Fourfold increase in energy use in Asia-Pacific: UNEP

A four-fold increase in energy use in the Asia-Pacific region has been noted in the last 40 years, mainly due to rapid urbanisation in China, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report said on Tuesday.

The report 'Indicators for a Resource Efficient and Green Asia and the Pacific' was launched in Bangkok by United Nations Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner at the First Asia Pacific Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities.

The assessment points to the fact that wasteful use of resources in Asia-Pacific countries is undermining their ability to sustain economic growth in future but "there is a great potential for low-carbon and resource-efficient growth".

On use of energy in the region the report highlights the fourfold spike.

It said: "The region's demand for electricity, gas and transport fuel, mainly met from coal and petroleum, has increased more than four times over the past 40 years, largely due to rapid urbanization in China."

However, the findings show improved water use efficiency.

"The per capita water use is declining in the region and is estimated at 544 m3 annually in the developing countries and 6,893 in the industrialized countries. Agriculture is the main user, accounting for 80 percent of water consumption," the report revealed.

"The relative slow growth in the region's share of global water use from 51 percent in 1970 to 55 percent in 2010 indicates improved water use efficiency," the indicators said.

It also sheds light on the reduced carbon intensity in the region.

"Despite a fourfold increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the region between 1970 and 2010, there has been a dramatic reduction in carbon intensity in Asia-Pacific developing countries, from nearly 10 kg CO2-eq per dollar to less than 3 kg CO2-eq per dollar over this period," the report said.

Steiner said: "Asia Pacific, as the most diverse region in the world and home to 60 percent of the world's population, will be crucial to the success of the sustainable development, financing and climate change agendas being finalized this year."

Using 118 indicators to assess natural resource use over the past 40 years in 26 Asia Pacific countries, the report is the outcome of a three-year science-based consultative process initiated by UNEP, Australia's national science agency CSIRO and the Asia Pacific Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production and supported by the European Union.

It includes more than 130 graphics and 115,000 data points.