U.S.-Japan Workshop on Climate Actions and Developmental Co-benefits

The main goal of the U.S.-Japan Workshop on Climate Actions and Developmental Co-benefits, co-organized by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, the EPA, and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), is to find a broad range of effective policies and actions that achieve both development objectives and real climate benefits in developing countries. The focus is on defining approaches and methodologies to expanding climate co-benefits from current efforts that address air pollution and health to other areas, such as energy security, waste management, and agriculture.

Many developing nations are concerned about the tension between national development priorities and addressing climate change. The U.S.-Japan bilateral workshop seeks to address this concern by identifying policies that tackle development issues, such as waste management, in a manner that yields both positive economic gain and positive environmental gain. For instance, waste disposal policies like recycling and composting can provide employment opportunities and reduce methane generation and landfills, thereby co-benefiting the climate and the economy. Sustainable development policies like this cannot on their own fully replace the need for greenhouse gas mitigation efforts. Yet by using a co-benefit analysis method of policy evaluation, development goals can be translated into climate-friendly action.

Website: www.epa.gov/integenv/