Japanese Environmental Policy Research Articles

경제주의 관점에서 본 일본의 환경정책

세계화의 진전으로 환경문제는 국제정치의 주요 과제가 되고 있다. 최근, 환경문제와 관련하여 개발도상국은 물론이고 선진국에서도 지속가능한 발전의 달성을 통해 환경문제 해결을 모색하고 있으며, 환경보존이 경제발전의 토대가 될 수 있다는 점에서 그러하다. ‘환경보존과 개발’을 동시에 추구하는 세계적 추세에서 일본의 환경정책은 관심이 집중되는데, 경제상황에 따라 환경정책이 변화되어 왔다는 점에서 중요한 사례라고 볼 수 있기 때문이다.<BR> 일본 환경정책의 특징을 정리하면, 첫째, 경제적 이해에 초점을 맞춘 환경관련 정책들이 책정되고 시행되어 왔다는 점이다. 둘째, 정부차원에서 문제해결을 모색하기 보다는 아래로부터 즉, 시민사회로부터 문제가 제기되고 문제해결을 위한 정책들이 만들어지는 바텀-업(bottom-up)의 모습을 보이고 있다는 점이다. 셋째, 환경문제 해결이 자율적 판단에 따른 능동적 해결책의 모색보다는 법적 판단에 입각해 문제를 해결하려는 수동적 성격을 띠고 있다는 점이다. 넷째, 정책을 결정하고 추진하는데 있어서 일본 정치사회의 특징으로 언급되는 이익유도시스템 구조가 환경문제를 야기해왔으며, 이러한 이익유도 시스템이 기업의 이해에 입각한 환경정책을 유도하고 실행해 왔다는 점이다.<BR> 결론적으로, 일본의 환경정책은 경제적 이익에 초점을 두고 결정되어 왔으며, 현재도 지속되고 있다고 볼 수 있다. 따라서 도덕적 가치를 강조해도 실질적으로는 경제적 이해관계를 바탕으로 하고 있기 때문에 일본의 환경정책은 지구환경문제 해결을 위해 어떠한 정책이념이 필요한지를 모색하게 하는 중요한 사례라고 할 수 있다.

История становления основных принципов экологической политики Японии

История становления основных принципов экологической политики Японии

Formulation Process of Diet Law and Cabinet Law in Japan – A Comparative Study of Basic Environmental Law and Basic Law on Biodiversity –

&lt;p&gt;This paper introduces the process of law formulation and the characteristics of basic laws in Japan. More specifically, this paper presents the effects of the Basic Environmental Law and the Basic Law on Biodiversity on environmental administration as a case study. In Japan, both the cabinet and legislators can submit a bill to the diet. When a ministry develops a bill, it must obtain a report from a council that justifies the necessity of the new law. The ministry must then obtain approval from the ruling party and consent among the other ministries including the Cabinet Legislation Bureau. After a cabinet decision, the bill is submitted to the diet. At the end of 2015, there were 48 basic laws in effect, and while there is no firm definition of a basic law, such a law generally provides simple policy framework and direction. The cabinet submitted the bill of the Basic Environmental Law, and the law was established in 1993. A collaboration of environmental officers and big-name politicians initiated its formation, and the law legalized environmental impact assessments, economic instruments, and provided a global environmental policy, significantly improving Japanese environmental policy. A group of NGOs drafted the Basic Law on Biodiversity, which was subsequently submitted by diet members. It was established in 2008; however, it has not significantly influenced environmental policy. Major issues stipulated by the Basic Law on Biodiversity had already been implemented or planned prior to the establishment of the law.&lt;/p&gt;

Development of the Japanese Environmental Security Concept

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the transformation of the Japanese environmental policy. Japan, which faced with the aggravation of environmental problems during rapid industrialization, is considered nowadays as a leader in the sphere of environmental security provision not only for its own territory, but also for the whole Asia-Pacific region. Therefore the author underlines the main periods of the Japanese environmental security concept development from the beginning of the Meiji era till the end of the 20th century. Special attention is paid to the study of historic backgrounds and basic features of the Japanese environment preservation and pollution control policy. At the same time the author deals with political actions aimed at the fight against environmental challenges. Thus, particular attention is paid to the Japanese government's turn to deliberate, systematic, long term activity on environmental conservation, which includes special legislative acts elaboration, pre- and postwar economic growth policy review. Key aspects of environmental conservation regulation, which take into account Japan's demands in this sphere and at the same time meet expectations of the international community, viewing Japan as a green power, are also discussed in the article. In conclusion the author examines the basic features of Japan's participation in major international conferences on the protection of the ozone layer, on the warming of the atmosphere, on preservation of the global environment, which had a great impact on the Japanese environmental legislation.

