Asian countries face huge costs on Environment

Asian countries face huge costs on Environment



Aug. 2007  - Many Asian countries face huge 
financial costs to clean up the environment because of a lack of 
investment in sanitation. This is leading to massive pollution of both 
surface water and groundwater, senior officials of the Asian Development 
Bank said today ahead of a global clean water conference. 
Some two billion Asians – roughly 66 percent of the population in Asia – 
lack access to adequate sanitation, such as toilets, pit latrines, septic 
tanks, and sewerage systems. This accounts for nearly three-quarters of 
all those in the world without such facilities.

 
In Shanghai, for example, Chinese authorities had to spend $1 billion to 
clean Suzhou Creek, which runs through the metropolis and used to be a 
health risk to residents. Officials acknowledge cleanup costs were many 
times what would have been needed to prevent the pollution in the first 
place. 
China last year announced plans to invest $125 billion in sanitation and 
wastewater treatment, a major step forward but still not enough to meet 
its people's needs, say bank officials. 
This indicates the magnitude of investment needed in Asia for sanitation 
and wastewater infrastructure between now and 2015, the target date for 
accomplishing the UN's Millenium Development Goals. 
Four of the eight goals rely on clean water and adequate sanitation - 
reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, 
malaria and other diseases; and ensuring environmental sustainability. 
If China sustains its sanitation investments, it could substantially 
accelerate achievement of Millennium Development Goal targets across the 
region, according to the bank. 
Leung says the bank has dedicated an extra $20 million as grant money to 
help governments and utilities improve their sanitation programs. 
World Water Week will devote many of its panels and publications to 
sanitation concerns this year. 
One advance paper from the World Health Organization and the Stockholm 
Water Institute gives five reasons why investments in water and sanitation 
can be the engine for accelerated economic growth, sustainable 
development, improved health and reduced poverty.

  Improved water supply and sanitation and water resources management 
  boosts countries' economic growth and contributes greatly to poverty 
  eradication. 

  The economic benefits of improved water supply and "in particular, 
  sanitation" far outweigh the investment costs. 

  National economies are more resilient to rainfall variability and 
  economic growth is boosted when water storage capacity is improved. 

  Investing in water is good business. Proper water supply, sanitation and 
  water resources management is increasingly becoming a competitive 
  advantage for attracting business investment. 
  It is estimated that 322 million working days per year, and an annual 
  global value of US$750 million from working days gained as a result of 
  improved health, could come from meeting the Millenium Development Goals 
  water supply and sanitation targets. 


  The overall public and private investment needs for improved water 
  supply and sanitation and water resources management are considerable, 
  the World Health Organization and the Stockholm Water Institute agree. 
  But they say that at the country level, "meeting such investment 
  challenges is highly feasible and within the reach of most nations."

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