The greening of all industries in order to help reduce their ecological footprint is an important factor in transitioning to an environmentally sustainable world and meeting many SDG targets. Governments in the Asia and the Pacific region (APR) have recognised these challenges and have taken a range of measures (including the introduction of laws and regulations) to work towards green economic restructuring.

This chapter provides an overview of the environmental challenges relevant to the four industry sectors examined in this book (automotive, PVC production, catering and waste management). It also illustrates governments’ efforts to address these issues in an attempt to green economic restructuring in APR. In particular, policies and legislation, green restructuring initiatives and the introduction of new workplace practices will be examined in the context of the above industries, based on the analysis of secondary sources and some results of the case studies. This green restructuring is having a significant impact on the dynamics of, and requirements for, skills that should be addressed by TVET and work-placed learning, and also included in RVA. Initiatives undertaken by the governments in the region are important indicators that can enable to formulate TVET policies and to navigate the demands and dynamics of necessary skills.

1 The Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is one of the biggest industries in the Asia and the Pacific region. Being a global production hub and having a strong purchasing market, it is predicted to continue to flourish between 2017 and 2021 (PR Newswire 2017). In 2017, more than 44 million vehicles were manufactured within the APR, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) being the largest vehicle producer, followed by Japan and the Republic of Korea (Statista 2017). Since 2009, PRC has been the world’s largest automotive manufacturing country as well as being the largest automotive market. In 2016, annual vehicle production in PRC accounted for nearly 30% of worldwide vehicle production; the country’s output exceeded production in the European Union, United States and Japan combined. In addition, in India, it is predicted that light vehicle and passenger car sales will continue to grow rapidly.

Southeast Asia is also becoming an important player in automotive manufacturing, yet the development of the industry differs greatly among Southeast Asian countries. The main driver behind these developments is cheap labour. Thailand is the most developed country among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in terms of automobile manufacturing (PR Newswire 2017; ASEAN UP 2018). This is because the world’s leading automobile manufacturers, such as Ford, Honda, Toyota and BMW have located production lines in Thailand. Thai production volume peaked at 2 million in 2016 and the export volume of automobiles from Thailand reached over 1 million (PR Newswire 2017). Other ASEAN countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia also have a significant number of vehicle manufacturers.

The steady growth of the automotive industry in Asia and the APR has led to serious environmental concerns. Promotion of good practices in the APR started in the 1990s when, in 1994, the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set up the APEC Automotive Dialogue (AD) with an aim to endorse best practices in the automotive sector within the region, to promote the efficient use of resources, and to improve the recovery and recycling ratios of end-of-life vehicles. In 2014, the 20th APEC AD was held in Beijing and endorsed the Asia–Pacific Region Automotive Industry Sustainable Development Declaration submitted by PRC. Over 140 automotive industrial representatives from APEC member countries and territories attended the meeting. Specific measures in addressing the challenges of environmental pollution, energy security, and promoting eco-cars were discussed. The declaration also highlights the commitment of the APEC member countries and territories to foster the development of a circular economy and reduce the negative impact of the automotive industry on the environment.

In addition to collective efforts, individual governments have been taking measures to support the greening of the sector. These measures include

  • Support of public transport.

  • Promotion and production of eco-cars.

  • Tax incentives to producers.

  • Boosting consumer demand through tax and other incentives such as free driving permits and lower parking fees for eco-cars.

  • Raising awareness through eco-stickers (to inform about emission standards and CO2 rating).

  • Introduction of strict emission standards and fuel efficiency standards for cars (e.g. in Japan, Sri Lanka).

Thailand and Indonesia are the leaders driving eco-car production. Both governments have launched schemes (namely the Eco-Car Program in Thailand and Low Cost Green Cars scheme in Indonesia) that offer incentives for the production of eco-cars that meet emission and local standards requirements. Promotion was done to advertise the benefits and merits of owning eco-cars in terms of low cost, fuel efficiency and environmental friendliness (Wijeratne and Lau 2015). In addition, Thailand has introduced a tax rebate for electric vehicles that are assembled domestically as well as for batteries and components made in the country. The policy aims to attract car manufacturers to set up production lines in Thailand and to boost consumer demand.

The benefit of this tax scheme is threefold:

  • It lowers retail prices of “greener” vehicles, making them more attractive to customers.

