Environmental management measures for influencing human behaviour towards sustainable development

Regional Development Dialogue

Volumn 27, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 85-100

  Nurul Amin, A T M ^a,b   Jarusombut, Soparatna ^c   Thuy, Trinh Thi Bich ^d   Thanaprayochask, Worawan ^e  

^a ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (Thailand)

^b UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE   (Pakistan)

^c THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY   (Thailand)

^d Transport Development Strategy Institute   (Viet Nam)

^e ICN Systems Ltd   (Thailand)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; HOLISTIC APPROACH; HUMAN BEHAVIOR; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT;

EID: 33846091538     PISSN: 02506505     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (27)

1. For economists' articulation of environmental problems and formulation of corresponding policy instruments, see A. T. M. Nurul Amin, Economic and Financial Consideration in Urban Environmental Management (Urban Management Program (UMP)-Asia Occasional Paper; no. 65) (Bangkok: UMP-Asia Program, AFI), pp. 15-8;
2. and Barry C. Field and Martha K. Field, Environmental Economics (Boston, MA: McGaw-Hill), p. 76-80.
3. Unlike the phrases of regulatory instruments or economic instruments, suasive instruments is not a common usage in environmental policy literature. Merely to make it analogous with the other two sets of instruments, the label suasive instruments (SIs) is used for denoting 'moral suasion' (e.g., environmental education and arareness-raising campaign). Also, it needs to be said that the words instruments, tools and measures are interchangeably used in the literature. In this article the word, measures, is used in most instances.
4. For some conveniently available publications, see M.L. Crooper and W.E. Oates, "Environmental Economics: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XXX (June, 1992):675-740;
5. Gunnar S. Eskland and Jimenez, "Policy Instruments for Pollution Control in Developing Countries," World Bank Research Observer 7 (July, 1992):145-69;
6. O'Connor, "Applying Economic Instruments in Developing Countries: From Theory to Implementation" (Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Development Centre, 1996);
7. and for Asian country-based publications, see Foo Tan Seik, "Urban Environmental Policy: The Use of Regulatory and Economic Instruments in Singapore," Habitat International 20 (1:1996):5-22;
8. A. T. M. Nurul Amin and Sayeedul Islam, "Urban Environmental Management in Major Asian Cities" in M. F. Ahmed et al., eds., Bangladesh Environment 2000 (Dhaka: Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, 2000), pp. 321-37;
9. and A. T. M. Nurul Amin, "Environmental Management Measures: Inspirational Theories, Disappointing Practices" in Gopal Thapa and S. M. Wahid, eds., University Support to Environmental Planning and Management: Second Regional Workshop (Royal University of Phom Penh, Cambodia, 2-3 March 2005) (Bangkok: AIT, 2005), pp. 19-30.
10. Of the sixteen master's theses and one doctoral dissertation completed under the supervision of the principal author, involving investigation of the status of using regulatory, economic or suasive measures in management of air pollution, solid waste and wastewater in respective city study, three explored the status by all three sets of measures (i.e., by adopting the EMM framework). These three are: Soparatna Jarusombut, "Managing Hazardous Industrial Wastes in the Bangkok Region" (Ph.D. dissertation, AIT, 1999);
11. Trinh Thi Bich Thuy, "Environmental Management Measures for Controlling Vehicular Air Pollution: Case Study of Hanoi, Viet Nam" (Master's thesis, AIT, 2005);
12. and Nguyen Bao Thanh, "Current Status and Potential of Application of Environmental Management Measures (EMM) in Controlling the Air Pollution: A Focus on Vehicular Emissions in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)" (Master's thesis, AIT, 2004).
13. For the complete list of these sixteen theses, interested reader may see A.T.M. Nurul Amin, Economic and Financial Considerations in Urban Environmental Mangement (UMP-Asia Occasional Paper; no. 65) (Bangkok: UMP-Asia Program, AIT), p. 89. In total, six cities were covered by these studies together Bangkok, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Kathmandu, and Yangon.
14. In fact the switch from leaded to unleaded gas and/or compressed natural gas (CNG) has successfully proceeded in largely similar fashion in other Asian countries too (e.g., Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka and India's New Delhi drew newspaper headlines in this respect). For nonavailability of adequate documentation, those cases could not be presented here.
15. "Promoting" not "achieving", ought to be the word choice in this context since "(s)ustainable development is a dynamic concept. It is not about society reaching an end state, nor is it about establishing static structures or about identifying fixed qualities of social, economic or political life. It is better to speak about promoting, not achieving, sustainable development. Promoting sustainable development is an ongoing process, whose desirable characteristics change over time, across space and location and within different social, political, cultural and historical contexts". See Susan Baker, Sustainable Development (London: Routledge), pp. 7-8.
16. For an insightful article on this see Judith Bradbury and Steve Rayner, "Reconciling the Irreconcilable: in Hussein Abaza and Andrea Baranzini, eds., Implementing Sustainable Development: Integrated Assessment and Participatory Decision-Making Processes (Cheltenham, UK, 2002), pp. 15-31. They highlight the problem as follows: "Leading thinkers in both of the natural and social sciences are increasingly recognizing that the basis of disagreement about science policy issues affecting the relationship between human activities and the ecosystem on which humans depend is societal rather than technical. This recognition, however, is not accompanied by agreement on how to proceed.
17. Developing such agreement thus presents a major challenge, since lack of a clear strategy for addressing the social and economic driving forces of environmental degradation constitutes the greatest barrier to achieving the goal of sustainable development", ibid. p.15.
18. Hopefully the readers will not see as if this is now reversing the argument: so long the case is made for holistic and now comes the case for specific targeting. In fact in both instances the argument is for not losing out a particular need/element/aspect. It is to be recalled that the holistic approach of EMM is also fundamentally based on its constituent parts. This suggests that any discussion on aggregation and disaggregation, partial and whole or general and specific ought to be pursued with utmost care.
19. Interested readers may in, particular, see Worawan Thanaprayochask, "Application of Economic Instruments to Influence People's Decision on Choice of Transportation Mode for Car Use in Bangkok" (Master's thesis) (Bangkok: AIT) for an in-depth research finding on designing the use of economic instruments. Because this study is limited to an El focus, this otherwise relevant study's findings based case has not been included in this article, which is of broader interest - research for designing EMM use.
20. For an illustration of the use with respect to transportation sector, see Case II in the next section and also Thanaprayochask, "Application of Economic Instruments."
21. See note 3. For summary of findings from those studies, see Amin and Islam, "Urban Environmental Management"
22. and Amin, Economic and Financial Considerations.
23. Babu Ram Rai, "Application of Economic and Regulatory Instruments for Emission Management: A Case Study of Diesel and Electric Tempos in Kathmandu City" (AIT master's thesis) (Bangkok: AIT).
24. Soparatna Jarusombut, "Managing Hazardous Industrial Wastes."
25. Soparatna Jarusombut and A.T.M.Nurul Amin, "Factors Influencing Treatment Decisions of Hazardous Waste Generators: A Study of Factories in the Bangkok Region," Waste Management and Research 20 (2002):486-93.
26. Thuy, "Environmental Management Measures", pp. 35-66.
27. See Thanaprayochask, "Application of Economic Instruments."