Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction From Industry in Asia and the Pacific (GERIAP)
Introduction
Climate change is one of the most serious urgent environment threats today. Even if the political commitment has now been established at the highest levels to take action of programs to promote emission-reducing measures at company level, especially in developing countries.
GERIAP
The project Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction From Industry in Asia and the Pacific (GERIAP) is designed to develop and practically demonstrate a mechanism for encouraging company level actions to increase the efficiency of energy use in their production process, thereby reducing associated emissions, especially greenhouse gases.
The mechanism is base on the Cleaner Production approach to environmental management, where the combined environmental and economic benefits, that can be achieved simultaneously, encourages companies to take action on their own.
Cleaner Production is a process-oriented approach to environmental management, with a focus on pollution prevention, rather than end-pipe solutions. It is today widely recognized as an effective way of addressing material resource productivity and in terms of GERIAP, the scope and coverage of CP has broadened to also include Energy Efficiency measures in energy intensive industry.
Background Information of the GERIAP
The project Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction from Industry in Asia and the Pacific (GERIAP) aims at assisting industry to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This will be done by a combination of activities:
Develop a methodology for specific industry sectors to identify and implement measures to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This strategy is based on the Cleaner Production approach to environmental management but with an emphasis on the energy aspects of the production processes.
Conduct capacity building in targeted industry sectors and institutions in each country to promote and apply the above strategy.
Review external factors affecting the willingness and ability of individual companies to implement greenhouse gas emission reducing measures, and make recommendations to concerned stakeholders on how to improve these factors.
The project is being carried out in nine countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam) with the help of National Focal Points in each country. The international coordination is done by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the major financial contributor to the project is the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has selected Project SMED, Small and Medium Enterprise Developers as the Sri Lanka National Focal Point. The mechanism of GHG reduction is based on the “Cleaner Production” approach to environmental management, where pollution or emission reduction is done through waste management at the source rather than at the end of the process, which enables the company to increase productivity and enhance profits simultaneously. The efficiency in the use of material as well as energy will be closely studies, and optimized. With the involvement of management and employees, strategies will be developed to continuously apply CP.
Targeted industry sectors, constituting the major emitters of Greenhouse gases in industry, are: iron & steel, pulp & paper, cement & lime, and chemicals manufacturing.
The following industries have consented in participating in this demonstrational project in Sri Lanka.
- Associated Motorways Limited
- Ceylon Heavy Industries & Construction Company Limited
- Dankotuwa Porcelain Limited
- Lanka Tiles Company
- Valachchenai Paper Corporation.
- Holcim Lanka Limited
After the demonstration project, the results will be compared and benchmarked between the participating companies in different countries and a common methodology will be developed for GHG reduction for each sector.
Press release about GERIAP :
