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A 28 page full-colour report on EEPSEA's first five years ("EEPSEA: 1993-1998") is available by mail from the Secretariat.  Some highlights are provided below: 

1.  Rationale

Environmental economics can be a useful tool for decision-making.  It can incorporate the economic value of environmental goods and services into cost-benefit calculations; make more obvious the costs of inaction; and identify least-cost policy options, including those that make use of market-based incentives.  However, environmental economics is a rather new and difficult branch of economics, requiring not only a solid grasp of conventional theories and techniques but also their application to non-marketed goods and services, externalities, irreversibility, the very long run, and so on.  It is a highly applied field, not easily learned through classroom teaching alone.

For these reasons, a coalition of donors led by Canada's International Development Research Centre established EEPSEA in May, 1993, bringing together research institutions, policy makers and donors to overcome these problems. 

2. Highlights of Activities: 1993-1998

EEPSEA's first activity was to sponsor sixteen trainees to attend the first offering of a five- week course in Environmental Economics and Policy Analysis at the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID).  By September, graduates had submitted research proposals and the Advisory Committee was formed, comprising senior Asian and international scholars and policy makers.  The graduates and Advisory Committee met at EEPSEA's first biannual workshop in November 1993.  The first research projects were approved in January 1994. 

In 1995 and 1996, EEPSEA offered a five-week course in environmental economics in Ho Chi Minh City in English and Vietnamese.  Special training programs were also launched in Lao and Cambodia. In 1997, EEPSEA launched its annual five-week course in Los Baños, using international faculty, largely ending its reliance on overseas short courses. 

1996 saw a favorable external evaluation by Dr. Mohan Munasinghe of the World Bank.  The evaluation found high levels of performance, researcher satisfaction and gender balance. Some of the main findings: 
* The program "...met or exceeded most of the evaluation criteria..."
* The special programs for Indochina have been necessary and well-conceived.
* The participation rate of women is "remarkably high" (more than 50%). 
It recommended, among other things, more attention in the research program to macro & international policies and institutional issues.  These recommendations were implemented.

EEPSEA is now active in 10 SE Asian countries and has enjoyed the financial support of twelve donors.  As of December, 1998, it has provided training to some 150 people and supported about 65 research projects. 

3.  Accomplishments

EEPSEA has demonstrated the value of this approach through the influence its members have exerted in decision making: 

* In response to EEPSEA-supported research, senior officials in Cambodia have called for changes to Cambodia's forest policies.  The research dealt with the valuation and management of two ecologically sensitive areas: the forests of Ratanakiri and the mangroves of Koh Kong.  The studies were carried out by staff of the Ministry of Environment, with technical support from an EEPSEA resource person. 

The Ratanakiri study showed that the value of non-timber forest products was much higher than previously thought - higher, in fact, than comparable estimates of timber values.  The Minister of Environment and the Governor of Ratanakiri Province endorsed the study's findings and called for the transfer of responsibility for management of customary forest land to community associations and for a moratorium on logging in those areas.

* EEPSEA collaborated with the World Wide Fund for Nature on a study of the economic value of damages from the 1997 forest fires and haze in Indonesia.   Results were presented to a 1998 meeting of ASEAN Environment  Ministers, as input to the formulation of a regional haze action plan.  The findings attracted world-wide media attention (more than 100 citations counted) and were cited in numerous conferences and action plans sponsored by the World Bank, United Nations, and bilateral and multilateral lending agencies. 

* Two EEPSEA-supported projects in Manila played important roles in the development of Philippine water policy.  A household demand study carried out by the Philippines Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) included estimates of households' willingness to pay for water.  The study was completed shortly before the government decided to privatize the delivery of water in Manila.  The PIDS researchers were consulted prior to drafting the privatization contract and drew on the information generated in the EEPSEA-funded research. The study's findings were also used by one of the bidders to fine-tune its demand projections and thus arrive at a realistic supply price. 

This study, and one supported by EEPSEA on industrial use of groundwater, contributed to the recognition that water is a scarce resource and that economic principles can beneficially be applied to its management.  Reflecting this, the Presidential Task Force on Water commissioned PIDS to carry out a one-year water resource pricing project in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.  The Philippine Government financed this project in the amount of PHP 2.5 million.  Partly because of the expertise developed and demonstrated in its EEPSEA project, PIDS has been designated by the government to lead this activity.  Information from the two EEPSEA studies is being used extensively in the project. 

* In 1996, EEPSEA's Director testified about trade and the environment before the House of Commons Select Committee for the Environment during its study tour of SE Asia. The briefing included a case study of the tropical timber trade and played a role in shaping the Committee's recommendations. 

* EEPSEA has also attracted attention in the media: It has been featured in the Asian Wall Street Journal and in Asia Business News television documentaries.  Several EEPSEA projects will be featured in a forthcoming series of educational videos for universities. 

* Many EEPSEA researchers are applying the skills and knowledge acquired in EEPSEA directly to international policy work for their governments.  To cite one example: 

Susan Zhang's EEPSEA project assessed the environmental impacts of coal-fired power generation in China, a subject with clear implications for transboundary pollution and regional negotiations.  She also represents China on the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel of the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances. In November, 1998 she attended the 10th Parties Meeting of the Montreal Protocol, where she co-chaired the Economic Options Committee.

Documento(s) 4 de 6