Promoting win–win situations in climate change mitigation, local environmental quality and development in Asian cities through co-benefits

Abstract

Due to the rapid growth of urban population and economic development in Asia recently, many cities have encountered severe challenges responding to environmental pollution at local and global levels. This Special Volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production reports on the results of several studies in cities across Asia, which were designed to investigate the potential of climate co-benefits approaches. These studies were implemented across the key urban sectors of waste management, transport and buildings as well as industry. They are complemented by two analyses of the institutional framework, barriers and opportunities for planning for co-benefits in the larger countries in the region: India and China. The fifteen articles in this Special Volume show that tangible urban co-benefits can be achieved from initiatives performed at the local level to address climate change issues. They also provide critical insights on how to catalyze co-benefits in urban development, by embedding climate change mitigation at the local level. By collating promising development activities and policies in different sectors from various Asian countries, this volume presents an overview of how local level actions can enhance developmental impacts. The final paper connects these insights with respect to the emerging green economy paradigm to consider how such policies, if properly coordinated, can create powerful synergies for addressing both local environmental quality and global carbon impacts and how to track this through the governance framework.