Resource Efficient Cleaner Production in South Asia

Project Summary:

This project promoted resource efficient cleaner production, or RECP, among small and medium enterprises in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. RCEP analysis that considers the life cycle, value chain, and environmental footprint of products helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve efficiency, create jobs, and bolster companies for climate change, in addition to limiting pollution. On a regional level, government representatives organized around this KGGTF support to share information and knowledge via forums on RECP. And on a national level, they worked to strengthen policies and regulations that incentivize and monitor green manufacturing, including frameworks for benchmarking and financing RECP interventions. This grant also helped fuel existing World Bank RECP lending efforts in South Asia that address resource scarcity, pollution, and opportunities for green jobs. Activities supported by this KGGTF program would help facilitate India’s ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, Bangladesh’s air quality management targets, and Pakistan’s need for immediate climate change and environmental mitigation efforts, among other aggressive green growth goals.

List of Activities:

• Policies and regulations, including standards and benchmarks, to support the development and deployment of RECP intervention;
• Institutional strengthening and capacity building in order to develop the local ‘anchors’ for a sustainable RECP program that can grow over the years;
• Financing mechanisms that make use of existing and innovative channels of concessional and commercial finance to support technology, institutions, policies, and regulations for RECP in the countries of interest

Outcomes:

Output 1: Report on Baseline and Report on Regulatory Frameworks

Output 2: Capacity building program is launched

Output 3: Report on financing mechanisms and instrument

Outcomes:

The RECP approach led to identifying measures that are more efficient in terms of delivering co-benefits for the local environment (e.g. reducing air pollution) as well as for climate change (e.g. reducing GHG emissions). The program also prioritized activities from a cost-effectiveness perspective in delivering the co-benefits, thereby identifying the more economically efficient measures for RECP. 

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

• WBG internal partners: coordinated by a task team in the Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice (GENDR), in partnership with the Climate Change CCSA. It is likely to collaborate with the Finance and Markets Global Practice, the Water Global Practice, and the Energy Global Practice, and the IFC.
• K-Partners: 
  the Korea National Cleaner Production Center (http://www.kncpc.or.kr/en/main/main.asp ) was approached as a partner.
• Other external partners: This program was undertaken in collaboration with representatives from the governments of three countries in SAR - Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The joint UNIDO-UNEP Resource Efficient Cleaner Production Program (www.recpnet.org ) was approached as possible partners.