1 Preface Guest Editors Tomohiro TASAKI Masahiko HIRAO This special issue, Ensuring Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in Southeast Asia, addresses the twelfth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015. According to the United Nations, increased consumption and production have brought wealth to people and have halved the absolute poverty rate in Asia over the last two decades. However, current unsustainable patterns of resource and energy use and greenhouse gas and waste emissions, which are projected to keep increasing, are posing significant threats to the global environment. It is not clear what sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns are required in Asia and what actions should be taken to ensure them and by whom. Asia’s economy has been growing with unprecedented rapidity, resulting in drastic changes to businesses and lifestyles and widening spatial and social class disparities in the region in terms of economic benefits and environmental risks. What kinds of SCP policies should be adopted and what are the differences between them and the policies being implemented by developed nations such as EU countries? Additionally, the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 has changed consumption and production patterns around the world, and our actions for SCP must be revisited and adjusted to the new context. The "Policy Design and Evaluation for Establishing Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns in the Asian Region (PECoP-Asia)" research project has been attempting to find answers to these questions, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This special issue aims at summarizing the project’s research results and providing up-to-date suggestions on SCP policy in Asia. The structure of this special issue is as follows: The first two articles discuss the development of SCP policy in Asia as an introduction to the special feature. The first article, written by Hirao et al. integrates the outcomes of the PECoP-Asia project. The authors reveal three versions of SCP policy and emphasize that the situation in Asia calls for all three versions to be implemented in a strategic manner. They also present four directions and 13 opportunities for SCP policy in Asian countries. The 13 opportunities include insights gained in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The second article, by Hotta et al., further elaborates the three SCP policy versions, 1.0 to 3.0. The authors argue that a life-cycle approach is important in SCP 2.0, and they devise and explain a new approach for SCP 3.0, “envisioning-based policy making (EnBPM).” The articles thereafter present the results of 10 research groups: Onozuka et al. propose a method for quantifying narrative scenarios based on the concept of participatory backcasting for better envisioning; Tasaki and Kojima discuss regional and local characteristics in Asia that may potentially affect SCP patterns and policies in Southeast Asia; Kobayashi et al. propose a framework for locally oriented product design using an extended function-structure map and a mixed prototyping environment; Wu et al. analyze how individual environmental-management control tools for companies promote SCP activities at Thai and Vietnamese companies; Phuphisith et al. evaluate the effectiveness of providing information with life-cycle thinking in changing consumer behavior; Matsumoto et al. analyze consumer acceptability of remanufactured products; Yoshida et al. survey and discuss the actual use of air conditioners by households in Vietnam and policy approaches for reducing energy consumption when cooling; Murakami et al. investigate actual disposal of motorcycles in Cambodia and measures for resource recycling; Tsurumi et al. discuss subjective well-being in Asia, which is the ultimate goal of SCP; and Takagi et al. illustrate the management of SCP linkages with economic, social and environmental agendas connected with the SDGs. This special issue is based on research activities performed by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund’s S-16 project (JPMEERF16S11600) supported by the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (FY2016–2020). Preface
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