Interdisciplinary Workshop of Comparing Regional Environmental
Governance in East Asia and Europe (EE-REG)
January 24-25, 2013
RIHN (Kyoto, Japan)

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Taklamakan
Desert
Gobi Desert
Beijing
Shanghai

Background:
 End of Cold War and Political Normalization among Countries
 1992 UNCED
 1992 Seoul Symposium on UNCED and Prospects for the environmental Regime in the 21 st Century

▪ Acid rain(acid deposition)
▪ Marine pollution
▪ Yellow dust and sand storms (DSS)

Acid rain
Cause: SO
2
, NOx emissions (increasing fossil fuel consumptions: coal, oil)
Effect: soil, forest, water source contamination, erosions, health problems

Research & Arguments:
Japan:
∘ Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI):
50~ 80% of domestic acid rain originated from China and Korea
∘ domestic sources: volcano eruptions
∘ Spindle tree blight in Nikko National Park
Korea:
∘ National Institute of Environmental Research: 23% of SO 2, 20% of
NOx in Korea originated from China
∘ Joint research of Seoul National University and the Chinese Science
Research Institute: 49% of domestic air pollution from China
∘ Changes in tree species around Seoul, erosion of Dabotap
China:
∘ Average 1-3 % of Chinese emissions is deposited in other countries

Global sulfur dioxide emissions by region : (North America = USA+Canada;
East Asia = Japan, China, and South Korea ). From Smith (2011).

Marine pollution

Causes:
Land based pollution: 80%
∘ coastal area development plan
∘ influx of industrial waste water and domestic sewage
∘ heavy metal pollutants flow from the Yellow River (China) up to 7.5 million tons into the Yellow Sea annually
Oil concentration:
∘ oil and gas exploration
21,000 tons of crude oil from offshore drilling in Bohai Bay
∘ heavy marine transportations
∘ emergent oil spills and discharges
Marine dumping:
Effects on marine eco system : frequent red tides decline in the number of fish species

Cause: land degradation and desertification in China and Mongolia
Taklamakan Desert
Gobi Desert

Causes:
Desertification in Northern China and Inner Mongolia
1,739,000 km 2
1950s-1970s: 1,560 km 2 annually
Desertification in Mongolia
40% of territory: desert or being “desertified”
China’s annual production of yellow sand: 20 million tons
Effects:
Korea: public health (sore eyes, respiratory disease), agricultural products, transportation, dust sensitive industries (semiconductor, precision machinery)
US$6 billion in 2002 alone in Korea.
Japan: brown rain, yellow snow, public transportation

Dust storms attacking a village near the Gobi desert

Beijing

l
Seou

Japan

Bilateral Environmental Cooperation
China
1994~
Joint research/
Yen loan, Green Aid
Plan,
Environmental
Cooperation Center
China-Russia
China-
Mongolia
China-N.
Korea
1993~
Joint investigation of the Yellow Sea,
Environmental Technology Center,
Joint monitoring of DSS,
Forest rehabilitation
Japan
Japan-Mongolia
Environ. Policy
Dialogue(2007)
1993~
Comprehensive cooperation for environmental protection
Korea
Japan-Russia
Environmental
Cooperation Agreement
Korea-Mongolia :
Desertification and
DSS (2009)
Korea-Russia:
Marine pollution (East Sea)
Natural disaster early warning system


The Northeast Asia Sub-regional Program of Environmental
Cooperation: NEASPEC, 1993

The Northwest Pacific Action Plan: NOWPAP, 19 94

Tripartite Environmental Ministers Meeting: TEMM, 1999

1. the Northeast Asia Sub-regional Program of Environmental
Cooperation: NEASPEC, 1993~
 UNESCAP (UN Economics and Social Commission of Asia
Pacific) and the Korean government
 Korea, Japan, China, Russia, Mongolia, North Korea
 Priority areas for cooperation:
 energy and air pollution: air pollution abatement projects from coal fired power plants in China and Mongolia with ADB fund,
1996~2011
 Ecosystem management: deforestation and desertification
 Capacity building: Joint date collection, standardization, analysis of environmental degradation, training
 UNESCAP: the interim secretariat (Incheon, Korea, since 2007)
 The Vision Statement for Cooperation
 the Core Fund (2000): voluntary contribution of member countries

2. the Northwest Pacific Action Plan: NOWPAP, 1994
▪ Initiated by UNEP’s Regional Sea Preservation Plan
▪ Two regional seas preservation: the Yellow Sea & the East Sea (Sea of Japan)
▪ Korea, China, Japan, Russia
▪ NOWPAP Activities for Cooperation
-land based pollution and waste water flow
-red tides and eutrophication
-oil spills
-biodiversity and changes in biological communities
-the Marine Litter Activity Plan (MALITA, 2005/ 2007)
-Oil and HNS (Hazardous and Noxious Substances) Spill
Contingency Plan (2008/ 2009)
-Assessment of the current status of marine and coastal biodiversity in the NOWPAP region (climate change impacts)