  • The binding condition for the excise tax is to fulfil domestic production requirements, and as a result, it can help sustain the position of Thailand as the region’s environmentally friendly automotive production country.

  • Automotive policy closely aligns with the government’s environment protection policy (Tunmuntong 2017). The government also requires all manufacturers and importers of light-duty vehicles to display an eco-sticker to inform buyers on the emissions, safety and fuel economy rating of new cars.

Japan introduced an Automobile NOx–PM Act, which focuses on the reduction in the total amount of nitrogen oxides and particles from cars in specific regions and sets up vehicle emission standards. This has ruled out the oldest, most polluting vehicles from in-use fleets. In 2003, the Tokyo Retrofit Program came into effect, retrofitting older in-use diesel vehicles with PM control devices (catalytic converters or particulate filters), or replacing them with newer, cleaner models. Compliance stickers were created for trucks, buses and other vehicles that meet emissions regulations of the Automobile NOx/PM Act to raise public awareness and to promote the use of such compliant vehicles (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association 2015). Since 2007, the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan began to encourage the adoption of eco-cars through tax breaks on fuel-efficient cars. Currently, 90% of new cars sold in Japan qualify for “eco-car tax incentives”. In 2016, the Japanese Government announced plans to tighten the tax breaks for fuel-efficient vehicles. Beginning in May 2017, the tax incentive was only applicable to vehicles that exceeded the fuel efficiency standards by 10% or more, i.e. an average of 17 km per litre (Denton 2016). In addition, an Act on the Quality Control of Gasoline and Other Fuels is also in place.

In PRC, the government spent more than RMB 4.5 billion or USD 0.7 billion in 2016 to encourage the industry to become a leader in the development of electric vehicle technology and to investigate new measures to combat heavy pollution. In addition, Beijing has set a target of 5 million new-energy vehicles on the road by 2020 and will spend billions subsidising the purchase of electric, hybrid and fuel-cell cars. Other inducements, such as free driving permits (a permit for a private car costs about RMB 900,000 or USD 138,600 in Shanghai), lower parking fees and consumption tax exemptions have been offered (South China Morning Post 2016). In addition, PRC set new fuel consumption limits in 2018 to improve the energy efficiency of new vehicles as it aims to cut fuel consumption in light commercial vehicles by 20% from 2012 levels by 2020.

These and other initiatives highlight the importance that governments in the region attach to the reduction of pollution and to increase energy efficiency. The issues discussed above are echoed by the case studies presented in Part II. The increase in vehicle emission pollution is a shared problem across PRC, Hong Kong SAR, PRC, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Nepal. Increased demand for fuel supply has been witnessed in PRC, Hong Kong SAR, PRC, Kazakhstan and the Philippines, while urban congestion is also reported in Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, PRC, and Kazakhstan. Poor public transportation is an issue for Malaysia, PRC and Kazakhstan. Among the issues specific to these places are rule-breaking operations by some car-washing companies in PRC; the increased impact of waste for end-of-life vehicles in Malaysia; poor practices in car servicing and reconditioning of old cars in Bangladesh; absence of standards for vehicle registration (so many are not equipped with exhaust gas filters); low quality of fuel; and bad practices in maintenance workshops in Kazakhstan. These were all reported by this study.

2 PVC Production

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the five general plastics widely used in industry, agriculture, national defence, chemical building materials and other areas. The APR has 56% of PVC global market share, making it the largest market. The People’s Republic of China is the world’s top PVC manufacturer and consumer (Henry n.d.). India is also in the business of PVC production. The manufacturing standards in India, mainly involving PVC pipe manufacturing, do not take into account the risk of lead poisoning for workers. Lead has been used as a cost-effective stabiliser for PVC, so PVC products can have a long service life. Thus, when lead powder is mixed into the product it can be easily inhaled. In addition, this process requires a longer fabrication time that in turn leads to additional energy use. Usually, it is up to the company/brand or business to uphold its own corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and take care of its workers to prevent occupational risks at the facility. However, the majority of manufacturers do not follow adequate safety procedure due to the costs involved. Workers in the unorganised sector are regularly exposed to lead-based chemicals, which may cause lead poisoning (Multani 2010).

