Air Pollution Governance In East Asia

Focusing on Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Mainland China, the contributors to this book analyze various cases of air pollution within East Asia. Air pollution in East Asia is a major health risk, which also has damaging impacts on the environment leading to impacts on society, economic growth, and welfare. While existing laws and policies have made progress in alleviating air pollution in each country in the region, the protection of favorable environments and the resolution of transboundary air pollution problems have become major targets of regional cooperation. Combining perspectives from social sciences and science, technology, and society studies, the contributors to this book examine both the technical and socioeconomic-political aspects of these challenges through a range of case studies from around the region. The book is a valuable read for researchers and policymakers looking at air pollution and transboundary governance challenges within and beyond East Asia.

This publication examines the existing systems for environmental governance in East Asian countries, a region which has seen considerable growth in its economy, industrial base and population in the last two decades. It contains cases studies from China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand and focuses on three sectors: pesticide management; water quality and resources management; and air pollution management. This selection is intended to provide a diverse mix of political and historical backgrounds in order to give a representative view of governance mechanisms in highly industrialised, industrialising and developing economies.

Why do some economies seem to excel at effective pollution management while others miss the mark when responding to deteriorating urban environments? These studies of pollution management in East Asia's newly industrialized economies (NIEs) include successful government responses in Singapore and Taiwan, qualified results in China and Indonesia, and much more limited success in Thailand and Malaysia. In each example, Michael Rock considers the starting point of the economy as it began its path toward industrialization in the post World War II period. He discusses the relevant historical and political context, the pressures placed on the political system from domestic and international sources, and the influence of ongoing trends in East Asia for democratization and economic liberalization. Rock's text makes it clear that each economy found unique, innovative ways to link environmental protection to its own political and economic institutions. Thus, while public pressure from both home and abroad gave strong impetus to successful programs in Taiwan, the development of policy in Singapore involved limited public review and a centralized, government-led process. The result of Rock's scholarship is a book that provides important lessons without being reductionist. The book offers insights to apply to pollution management in a diverse range of developing nations, but avoids attempts for precise prescriptions, or universally appealing, normative answers. A copublication of Resources for the Future and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS).

The economies located in East, South and Southeast Asia have witnessed an interesting growth-sustainability trade-off over the last decades. While growth considerations have paved ways for deepened ties with growing trade-investment waves and increasing population pressure necessitated exploitation of hitherto unutilized natural resources, focus on environmental sustainability has been a recent consideration. The growth impetus still playing a key role in these economies, it becomes imperative that the countries effectively address the key sustainability concerns, e.g. air and water pollution, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, climate change issues like CO2 emissions etc. But how prepared is the governance mechanism of these countries, covering not only the legislative and administrative framework but also involvement of the judiciary, presence of spirited civil society and active engagement of stakeholders in policy-framing dialogues, to rise up to these challenges? The book seeks an answer to this question through the environmental governance mechanism and natural resource conservation policies in three vibrant regions within Asia. A holistic development dimension of sustainable development path emerges, through discussion of policies adopted by developed (Japan, South Korea), upper-middle (China, Malaysia), developing (India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand) and least developed countries (Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal).

In order to advance sustainable development, it is crucial to change the course and mode of conventional economic growth in East Asia, which has enjoyed rapid economic growth of late but faces substantial environmental challenges. This volume focuses on the evolution of multilevel environmental governance in the East Asian region, including both Northeast and Southeast Asia. It examines how effective emerging environmental governance and policy have been and addresses the underlying causes of local, national, regional, and global environmental challenges. Specific topics include democratization and its effect on decisionmaking processes, international environmental aid, economic analysis of carbon reduction policy, regional and global environmental regimes and subsequent new financial mechanisms, and hybrid systems of environmental governance that emphasize the role of the private sector and civil society in contributing to environmental governance. The book gives special attention to the regional economic and environmental regimes. It analyzes the advantages; challenges; and solutions in addressing local, national, regional, and global environmental challenges and in changing the course of economic growth.

Informed by international law, international relations and environment management scholarship, this interdisciplinary analysis of environmental regimes in Asian subregions proposes a new regime for the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau based on China’s cooperation with its south Asian neighbors.

Nowhere is the connection between society and the environment more evident and potentially more harmful for the future of the world than in Asia. In recent decades, rapid development of Asian countries with very large populations has led to an unprecedented increase in environmental problems such as air and water pollution, solid and hazardous wastes, deforestation, depletion of natural resources and extinction of native species. This handbook provides a comprehensive survey of the cultural, social and policy contexts of environmental change across East Asia. The team of international experts critically examine a wide range of environmental problems related to energy, climate change, air, land, water, fisheries, forests and wildlife. The editors conclude that, with nearly half of the human population of the planet, and several rapidly growing economies, most notably China, Asian societies will determine much of the future of human impacts on the regional and global environments. As climate change-related threats to society increase, the book strongly argues for increased environmental consciousness and action in Asian societies. This handbook is a very valuable companion for students, scholars, policy makers and researchers working on environmental issues in Asia.