Suchergebnisse

Asian countries are building domestic institutions in response to climate change at both the international and domestic levels. Many countries have adopted the inter-agency coordination mechanism (IACM) as a national institutional approach to adjust the functions of various governmental agencies to tackle climate change. This article compares and contrasts national IACMs in four countries: Japan, the Republic of Korea, China and India. It examines (1) the structure and function of an IACM; (2) agencies and their specific roles in IACMs; (3) measures to empower the participation of other stakeholders including local governments, private sector, civil society and academia; and (4) changes in IACMs and reasons for such changes. Four success factors drawn from our comparative study suggest that an effective IACM should feature (1) strong overall coordination by the President/Prime Minister; (2) empowerment of the industry and environment agencies as joint lead agencies coordinating mitigation and adaptation; (3) involvement of all major sectoral agencies related to mitigation and adaptation; and (4) maximisation of the use of the comparative advantages of other stakeholders. The article highlights successful practices in Asia that can be emulated by other governments considering reform of their own domestic institutions in response to climate change. Adapted from the source document.

This study shows that some Japanese local governments, at both the prefecture and city levels, have engaged in international cooperation with local governments in developing countries in Asia to improve environmental management and explains their motivations to do so even if international cooperation is not usually considered part of local governments' mandate, and despite fiscal constraints. Forms of cooperation include training officials from developing countries in Japan, dispatch of Japanese local government expert officials to developing countries, partnering with and providing assistance to international organizations, establishing organizations for international environmental cooperation, and hosting international intercity network programs. This cooperation can be explained by a combination of environment-related factors and degree of local area's international orientation. Environment-related factors include desire to make a contribution based on local experience and human capital, promotion of international environmental business, response to trans-boundary pollution issues, and conservation of natural assets. Collaboration with the national government is an important facilitating though not determining factor since local governments respond differently to national policies. Other facilitating factors include local governments' fiscal capacity. The cases in this study can promote consideration of the potential motivations and ways that local governments in industrialized countries can contribute to international environmental development.

This book is the first to look at the neglected aspects of the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy (LCE) in Asia and the first to attempt to integrate both market-based and technology-based solutions into a comprehensive strategy to creating a roadmap for LCE in Asia.

This book covers all critical aspects of climate-smart development and attempts to integrate both market-based and technology-based solutions into a comprehensive approach for creating a roadmap for low carbon, climate-resilient economies in Asia. It examines strategies, policies and incentives in selected countries for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy, transportation, land use, and buildings sectors. It also identifies policies that are essential to improve resilience to both current and future impacts of climate change.

This article argues that waste management and recycling have become regional or international issues; they can no longer be considered only in a national context. The regionalization or internationalization of waste and recycling issues is caused in large part by the steady advance of economic integration, especially increasing trade and investment flows resulting from trade and investment liberalization. Just as economic integration has separated the location of consumption from the location of most efficient production, it has also separated the most efficient and effective location of recycling from the location of production and consumption. This makes it difficult to operate domestically oriented recycling schemes, as demonstrated by the case of Japan. Therefore, national policies, although still important, are now insufficient, and this article will propose policy recommendations to address this, including the development of national recycling systems and capacity linked to regional recycling zones, regionally coordinated extended producers responsibility, and regional certification schemes for recyclers and traders.