Thus, due to its toxicity and the damage it caused to the environment (Greenpeace 2003), as well as the high energy consumption required during production processes, more and more governments and corporations globally and in the region have started to phase out the manufacture and use of PVC products. The Republic of Korea banned PVC from food wrapping and other PVC-coated wrapping materials. In Japan, the incineration of PVC, that caused concern on dioxin release, led the Japanese Government to enact a new container- and wrapping-materials law in 2000. The law prompted several major Japanese makers of household goods and cosmetics, including the Shiseido Kao Corporation and Lion Corporation, to announce timelines for when they would switch from PVC-based wrapping to eco-based wrapping and containers (ibid.). PRC has introduced a reduction in export subsidies for PVC products (Henry n.d.).

In terms of environmental challenges for the PVC industry reported by the study, PRC, Malaysia and the Philippines stated that the biggest environmental challenge is the ways companies are dealing with the waste resulting from production of PVC (as PVC is a non-degradable material) and dealing with PVC waste at the end of PVC products’ life (as the incineration of PVC generates a dioxin that is detrimental to human and animal health). In addition, Malaysia and Nepal report another challenge related to the cost of introducing new high-technology systems that could decrease environmental risks. Enterprises in Nepal pay little attention to collecting and analysing data relating to environmental risks. PVC industry in the Philippines is expanding, thus its environmental impact should be closely monitored by government agencies.

3 Catering

Many countries in the region have standards with respect to regulations in the catering industry, particularly food safety, hygiene standards, building designs, control of pollution in catering services and licensing of services. Operators in PRC, for example, need to apply for a ‘catering service permit’; before they apply, they are expected to meet relevant law and regulation guidelines. Every province has different administrative regulations; for example, in Guangdong, operators need to follow up to 15 laws and regulations including:

  • Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China

  • Specifications for Examining Catering Service Permits

  • Code of Design for Buildings in the Catering Industry (JGJ64-89)

  • Circular on Further Strengthening the Work on Prevention and Control of Pollution in the Catering Service Industry (Sui Fu 2008, No. 46) (Chu 2013).

In addition to the above, all operators and food outlets need to follow requirements on fire safety, environmental protection and hygiene. Environmental laws they need to follow include the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution (Chu 2013).

Food waste is one of the main issues for the catering industry in terms of environmental impact, as if it is not sorted and recycled it creates significant pressure on municipal waste treatment. Compared to many European countries where, for example, diners who intentionally waste food by overloading their plates at buffets are charged a fine (e.g. Germany and Switzerland), designated grocery stores donate unwanted but edible food to food banks and charities (a law in France), or catering operators use leftover food waste to generate energy (a sector-wide voluntary agreement in UK) (Smithers 2012), countries in the APR, in general, do not have strong mechanisms in place to fight food waste. Nevertheless, there are a number of important initiatives in place by some governments.

All shopping malls and hotels in Singapore are mandated to report their food waste. The government expanded this initiative to cover more caterers, so that eventually all hotels, food industries and food and beverage retail outlets, including food courts, will be expected to curtail food waste. Eligible companies that fail to report food waste data to the government, as required under the Environmental Public Health Act, will be fined up to $5,000 (Sim 2014). In Singapore, the government will also partner with retail food establishments to minimise food waste by providing incentives for them to install waste-recycling infrastructure or waste-sorting equipment, as well as assisting food outlets to optimise operations or systems to reduce waste or increase recycling. The government National Environmental Agency Fund is a fund provided to the industry to start recycling projects and to help to cut down waste at food outlets (NEA 2016).

Japan introduced a Food Recycling Law in 2001 (revised in 2007) that aims to reduce the amount of food waste and promote its recycling into feed and fertiliser. The recycling volume targets vary between food retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and catering services and restaurants; for the last two, it is equal to 40% (Kobayashi n.d.). Food businesses that produced 100 tons of waste or more in the last fiscal year must report each year on the quantity of food waste produced and the status of their recycling activities.

In India, where one-sixth of the population (190 million people) lives without certainty of food every day, food waste is a problem. Annual food wastage is as much as 67 million tonnes (Vijayakumar 2017). In attempt to reduce food waste in the catering industry, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution of India proposed to legally fix portion sizes in restaurants and star hotels (ibid.). Questionnaires were prepared to distribute to the industry to collate data on people’s thoughts on the appropriateness of this measure.