∙ Trust Fund: US$500,000 each year
Basic contribution
Korea
5%
Japan
5%
China
5%
Russia
5%
Voluntary contribution 15%
Total (US$)
20% 3%
100,000(20%) 125,000(25%) 40,000(8%)
5%
50,000(10%)
Total US$315,000, 63% of the target amount
∙ Joint Regional Coordination Unit (RCU), Pusan & Toyama
∙ Regional Activity Center (RAC)
▹ Marine Environmental Emergency Preparedness and Responses (MER/RAC, Korea)
▹ Special Monitoring and Coastal Environment Assessment (CEA/RAC, Japan)
▹ Data and Information Network (DIN/RAC, China)
▹ Pollution Monitoring (POM/RAC, Russia)
∙ MOU on Regional Cooperation on Preparedness and Responses to
Oil Spills, 2004
∙ Oil Spill Contingency Plan and joint exercises

3. Tripartite Environmental Ministers Meeting, TEMM, 1999
 Environmental Ministers’Meeting of Korea, Japan, China
 Priority cooperation issues:
-Environmental information exchange
-Air pollution prevention and marine ecosystem preservation
-Development of environmental technology and transfers
-DSS issue
 monitoring and early warning system: Korea, China, Japan,
Mongolia with joint efforts with UNEP, ADB, UNESCAP,
UNCCD
 DSS-RETA (the regional technical Assistance on DSS) project was approved by ADB, UNEP, GEF
-Climate change issue

Characteristics of environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia:
“institutionalized, but non-legally binding cooperation”
 Soft agreements based : Frameworks, guidelines, conclusions
Entail reciprocal promises or actions for implementation, but not contain formal clauses describing the parties’ commitments as binding obligations or legal sanctions for non-compliance.
2004 MOU/NOWPAP: “best endeavors,” no obligations
 Project based cooperation
 Institutionalized cooperation : existence of agreements organizational structure-administrative and decision-making system

Environmental Cooperation in Europe
1. Acid Rain : Framework convention and series of binding protocols
Convention of Long Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution
(CLRTAP), 1979
1985, Helsinki Protocol (30 % SO
2 emission reduction)
1988, Sofia Protocol for NOx
1994, Oslo Protocol (87% SO
2 emission reduction)
1998, Aarhur Protocol
1999, Gothenburg Protocol

Marine Pollution : Framework convention and series of binding protocols
Mediterranean Action Plan, 1975
∙ The Barcelona Convention (the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution in 1975)
∙ Protocols on Marine Dumping and Emergency Oil Pollution (1975)
∙ Protocol Concerning Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas
∙ Athens Protocol on Land Based Pollution Source (1980).
Baltic and North Sea:
∙ Oslo Convention, 1972
∙ Paris Convention, 1974
∙ Helsinki Convention 1980/1990
∙ Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention), 1992




 Nature of environmental problems
 Political factors: domestic environmental policy making process geopolitical factors
 Economic factors: costs and benefits of environmental cooperation, environmental markets
 Reliable scientific community

problems
 Unidirectional pollution transfer
 Issue saliency

SO
2 and NOx Emissions
Japan
1980 1985
1,158 795 n.a
n.a
Korea
SO
2
China n.a
(thousand ton)
1990 1995 2000 2005
615 708 629 n.a
1,611 1,532 951 408
13,250 14,990 18,900 19,472 20,000
(27,000 in 2010)
Japan
Korea
China
NOx
819 n.a
4,760 -
699 n.a
780
926
-
878 837
1,153 1,136
12,030 10,000
Source: China Environment Yearbook; Korean National Statistical office;
Ministry of Environment, Japan

Energy Structure of China
Primary energy consumption structure in China
(Source: Database of the National Bureau of Statistics,
2008)

O
Coal Demands in Northeast Asia
2000
Millions of tons of coal
2010
China
Japan
1,225.7
152
65.5
Korea (ROK)
Korea (DPRK)
Mongolia
27.3
5.2
Russia Far East 30.1
Total 1,505.8
1,845.6
164
93.6
37.1
6.8
44.4
2,191.4
2020
2,751.8
169
95.2
54.5
9.0
65.1
3,145.3
China: 81.4% (2000) 84.2% (2010) 87.5% (2020)

China’s Growth, Coal Consumption, SO
2
Emissions: 1995-2009

 Nature of environmental problems
 Political factors: domestic environmental policy making process international factors
 Economic factors: costs and benefits of environmental cooperation, environmental markets
 Reliable scientific community

