to Asia.
In India's megacities, USAEP is establishing viable inspections and maintenance and promoting an acceptance within the culture of complying with them. The project began as a public-private partnership in Delhi targeting two-wheel motor vehicles. Partners include the Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM), Indian manufacturers of two-wheel motor vehicles, and Delhi and Central government agencies. SIAM and partners conducted the largest-ever series of inspections and maintenance camps in Delhi, drawing over 65,000 drivers. In the process, an extensive set of data was collected and analyzed on emissions, fuel efficiency, vehicles and drivers, and used to design regulations and voluntary programs. With training based on the Delhi experience, USAEP, SIAM and other partners are expanding to India's other megacities and to three- and four-wheeled vehicles. To help ensure that the practice catches on, the program includes two outreach tactics. One is a school campaign, designed in partnership with the Indian environmental NGO Conserve, which is getting students to encourage their parents to get a "Pollution Under Control" inspections and maintenance sticker for their vehicle. The other is to create an Indian affiliate of a U.S. NGO, the Earth Communications Office (ECO). ECO India, which is in the process of being launched, will promote PUC compliance through TV, radio, and movie theatre advertising. It will be based in Mumbai in order to link to the Indian film industry and major corporations.
The FY 2002 USAEP programmatic strategy is to increase the engagement of our partners in fostering a clean growth regime in Asia, while continuing the core functions of applying U.S. technology and expertise to the many daunting environmental problems faced by countries in Asia. In the policy arena, USAEP will place a greater emphasis in FY 2002 on integrating economic, trade, and environmental policies. With respect to governance, USAEP is entering into two new partnerships to focus increasingly on corporate and public sector governance: the National Environmental Policy Institute and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. USAEP also plans to place more emphasis on improving the capacity of non-governmental entities to become influential forces in Asia's sustainable development. As parts of Asia undergo a brisk recovery from the Asia financial crisis, USAEP-assisted sales of U.S. technology and services have increased significantly. In general, USAEP is finding Asian decision-makers more receptive to the fact that enhancing competitiveness and access to global markets requires improved environmental performance. With this receptiveness comes increased investment in cleaner production, an embrace of policy and regulatory reforms, and increased benefit to U.S. business.
Possible Adjustments to Plans: None.
Other Donor Programs: USAEP offers an innovative model for development promotion. Rather than donor-client relationships, USAEP fosters partnerships that will carry on beyond the reach and longevity of development agencies. Working with federal and state agencies, the private sector, professional associations, NGOs, and universities, USAEP has forged a set of partnerships mobilizing private initiative and resources. Other donors have sought USAEP advice on adopting the USAEP model. USAEP-like organizations are being adopted by other Bureaus within USAID. USAEP is a leader in setting the economic/environmental agenda for other donors in the region by working through the U.S. Executive Director's Office at the multilateral development banks and international political fora such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Association of South East Asian Nations. Another fundamental USAEP approach is to leverage public and private sources of funding. USAEP seeks cost sharing or complementary investments from its U.S. and Asian partners and counterparts. Grant programs with states in the U.S. have leveraged from one to three dollars for each USAEP dollar.
Principal Contractors, Grantees, or Agencies: USAEP is an interagency partnership of USAID with the Department of Commerce and the Environmental Protection Agency. It is implemented by three major contractors: the Institute for International Education, International Resources Group, and Louis Berger International. USAEP also has cost-share partnership arrangements with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, National Association of State Development Agencies, Council of State Governments, various Asian and U.S. professional associations, and many NGOs.
* Formerly titled "Promote an Asian Clean Environmental Revolution."
Selected Performance Measures:
Baseline
(1993)Actual
(1999)Actual
(2000)Target
(2001)Target
(2002)Cumulative number of large companies with suppliers in Asia who adopt programs to "green their supply chain" (promote environmental mgmt among their suppliers) 0 14 15 17 19 Cumulative number of countries that have obtained int'l reciprocity for local ISO 14000 accreditation and certification 0 3 4 5 6 Confirmed, USAEP-assisted sales of U.S. environmental goods and services to Asia ($ million, cumulative) 0 1,107 1,259 1,329 1,399 U.S. Financing
(In thousands of dollars)
Obligations Expenditures Unliquidated Through September 30, 1999 142,411 DA 130,220 DA 12,191 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Fiscal Year 2000 10,538 DA 18,222 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA Through September 30, 2000 152,949 DA 148,442 DA 4,507 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA Prior Year Unobligated Funds 4,462 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Planned Fiscal Year 2001 NOA 16,100 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Total Planned Fiscal Year 2001 20,562 DA 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 DFA Future Obligations Est. Total Cost Proposed Fiscal Year 2002 NOA 18,100 DA 73,927 DA 265,538 DA 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 CSD 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 ESF 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 SEED 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 FSA 0 DFA 0 DFA 0 DFA
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Last Updated on: May 29, 2002 |