Consumer food wastage in PRC is expected to continue increasing in the coming years, due to growing affluence, escalating urbanisation, and food waste in the catering and restaurant sector. Although national policies and regulations relevant to food loss and food waste exist, they focus on ‘postharvest losses (especially at storage)’ (Liu 2013); none are concentrated on consumer food waste. Food waste management systems are the responsibility of local governments and municipalities. Both the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Agriculture in PRC are responsible for food waste policy-making, but they work independently. The government is trying to take a lead role by combatting governmental food waste: under its ‘eight-point rules’, government banquets were cut in amount and size to help reduce food waste (ibid.).

For the catering industry, three environmental challenges have been reported by the study that are common across the seven countries and one territory that comprise it. First, while PRC, Hong Kong SAR, PRC, Malaysia and Nepal acknowledged the harmfulness of random dumping of food waste, they find it hard to tackle the cause of the problem. Many factors, such as an increase in population, the development of tourism, established habits and other contributing factors, have an influence on the issue. Another environmental challenge for the catering industry is food safety, as reported by Malaysia and PRC. The third challenge is faced by Bangladesh and Kazakhstan: there, most catering companies are small outlets with employees who have inadequate environmental competence and so are unaware of safe environmental operation practices.

4 Waste Management

Many countries in the region have a significant mismatch between their waste generation and their capacity for waste treatment, as well as inadequate waste-management systems and problematic consumption and disposal patterns. Waste-management systems in many countries in the region are weak (Park 2015). For example, India generated around 62 million tons of waste per year; however, according to official statistics, only about 75–80% of the municipal waste is collected, and only around 22–28% of this waste is processed and treated (Press Information Bureau Government of India 2016). The top countries for mismanaged plastic waste in the region are PRC (8.82 million tons per year), followed by Indonesia (3.22 million tons per year), the Philippines (1.88 million tons per year) and Viet Nam (1.83 million tons per year) (Park 2015). Eight out of ten major polluting countries that disposed plastic waste into the ocean are in the APR region. The majority of these are middle-income countries located in Southeast Asia, which is experiencing a rapid growth in the economy (ibid.).

Issues related to waste management have been recognised by governments in the region, as evidenced in their promotion of reducing the generation of waste, encouraging waste utilisation and recycling, supporting waste-to-energy conversion and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To facilitate these processes, countries adopt different measures, including laws and regulations.

In 2016, for example, the Government of India reviewed rules that had governed solid waste management in the country for the past 16 years. It is a comprehensive policy for the collection, handling and managing of waste including municipal solid waste, e-waste (computers, mobile phones or other electronic/electrical gadgets), plastic waste and medical waste, and the rules are specific to waste generators (both domestic and commercial), manufacturers, producers, consumers, collection centres, dealers, dismantlers and recyclers. Measures include the introduction of a ‘user fee’—a fee to be paid to waste collectors—and a ‘spot fine’ for littering and non-segregation (Press Information Bureau Government of India 2016), encouraging partnerships in waste management whereby institutional generators, market associations, event organisers and the hotel and catering industry are required to segregate waste and manage it, in partnership with local bodies. Producers take responsibility for e-waste management and are required to contribute to a “deposit–refund scheme”, where a portion of the sale price is retained by the producer and is refundable to the consumer once “end of life products” are channelled in the prescribed manner (TNN 2015). In terms of waste-processing facilities, the Indian Government aims to have them in cities with populations of 1 million or above. The government has established a Central Monitoring Committee that includes different stakeholders who monitor the implementation of these rules.

Other governments in the region are taking similar actions and are focusing on integrated waste-management approaches. In Thailand, the government has prioritised integrated waste management and plans to introduce a cluster approach for establishing joint waste-treatment facilities with local authorities. It is also looking at the feasibility of introducing a law on waste separation at source. The government is also proposing a draft law on Fiscal Measures for Environmental Management. The new draft act aims to combine all the economic instruments, including pollution tax, emission charges, product fees and insurance bonds, under one law to allow the inclusion of a certain fee in the cost of a product for the management of its end-of-life phase. In addition, the government is considering establishing a new fund to support the buy-back, collection, transportation, recycling and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Another measure considered by the government is the introduction of a law that requires private-sector producers to manage their own collection and recycling systems and to meet national recycling targets (Taweechai 2013).

