Content
Asia
Content
Ecologically sustainable development
German development cooperation in Asia has two overriding objectives in the environmental sector:
climate protection and conservation of biodiversity.
With these objectives in view, it is concentrating on the following areas:
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Promoting energy efficiency, renewable energies
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Sustainable management and protection of natural resources
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Environmentally and socially sound urban development, industrial environmental protection.
In its work, Germany is mindful of the close connection between climate change and species loss and has opted for integrated approaches designed to impact positively on both areas.
Climate protection
The large countries of Asia are already contributing substantially to climate change. Their share of global greenhouse gas emissions is on the increase. Asia is directly affected by the consequences of climate change. Extreme weather events such as typhoons, floods and drought have become more common, deserts are expanding and sea levels rising. In some regions the impacts of climate change may become a threat to food security and the infrastructure. According to the figures of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) about one billion people in Asia could be facing the impacts of climate change by 2050.
With advisory services, technology transfer and pilot projects, German development cooperation is helping Asian countries, especially the emerging economies, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This support also serves the international negotiation processes that are seeking to get China, India and Indonesia more closely involved in implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and in designing international post-Kyoto climate policy.
Asia's poorer and smaller island states, which largely depend on agriculture for their livelihood, are receiving support under German development cooperation to help them adapt to climate change. Investments in infrastructure and settlement projects, adaptation of agricultural land use, disaster prevention and the introduction of insurance schemes are all intended to reduce the risks of climate change for these countries or safeguard against them.
The partner countries also receive support towards stepping up their use of renewable energy sources such as wind, water, biomass and the sun.
Energy efficiency
There is strong demand in Asia for German expertise in the field of energy efficiency. German development cooperation is helping in a number of ways to reduce pollution caused by power generation and energy losses during the transmission and distribution of electricity. They include technical modernisation and the provision of advice and training.
Another priority area of cooperation is the development of a modern, environmentally benign infrastructure in urban and industrial contexts. Germany provides advice to Asian countries on the sustainable development of city centres and manufacturing and industrial plants, in order to devise integrated solutions to the region's worsening environmental and social problems.
Conservation of biodiversity
Asia's flora and fauna is unique. China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines belong to the group of megadiverse states, which are home to between 60 and 70 per cent of all living species. The conservation and sustainable management of Asia's biodiversity is then an important goal of German development cooperation.
Germany assists its partner countries to implement the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Protocol on Biosafety (Cartagena Protocol). With the support of German cooperation sustainable protection and management concepts for natural resources are being devised and implemented.
Information
Publications
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Climate Change and Development: Setting development policy priorities
(PDF 611 KB, accessible) -
Development needs sustainable energy
Topics 187
(PDF 2.5 MB, accessible) -
Biological Diversity
Strategies 166
(PDF 450 KB, accessible) -
Strategy for Development Cooperation with Global Development Partners
(PDF 543 KB, accessible)
