Regional Environmental Politics in Northeast Asia: Conflict and Cooperation

✍ Scribed by Jeongwon Bourdais Park

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 265
• Series: Politics in Asia
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The share of global CO₂ emissions from the core Northeast Asian (NEA) countries in 2015 was estimated to be as high as 33.63 percent. Representing 28.21, 3.67, and 1.75 percent of total global emissions, China, Japan, and South Korea were ranked the first, fifth, and seventh largest contributors, respectively. Some parts of China, the Republic of Mongolia, the Russian Far East, and Southeast Asia have long been on serious alert due to accelerated deforestation. With their rapid population growth and economic development, the core countries of Northeast Asia are responsible both directly and indirectly for numerous environmental problems. Urgent individual and collective action is required from the region’s governments.

Against the backdrop of debate on how to understand Northeast Asia as a "region," Park focuses on the major regional economies of China, Japan, and South Korea, along with Russia, North Korea, and the Republic of Mongolia, due to both their geopolitical proximity and their significance to the region. The author attempts to answer the questions: "How far has regional environmental cooperation progressed in Northeast Asia?"; and "Why are Northeast Asian countries reluctant to cooperate further on urgent transboundary and regional environmental issues?"

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Chapter 1:
Setting the scene
Raising research questions
Main disciplinary approaches
Main questions and the scope of the project
Why does environmental cooperation matter in Northeast Asia?
Emerging security dynamism, multilateralism, and the rise of environmentalism
Creation of constructive conflicts for positive environmental politics
Explanations on the structure of the book
Notes
References
Chapter 2: Environmental politics and regional cooperation
Regionalism, regional politics, and environmental affairs
Inter-stateenvironmental affairs in international relations theories
Why do countries cooperate for the environment?
Environment as a secondary means
Ecological protection as the ultimate goal
Analytical framework: the synergy between securitization, development, and environmentalism
Stages of regional environmental development
Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 3: Regional reaction to trans-boundary air pollution and climate change in Northeast Asia
Regional issues and the NEA’s interaction with the global climate regime
The evolution of institutionalized regional cooperation
Analysis of TEMM
Ongoing disputes and the possibility of governance strengthening
The politics of environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia
Conflict cooperation and integration for synergy: from a loose nexus to thick symbiosis
Development opportunities and ecological challenges
China’s rising role in the global climate change regime and ecological implications
Theoretical implications
Notes
References
Chapter 4: Northeast Asia’s responses to biodiversity loss and the formation of regional biodiversity governance
Environmental security and trans-boundary affairs concerning biodiversity
Environmental security and preserving biodiversity
Evolution of the NEA’s institutionalized cooperation
Positioning the NEA within the process of strengthening a global biodiversity regime
Indirect trans-boundary harm: the interplay between trade and the environment
A green paradox: the security dilemma in the DPRK and ecological implications
China–DPRK trade relationship and rising ecological concerns
China’s increasing role in the regional environmental regime
Leadership shift and China’s growing responsibilities in the global environmental regime
Rising concerns on trans-boundary moves of e-waste(neoliberal policy failure)
Positive politicization of environmental conflicts for cooperation
Regional development models and the possibility of building a cooperative regime (toward the REDM Stage IV)
Bypassing the region and globalizing regionalism
Notes
References
Chapter 5: Regional political dynamics and the marine environment in Northeast Asia
Ocean-induced environmental issues in Northeast Asia
Situating the NEA in the global maritime regime
International standards (Regional Fishery Management Organizations and IO consistency)
Evolution of regional institutional development
Priority to sign up to basic rules
Destructive environmental conflicts: fishery disputes
Overuse: disputes over resources
Pollution, trans-boundaryharm, and dispute settlement
Pollution
Territorial sovereignty, disputes, and land reclamation in the ocean
Land (mis-)use, security, and the environment
Mutual reinforcement between bilateralism and multilateralism
DPRK risks in the ocean
The South China Sea and China’s search for new leadership
Regional development models and the possibility of building a cooperative regime
new global maritime order or Sinicization?
Policy implications
Notes
References
Chapter 6:
Greening regional politics
Responding to the main research questions
Where does the Northeastern region stand? Applying the REDM
Summary of findings: general analysis on the trends in the TEMM
Do NEA countries still need to cooperate?
Minding the gap: responding to theoretical categorization
Bridging the gap: policy implications
A silver lining in the cloud
Concluding remarks
References
Annex 1
Joint Declaration on the Promotion of Tripartite Cooperation among Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
Annex 2
Joint Statement on the Tenth Anniversary of Trilateral Cooperation among the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea
Annex 3
A summary of the main outcome of the TEMM
Index