The Chinese Government is focusing on the integrated utilisation of waste. It refers to ‘utilization of intergrown and associated ores in the mining process; solid waste, wastewater, waste gases, residual heat and residual pressure generated in production processes; as well as the recovery, utilization and renewal of various kinds of waste resources generated in the production and consumption procession’ (HKTDC 2017). One of the priority tasks in waste management is to accelerate the development of the recovery and treatment of waste electronic products such as televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers, printers, mobile phones and telephones. In addition, waste management is directly related to pollution prevention. At the national level, the Law on Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste (2004) regulates the prevention and treatment of solid waste. Another law on Prevention and Control of Solid Waste Pollution explicitly describes basic requirements for dumping, cleaning up, collection, transportation, recycling, treatment and disposal (GlobalRec 2005). As legal frameworks, such measures for the reduction of waste at source; recovery, recycle and reuse; separation at source; collaboration between the private sector and government; the introduction of industrial standards and regulations; and the control and monitoring of all wastes and toxic and hazardous substances have contributed to better environmental protection in the region. However, waste-management challenges are still among the major concerns.

In this study, several common issues faced by the waste-management industries of the countries and territory featured in the study were identified. First, Hong Kong SAR, PRC, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Nepal reported low recycling rates, particularly for municipal solid waste. Second, waste-collection, separation and disposal systems in Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Nepal are undeveloped. Among specific challenges, respondents reported the lack of sufficient manpower, resources and time for hazardous waste disposal in PRC. High generation and disposal rates in Hong Kong SAR, PRC, are considered the most critical areas to be addressed within the waste management industry. The urgency is related to high population density and limited space for landfill sites. Bangladesh also faces an increase in population density, and its poor waste management has resulted in bad odours along roadsides, blockages in the drainage system, the spread of disease, fire hazards and physical injuries to workers. All waste collection and sorting has been done manually. Respondents from both the Philippines and Kazakhstan reported a lack of authority at the level of local administration, a lack of strict public compliance and weak enforcement powers for the management of waste and environmental protection at the local level. In Nepal and the Philippines, polluted water/ liquid waste discharge into rivers, lakes and seas and the illegal dumping of toxic and hazardous e-waste, chemical products and toxic substances are often seen. An increased volume of household, commercial, institutional and industrial waste in the Philippines creates significant challenges to the industry.

In summary, although environmental challenges might differ from industry to industry and from place to place, common trends have been identified by the study. Across four industries, common environmental issues associated with greening are related to the need to

  • reduce greenhouse gas emissions, move towards waste reduction, recycling and recovery;

  • focus on introducing green technologies and products and eco-innovation;

  • improve energy-efficiency;

  • reuse materials and minimise raw material extraction and consumption.

Case studies presented in Part II confirm that negative consequences of changes in the natural environment on health and other social implications boost governments’ responses and have been reflected in a number of programmes and initiatives, including laws and regulations, awareness campaigns and incentives. Some examples include

  • In PRC, the government has increased penalties for environmental damage by taking any behaviour that causes serious environmental damage into the scope of criminal law. It has also built a legal system for the protection of the ecological environment and the recycling and reutilisation of resources.

  • The Government of Kazakhstan signed 19 international conventions and developed national action plans to improve legislation and implement international standards in environmental expertise, the issuing of permits, controls and inspections.

  • Malaysia has introduced local taxes on fuel and has aligned this with policies to promote public transport with incentives and to discourage the use of private transport in congested areas.

  • The Hong Kong SAR Government, PRC, also uses financial incentives to encourage the private sector to add value to environmentally friendly practices.

Laws and regulations specific to four industries have been enacted by the governments of the studied countries and territory to mitigate environmental impacts and to promote sustainable development. The Government of the Philippines, for example, has formulated a legal framework—Republic Act no. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000)—to institute national programmes that will manage the control, transfer, transport, processing and disposal of solid waste in the country.

The Malaysian Government formulated specific policies and guidelines on food premises, food handling and catering operations to improve food safety. It developed a Management System Certification on food and consumer products manufacturing (SIRIM QAS International) that is based on ISOs on quality management, food safety, environmental management, supply chain security management systems and others. More than that, the Chinese and Malaysian governments have made resource saving and utilisation a compulsory target in their national development plans.

