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ALGAS- the Asia Least Cost Greenhouse Gas Abatement Strategy- was a technical assistance project with participation by 12 Asian countries that was being executed by the Asian Development Bank to reduce atmospheric accumulation of GHG’s

The GHG emissions in the Asian region were reportedly growing at relatively rapid rate specially in the countries where economy was changing from agricultural based to industrial based. The twelve ALGAS countries of the Asian region were reportedly emitting about 3.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year which is approximately 17 % of the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide alone contributes roughly two-thirds to the enhanced greenhouse effects.

Uncertainties do remain in the prediction of climate change at regional/national levels and the scale and timing of such changes. Given the necessary infrastructure and political commitment at the planning level, these countries could neutralize the greenhouse effects without sacrificing their development goals. Emission data, analyses and information needed to be utilized in planning. But unfortunately availability and efficient management of time series data on emission was the main constraint for the researchers and policy makers in these countries

The ALGAS regional database had been setup at UNEP RRC-AP, Bangkok to centralize the data generated during the ALGAS project. The user-friendly database consisted of data modules like data set selection, editing, viewing, query, trend, report production, and help modules. The database was developed as a PC based stand-alone program for windows95 environment to support the widespread usage. Adequate user-friendly documentation has also been prepared.