The Asia and Pacific region covers 40 per cent of the Earth’s land area territory, and is home to 61 per cent of the world’s population. Dramatic economic growth has enabled the reduction of poverty and social progress in many parts of the region. However, the rapid increases in industrial and agricultural production, as well as rising levels of consumption are exerting increasing pressure on the environmental carrying capacity of the region.

The Asia and Pacific region is becoming the hub of global production, and this soaring economic growth is causing considerable impact on the environmental carrying capacity, the sources of which can be traced to:

	Growth in industrial production, especially manufacture for export. In developing countries of the region, industrial production increased by some 38 per cent (compared with a global increase of 23 per cent) from 1995 to 2002.
	Agricultural expansion and intensification. Agricultural production increased by 62 per cent from 1990 to 2002 (as compared with a 27 per cent global increase) largely through agro-chemical use intensity that exceeds world averages. Over 60 per cent of water used is for agriculture in at least 30 countries in the region.
	Rising demand for water, energy and raw materials (e.g. timber, and minerals). Production of electricity, gas and water increased by 50 per cent from 1995 to 2002 (compared with an 18 per cent global increase). Water extraction from various sources is projected to increase by 25 per cent from 1990 to 2010 and energy use increased by some 40 per cent from 1990 to 2002 (twice the global increase). Mining production increased by some 16 per cent in the ESCAP region (compared with a 7 per cent global increase).

Other trends heavily impacting the environmental carrying capacity of the region include:

Rapid and unplanned urbanization, with poor environmental infrastructure and lagging development and maintenance of waste-water treatment, solid waste management and public transportation facilities.

Growing consumption and changing consumption patterns linked to growing incomes and the adoption of urban lifestyles. Pollution is increasing, the volumes of waste and emissions are growing, the nature of waste is changing and there is a net increase of resource inputs, reflected in a growing demand for personal vehicles, information and communication technology and energy-intensive consumer durables, for example.

Despite the signs of stress, the need for further economic growth remains large. In the ESCAP region, some 670 million people were still living on less than $1 a day (PPP adjusted) in 2004, representing some 63 per cent of the global total. China and India account for some 80 per cent of the region’s poor. In 2001, more than one in every ten persons in the region was still undernourished. The per capita energy supply of the region is less than 60 per cent of that of the global figure, posing a significant barrier to social development.

Given the region’s limited ecological carrying capacity and the enormous need for further economic growth to reduce poverty and meet the basic needs of its vast and expanding population the region has to find ways and means to reduce the environmental impact of its economic growth. As such, the governments of the region have agreed that Green Growth is the foremost strategy to ensure environmental and economic sustainability of the countries in the Asia and Pacific region.