In addition to environmental legislation, governments have launched different programmes and initiatives to address environmental issues. In Kazakhstan, an initiative named “Green Bridge” was introduced as a tool for the country’s sustainable development and transition to a green economy. Malaysia launched the “Product Certification Program” to educate consumers on eco-brand, eco-label and environmental products and to introduce the concept of green purchasing to local manufacturing industries, especially SMEs. Hong Kong SAR, PRC, established its CarbonSmart Programme, which aims to encourage local enterprises to reduce carbon emissions and provides suggestions for environmentally friendly practices.

Many initiatives have been specific to particular industries; for example, for the automotive industry, Hong Kong SAR, PRC, is developing new technologies for manufacturing different automotive parts (for example, the use of nano-technology on coating which is more environmentally friendly). Some companies in the automotive sector in Malaysia practice the reuse, remanufacture and recycling of automotive components. The Philippines is ticketing violators who drive smoke-belching vehicles that fail emissions testing.

Despite the existing initiatives, regional progress towards achieving the SDGs is not on target and more measures are required to support MSMEs (which constitute a majority of enterprises in the region) in greening their practices (see discussion in the previous chapter).

5 Green Skills Development in Support of Green Economic Restructuring

Policies and initiatives to stimulate greening of industries are not necessarily directly supported by skills development policies and practices to ensure implementation of these changes. However, a number of approaches that were established to develop green skills in the APR were identified through analysis of cases presented in Part II.

Enacting specific policy

Malaysia and the Philippines are encouraging green skills through their enactment of specific policy. The Malaysian Government introduced green skills through various policies, acts, legislations and rules for specific industry sectors. A major policy that directly deals with green skills is the National Green Technology Policy (NGTP). According to this study’s findings, green skills have been practiced in almost all industry sectors (formal and non-formal) but not in the catering industry, due to numerous barriers encountered. In the Philippines, green skills are implemented through the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016, the country’s legal directive for promoting green economies amongst enterprises. This law reinforces the Philippines’ commitment to the Paris Agreement on working closely with the United Nations and other countries to combat global warming, and it provides incentives to enterprises that practice environmental sustainability at the workplace.

Establishing an implemented organisation

India addressed green skills development through its Skill Council for Green Jobs, which mandates to address skills recognition in the following sectors: renewable energy, green transportation, green construction and waste management (solid, water and e-waste co-generation). Similarly, Nepal allocated responsibilities for promoting green skills to the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), a top organisation in the TVET sector. The council houses the liaison office of regional organisation: Colombo Plan Staff Colleges and is also a member of the UNEVOC Network coordinated by the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for TVET. The major task of these two organizations is to promote capacity-building and knowledge management and research activities that are associated with greening the TVET agenda. The Green Technology Center in the Philippines has been established to promote models and standards for quality green TVET, and deliver green skills training courses.

Designing new green jobs or occupations

Green skills development required for newly created green jobs are specific to different contexts. In Bangladesh, the lack of available alternative sources of energy, together with a vulnerable situation with energy supply, has created a huge demand for solar energy in the country. Therefore, new green jobs related to this new industry include carbon trading specialists, solar energy engineers and technicians, mechanical engineers and compressed natural gas (CNG) conversion technicians. These new green occupations are expected to increase substantially.

In PRC, green jobs are mainly found in beautifying the ecological environment, producing new energies such as solar, wind and biomass energy, improving the efficiency of transport capacity, and the recycling and use of waste. In Nepal, the National Occupation Skill Standards include newly developed green jobs such as solar PV technician, micro-hydro operator, biogas technician, food preserver by drying (solar), block mason, and solar electric technician (repair and maintenance). The Philippines’ economic development and climate change concerns have led to the selection of the following sectors and industries for the establishment of green jobs: agriculture; fisheries; forestry; energy; construction; transport and automotive; manufacturing (including PVC production); services (i.e. catering); tourism; solid waste and waste-water management.

In summary, the demand for alternative energy (e.g. solar) combined with the lack of available sources and environmental challenges has led to the creation of new green jobs that require specific green skills.

