Greening Industry

Greening Industry Programs
Archived Events (Greening Industry Conference, June 2001)

In November 1999, the New Ideas in Pollution Regulation team, a research group within the World Bank's Development Economics research unit, unveiled a comprehensive six year study on industrial pollution regulation and abatement practices in the developing world entitled Greening Industry: New Roles for Communities, Markets and Governments.

The Greening Industry Report showed how economic and regulatory policy reforms during the late 1990's were reducing industrial pollution in developing countries, without threatening economic growth. After many failed attempts to import regulatory models from the industrial countries, pioneers were developing new models for pollution control. Based on sound economic principles, these initiatives incorporated market-based incentives, broad commitments to public environmental information, and targeted assistance to plant-level managers trying to improve environmental performance. This new paradigm for industrial pollution regulation and abatement stressed participatory regulation, with community representatives taking their place at the negotiating table along with government regulators and factory managers. Better public information about pollution allowed market agents to make their presence felt through the decisions of consumers, bankers, and stockholders. The report spoke with authority because its authors helped establish many of the innovative programs featured. And the outlook was optimistic: After six years of research, policy experimentation and front-line observation, the authors concluded that sustainable development was possible.

In the less than three years since Greening Industry was published, dramatic changes on how developing country environmental regulators view these new regulatory tools have taken place. The public information disclosure program, original designed and launched with profound success in Indonesia, has been adopted in a variety of new settings. In June, 2001, regulators from China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and India convened in Nanjing, China to discuss new public information disclosure initiatives. During the conference, Chinese regulators from environmental protection departments in Jiangsu and Hohhot described the launching of pilot programs for public information disclosure and rating systems. Vietnamese officials also discussed a pilot program in Hanoi, while Indian officials described their interest in the possibility of implementing a pilot.

One year later, the pilots in China have gone so well, the State Environmental Protection Administration indicates it now has plans to make it a national program. In Vietnam, the pilot program in Hanoi has also developed dramatically. In February, 2002, the first ratings of environmental performance were announced by the National Environmental Agency. In June, the final ratings were publicly disclosed. In the Utter Pradesh province in India, officials are now implementing a public information disclosure and rating program for the distillery sector. Even in places where no formal effort or communication has taken place between researchers and regulators, interesting initiatives are underway. This is the case in Iran, where industries who have been identified as good environmental performers are publicly congratulated.

Research with impact has been the mantra of the New Ideas in Pollution Regulation team since its inception in 1993. However, as many in the development field know, quantifying actual changes of how research affect people's lives is often difficult. We've had the good fortune to have been able to conduct research, work with clients to build programs, and then document the changes these programs have produced. And we continue to watch this story unfold.

Greening Industry Programs

• Senaye-E-Sabz:  Program in Iran
  Senaye-e-Sabz or Green Industry Program was started in 1998. The program was intended to encourage the proliferation of environmentally friendly industries in Iran; develop cooperation between Department of Environment (DOE) and industries; and establish the exchange of experiences and achievements among industries etc. The program has been an excellent medium for cooperation among government agencies : DOE, provinces, line-ministries, and others in environmental protection.

The DOE, promoter of the program, defined the green industries as industries that have been making noteworthy achievements to protect the environment. Currently, the selected industries do not have to be in full compliance with environmental standards and regulations. But, they do not significantly pollute water, soil, and air either. It is the effort that counts. Every year, the DOE select about 70 candidates among 17 groups of industries ranging from food, oil refineries to agriculture. The candidates are invited to the Green Environment Seminar which takes place during the Environment Week. The winners are awarded the Bargozideh Citation, and widely publicized in the media.