Voluntary approaches in Japan: proven record of pollution control agreements and new industrial initiatives for the protection of the global environment

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the Japanese experience in the use of voluntary approaches in environmental policy. Pollution control agreements between local government and private industry have a proven record over 30 years as they have been extensively used to supplement national and local legislation while adapting to local conditions. They have played unique, positive roles for facilitating voluntary actions of industries, especially in the control of conventional air and water pollution in local areas, although there remain several unsettled questions concerning legitimacy and transparency of the discretional use of this approach by local government. In the 1990s, Japan’s environmental policy came into a new paradigm in which more attention had to be paid to voluntary actions of various stakeholders for protecting the global environment. In this new realm, Japanese industries under the initiative of Keidanren (the Federation of Economic Organizations) adopted a new approach based on voluntary action plans. They are unilateral commitments of industries to take measures against new environmental issues such as climatic change. They are expected to play a key role for Japan to achieve the reduction target of CO2 and other greenhouse gases agreed upon at the COP 3 in Kyoto, but their overall achievement will largely depend upon future actions of players involved and not predictable at this moment. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.