Greening existing jobs or occupations/Introduction of environmental competencies in TVET standards

The inclusion of new types of skills/competencies into existing occupations has been achieved in Nepal for such specialisations as auto mechanics, solar energy, hospitality management and agroforestry. Drip irrigation and improved irrigation canals, environmentally friendly green roads, improved stoves, biogas, community forestry and farmer’s user groups are examples of changing practices that required adjustments to existing occupations as well as to training delivered by TVET.

In Bangladesh, existing jobs that required greening included machine operators in tannery, brickfield managers, and architects, civil engineers, designers and masons in green building. For example, a brick-firing technology that has been widely used is the largest stationary source of greenhouse gas emission in Bangladesh. The Environmental Conservation Act aims to eliminate the use of wood, and so chimney kiln operators will have to adapt to a new greener technology.

Fifty-five TESDA qualifications (out of the 258) included environment-related knowledge, skills and attitudes in the Training Regulations (TR) and curriculum in the Philippines. For example, for automotive servicing, the set of competencies on liquefied petroleum gas conversion and repowering were included to promote cleaner emissions of vehicles. For ships’ catering, TR includes precautions to prevent the pollution of the marine environment by implementing appropriate waste management and disposal systems. The three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) are included in the required knowledge and skills in TR for the catering services, automotive and PVC manufacturing, and waste management training.

The main factors that raised the demand for greening existing jobs may be due to the adoption of green technology and changes in the traditional industrial processes/practices and enterprises operations. Given that many of the skills, attitudes and values required for sustainable work are not acquired in formal settings in schools or colleges, but rather through informal and non-formal means—on-the-job, in the workplace and through practice-based learning—the role of each industry in green skills development is vital. The case studies presented in Part II provide details on the type of green skills employees use, and highlight the importance of the particular skills in the context of greening. In the Philippines country study, for example, 12 out of 16 employers mentioned the importance of intra-personal skills such as adaptability and transferable skills, and 4 out of 16 employers mentioned entrepreneurial skills. With respect to inter-personal skills, 10 (31.25%) out of 32 respondents mentioned that the enterprise promoted strategic leadership skills and communication/negotiation skills among staff; 7 (21.87%) out of 32 said that staff possessed coordination, management and business skills; four had marketing skills; and only one respondent said that networking, IT and language skills were important in the work of the enterprise. The participating enterprises further described important green skills required for daily operations performed by employees. A large proportion (67.74% or 21 out of 31) of employers said that they put great emphasis on cognitive skills and cited appreciation of environmental awareness and a willingness to learn. Eight employers undertook system and risk analyses in relation to environmental impact, while two employers introduced new technologies in their enterprises. Government actions as well as learning at the workplace are therefore both important factors in green skills development.

6 Conclusion

This chapter examined environmental challenges faced by four industries in Asia and the Pacific region (automotive, PVC, catering and waste management). It highlighted the important role that governments play in regulating these industries in order to minimise their impact on the environment. In addition to policies and regulations, governments provided different incentives (e.g. tax incentives for eco-car producers, monetary incentives such as free driving permits and lower parking fees to eco-car consumers) or restrictions (e.g. reduction in export subsidies for PVC products and fines for excessive food-waste production); organised awareness campaigns (e.g. eco-stickers for cars; use of government as a model for the “right behaviour”); and used comprehensive systematic approaches for dealing with environmental issues (e.g. integrated waste management in Thailand, India and PRC). These developments at the macro level stimulate enterprises to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. To add another dimension to the discussion, this chapter also highlighted some findings from the study that reveal some common issues across the four industries, and some specific measures enacted by governments. The changes introduced by governments have had an impact on operational practices across different industry sectors and, thus, an influence on skills requirements.

Given that MSMEs are among the main environmental polluters in Asia, there is the need for motivating enterprises to include green practices and promote green skills development. Enterprises’ development of environmental friendly behaviour and skills in support of greening operations is an essential part of actions required to support green restructuring. This chapter includes one example from the case studies that highlights the importance of particular skills for greening MSMEs. More details about this may be found in Part II.

This chapter seeks to categorise government initiatives related to green skills development and identified four common approaches that governments introduced. It also highlights the need to improve the greening of skills through workplace learning at micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Teaching employees green behaviours and developing skills required for greener practices are particularly important in the framework of lifelong learning when eco-technologies and eco-innovation have been introduced into enterprises on a regular basis.