TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT (IREM) IN SOUTH ASIA

This article develops an IREM framework for South Asia that treats air, water, land and biodiversity as coupled systems spanning national borders. It critiques fragmented mandates and project-by-project mitigation that undercut cumulative outcomes, arguing instead for regional standards, interoperable monitoring and joint enforcement. The discussion links urban air sheds to rural biomass use, river health to industrial clusters, and habitat connectivity to disaster risk reduction. Financing options are surveyed—polluter-pays instruments, green taxes, and transboundary funds—alongside governance tools such as disclosure, citizen science and independent audits. The paper proposes a staged reform: align metrics, open data, harmonize permits, and then coordinate incentives so firms, cities and agencies optimize against shared environmental targets rather than narrow compliance minima.

The body first traces policy legacies: donor-driven pilots, overlapping ministries and weak inspectorates. Section One specifies regional baselines—PM levels, BOD/COD, land-use change—arguing for comparable methods and third-party verification. Section Two outlines a digital backbone: satellite products fused with ground sensors, open APIs and alert protocols that support early action. Section Three addresses industrial policy, proposing clean-production compacts where clusters receive concessional finance in exchange for verifiable upgrades and transparent emissions data. Section Four covers ecological infrastructure: river corridors, mangroves and urban wetlands that deliver climate adaptation co-benefits if protected by zoning and payment for ecosystem services. Section Five analyzes institutions—why councils need statutory teeth, quorum rules, and budget autonomy—to avoid ceremonial cooperation. A final section details dispute resolution, sanctions and incentive design so that jurisdictions compete to improve, not to undercut. The conclusion frames IREM as a competitiveness strategy: cleaner value chains, resilient cities and risk-priced finance attracting investment into the region.