Korea
Position in regional environmental cooperation:
 Building a community in NEA
 Opinion leader/ Coordinator between different interests
Policy Interests:
 Cope with trans-boundary pollution as a victim
 Develop environmental industry and technology as a strategic export sector/ obtain advanced environmental technology
 Strong incentive to promote regional environmental cooperation, but;
 No strong interest in pursuing legal binging cooperation

Japan
Position in environmental cooperation in East Asia:
 Promote broader regional cooperation in Asia Pacific
 Project based cooperation
 Cooperation among societal and local governments
Policy interests in environmental cooperation:
 Economic Concerns
 Leadership
 Building broader regional community in Asia Pacific

China
Basic Position in international environmental negotiations
 Secure sovereignty
 Primacy of economic development
 Emphasis on responsibility of EDCs for environmental problems
 Pursue financial and technical resources to solve domestic pollution
Negotiations position in regional environmental cooperation
 Bilateral cooperation to multilateral cooperation
 project based cooperation
 Stress common but differentiated responsibility
Policy Interests
 Solving domestic environmental problems
 Enhance its scientific practice up to international standards
 Institutional capacity building

 Avoid high political and economic costs
 Emphasis on practical performance with project based
 cooperation
 Separate environmental issues from geopolitical situation
 Permit great flexibility and rapid progress in reaching
 conclusions

Effectiveness of Environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia
1. Direct effect: serve as a workable instrument for environmental protection in the region
∙ turn present and emerging environmental problems into policy interests
∙ incorporate agendas and cooperation projects into domestic environmental policies
∙ financial and technology transfers
∙ capacity building for environmental management
∙ Emerging Global-regional-national environmental policy coordination

2. Indirect effects: implications for Regional Politics
∙ reducing uncertainty (by information and personnel exchanges)
∙ deepening and broadening ties of interdependence
∙ promoting more diffused forms of reciprocity (from strict reciprocal bargaining of “give and take”analogus to a barter transaction to complex interdependences)
∙ lengthening the shadow of the future (by institutionalization of agenda setting and project implementation-potential spillover effects to other regional issue areas)

Discussions:
The current form of environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia is
‘informal and non-binding. What would be the future of environmental cooperation in the region?
A 1: Non-binding environmental cooperation as simply a stage in the progressive historical developmental pattern for international cooperation, which starts with a range of non-binding guidelines, declarations, and resolutions before moving through various stages of negotiation to culminate with binding conventions and protocols.
A 2: Such non-binding cooperation as consistent with the region’s legal tradition, that is to say, its consensus-based decisionmaking practices and distaste for legalization.

Regional Institutional Buildings: a comparison
Europe: Council of Europe (1945), Commission on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (1975), EU
America: Inter-American System (1826), Organization of American States, 1948
NAFTA, Mercorsor, Andean Community of Nations
Africa: Organization of African Unity(1963), African Union (2000)
African Economic Community, Organization of African Unity, Community of
Sahel-Saharan States etc
East Asia : Multilateral ‘dialogues’
ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, Conference on Interaction and
Confidence Building Measures in Asia, Council for Security Cooperation in the
Asia Pacific, Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue, Pacific Islands Forum, APEC
Southeast Asian countries: ASEAN
Northeast Asia: ?

Research Methods:
Library search:
Elite Interviewing:
▪ An excellent form of date collection when the behavior of interest can best be described and explained by those who are deeply involved in political processes.
▪ Interviews government officials, researchers, and NGO activists in
Japan and Korea; Chinese government officials and scholars in Japan, Korea and the US.
▪ The validity of interviewee’statement: examining their plausibility, checking for internal consistency, written documents, and counterpart interviews.
Participatory Observations:

China’s Growth and environmental implications
▸ Average growth rate for past three decades: 10%
(2011: 9.2%)
▸ 2 nd largest economy in the world by mid 2010
▸ World’s largest automotive market in 2009:
15 million car sales in 2009, increasing demands for used cars
▸ By 2030: expected annual GDP growth rate: 6%
▸ Manufacturing based economic structure

Broader Regional Environmental Cooperation : Asia Pacific
1. Environmental Congress for Asia and the Pacific (ECO-ASIA):
1991
Initiated by Ministry of Environment, Japan
2. East Asia Acid Deposition Monitoring Network (EANET): 1992
Initiated by Ministry of Environment, Japan
1 st intergovernmental meeting in 1998
Secretariat, decision-making body, the Network Center(the Acid
Deposition and Oxidant Research Center: ADORC) along with
47 wet deposition monitoring sites
Technical training workshops for local engineers and scientists

Energy Demands of China
World’s largest energy consuming country
-Coal consumption: 1 st
- Oil consumption: 2 nd
- Oil imports: 3 rd
The primary energy consumption growth rates from 2000-2008:
9.5%, 3.8 times higher than world average