A transition and its implications of the Japanese environmental policy

A transition and its implications of the Japanese environmental policy

The transformation of Japan's environmental policy

In the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was known as the leading innovator in environmental policy. Other OECD countries found much to emulate. Two decades later, Japan appears to have lost its innovative edge to other OECD countries. Why has Japan fallen from its position as the global leader? How should Japan regain its reputation? Possible causes of the rise and fall of Japanese environmental policy are examined by exploring its domestic policy subsystem, the international arena and the arena where domestic and foreign issues converge, the emerging space in which sub-national authorities have become increasingly recognised as direct contributors to global environmental strategies. Each of three approaches – the domestic/foreign divide, interaction and convergence – offers a partial answer to these questions.

DEA approach for unified efficiency measurement: Assessment of Japanese fossil fuel power generation

This study discusses a new DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) approach to measure the unified (operational and environmental) efficiency of energy firms. It is widely known that they produce not only desirable (good) outputs (e.g., electricity) but also undesirable (bad) outputs (e.g., CO 2) as a result of their plant operations. The proposed approach incorporates an output separation (desirable and undesirable outputs) for the performance evaluation of energy firms. In addition to the output separation, this study separates inputs into energy and non-energy inputs. Consequently, the proposed approach incorporates not only the output separation but also the input separation within a computational framework of DEA non-radial measurement. This study compares the proposed approach with other previous DEA approaches used for the performance evaluation of energy firms. After the methodological comparison, this study applies the proposed approach for measuring the unified efficiency of Japanese fossil fuel power generation. This empirical study confirms that the implementation of Kyoto Protocol (2005) has not been effective on the unified efficiency of Japanese fossil fuel power generation during the observed period (2004–2008). Although the empirical result is inconsistent with the current Japanese environmental policy under Kyoto Protocol, it contains policy implications for guiding the future direction of Japanese environmental policy on the electric power industry.

自動車とリサイクル 経済地理学から見た自動車産業の静脈部

This paper analyzes characteristics of a Cycle Economy, a key concept of today's Japanese environmental policy. In a Cycle Economy, the width of the cycle or loop may be neglected. Then it is important to design the spatial management system of wastes and post consumer goods from the view point of economic geography.Considering the location of industrial nodes, it is important to establish how efficient this industry collects waste and develops the markets of recycled goods. The Japanese government has adopted the Eco-Town Project to develop a vein industry. Administrative intervention is required to support the Eco-town project as a trial to overcome various regulations. Next the paper discusses five aspects of agglomeration of the Kitakyushu Eco Town Project.Until the 1980s, the disposal of End of Life Vehicles (ELV) was considered unproblematic in Japan. But in recent years, as environmental problems have attracted increasing attention, the processing of ELV has become a critical environmental issue. Discarded ELV represent a serious source of waste generation and pollution. After the EU Directive on ELV was published, the Japanese government has considered an ELV Recycling Act. In the EU Directive, producers must take back the ELV free of charge. To solve the problems, especially how to process ASR, the Japanese government requested car producers to take back ASR using EPR consideration. The EPR is the concept that manufacturers and importers of products should bear a significant burden of responsibility for the environmental impact of their products throughout the product life-cycle. This includes the upstream impact of materials selection, the impact of the manufacturing process itself, and the downstream impact from the use and disposal of end of life products. Producers accept responsibility when they design products to minimize the life-cycle environmental impact, and when they accept legal, physical, and socio-economic responsibility for environmental impact that cannot be estimated by the design alone.

Rapid Socio-Economic Transition and Material Flows in Japan

Material Flow Accounting (MFA) is a useful tool to describe interactions between the environment and human activities. An international comparison of economy-wide material flows over the past 25 years was undertaken for five industrialized countries and successfully described the similarities and dissimilarities of the studied countries. This paper shows the relevance of MFA to Japanese environmental policy issues and summarizes the characteristics of recent Japanese material flows based on the outcomes of the international comparison study. In addition, it attempts to analyze longer-term trends in demographic changes and economic growth, as well as changes in material and energy production/consumption. An attempt is also made to offer some insights on the upcoming matured and aging society.

Environmental policy and Japanese society:

This paper examines successes and failures of Japanese environmental policy in the postwar period. The analysis evaluates Japanese environmental policy according to: (1) the form of the policy; (2) the administrative machinery for the policy; and (3) the probable consequences of the policy. A second paper, appears on p. 199 of this journal, examines the lessons from Japanese environmental policy about Japanese society and about environmental policy in general.

Environmental policy and Japanese society: part II. lessons about Japan and about policy

This paper analyzes Japanese environmental policy to draw lessons about Japanese society and about environmental policy. It critically examines three myths about Japan: the myth of consensus, the myth of centralization, and the myth of rational policy. The paper then discusses the implications of Japan's experiences for the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth, the problems of an administrative system to compensate pollution victims, and the difficulties in establishing a system for environmental impact assessment. Part I of the essay, appears on p. 191 of this journal, examined successes and failures of Japanese environmental policy.