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ADBI Working Paper Series
Asia’s Wicked Environmental
Problems
Stephen Howes and
Paul Wyrwoll
No. 348
February 2012
Asian Development Bank Institute
Stephen Howes and Paul Wyrwoll are director and researcher, respectively, at the
Development Policy Centre, Crawford School, Australian National University.
This paper was prepared as a background paper for the Asian Development Bank
(ADB)/Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) study Role of Key Emerging
Economies—ASEAN, the People Republic of China, and India—for a Balanced, Resilient
and Sustainable Asia.
The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect the views or policies of ADBI, the ADB, its Board of Directors, or the governments
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Suggested citation:
Howes, S. and P. Wyrwoll. 2012. Asia’s Wicked Environmental Problems. ADBI Working Paper
348. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute. Available: http://www.adbi.org/working-
paper/2012/02/28/5009.asia.wicked.environmental.problems/
Please contact the author(s) for information about this paper.
Email: stephen.howes@anu.edu.au; paul.wywroll@anu.edu.au
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© 2012 Asian Development Bank Institute
ADBI Working Paper 348 Howes and Wyrwoll
Abstract
The developing economies of Asia are confronted by serious environmental problems that
threaten to undermine future growth, food security, and regional stability. This study considers
four major environmental challenges that policymakers across developing Asia will need to
address towards 2030: water management, air pollution, deforestation and land degradation,
and climate change. We argue that these challenges, each unique in their own way, all exhibit
the characteristics of “wicked problems”. As developed in the planning literature, and now
applied much more broadly, wicked problems are dynamic, complex, encompass many issues
and stakeholders, and evade straightforward, lasting solutions. Detailed case studies are
presented to illustrate the complexity and significance of Asia’s environmental challenges, and
also their nature as wicked problems. The most important implication of this finding is that there
will be no easy or universal solutions to environmental problems across Asia. This is a caution
against over-optimism and blueprint or formulaic solutions. It is not, however, a counsel for
despair. We suggest seven general principles which may be useful across the board. These
are: a focus on co-benefits; an emphasis on stakeholder participation; a commitment to
scientific research; an emphasis on long-term planning; pricing reform; tackling corruption, in
addition to generally bolstering institutional capacity with regard to environmental regulation;
and a strengthening of regional approaches and international support.
JEL Classification: O44, Q58, Q56, O10, O53, Q28, Q53.
ADBI Working Paper 348 Howes and Wyrwoll
Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3
2. Major Environmental Issues for Asia to 2030 .................................................................... 5
2.1 Water management ................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Deforestation and land degradation ........................................................................ 7
2.3 Air pollution .............................................................................................................. 9
2.4 Climate change ..................................................................................................... 11
3. Case Studies of Environmental Problems in Asia ........................................................... 13
3.1 Regional management of hydropower development on the Mekong River ........... 13
3.2 Groundwater depletion in India ............................................................................. 16
3.3 Afforestation and land restoration in the PRC ....................................................... 18
3.4 Deforestation in Indonesia and Transboundary Haze Pollution ............................ 20
3.5 Regulation of air pollution in Delhi ......................................................................... 21
3.6 Indoor air pollution, black carbon, and improved cookstoves ................................ 23
3.7 Climate change mitigation in the PRC ................................................................... 26
4. Asia’s Wicked Environmental Problems .......................................................................... 29
4.1 Problem formulation .............................................................................................. 31
4.2 Interdependency .................................................................................................... 32
4.3 Solution set ............................................................................................................ 32
5. Managing Asia’s Wicked Environmental Problems ......................................................... 35
5.1 Co-benefits and issue linkage ............................................................................... 35
5.2 “Bottom-up” management processes and stakeholder participation ..................... 36
5.3 Scientific research ................................................................................................. 36
5.4 Planning ................................................................................................................ 37
5.5 Pricing ................................................................................................................... 37
5.6 Tackling corruption and improving institutional capacity ....................................... 37
5.7 Cooperative management, regional institutions, and international cooperation .... 38
6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 39
References .................................................................................................................................. 40
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