This book looks at institutional reforms for the use of energy, water and resources toward a sustainable future in East Asia. The book argues that developments in the East Asian region are critical to global sustainability and acknowledges that there is an increasing degree of mutual reliance among countries in East Asia – primarily China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It analyzes environmental impacts stemming from the use of energy, water and mineral resources via economic development in East Asia in the medium to long term (through 2050) through theoretical and empirical modelling. The book also evaluates the ripple effects of environmental and resource policies on each country’s economy and clarifies the direction of institutional reform in energy systems, resources and water use for a sustainable future.

The rapid and sustained economic growth of the past two decades has led to marked increases in energy demand in the region and developing Asia will continue to lead the energy demand growth. The increase in energy demand threatens energy security and efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions, affecting health and social well-being. These common energy challenges will need to be addressed through concerted efforts. This book provides several multi-dimensional quantitative analysis of the relationship between energy and other subjects including but not limited to income and economic growth, environment and health, food and agricultural production. The book also provides the most constructive policy recommendations concerning the relationship between energy, economic development, social development, and environmental development.

East Asia has experienced the fastest economic growth in the world over the last three decades, accompanied by a 10-fold gross domestic product increase and rapid urbanization. Energy consumption has more than tripled during this period and is expected to double over the next 20 years. This remarkable trend has led to twin energy challenges in the region environmental sustainability and energy security. Written for an audience of energy policy makers and practitioners, Winds of Change explores the region s energy future over the next two decades through two energy scenarios. It outlines the strategic direction East Asia s energy sector must take to meet its growing energy demand in an environmentally sustainable manner, and presents a pathway of policy frameworks and financing mechanisms to get there. The six East Asian countries China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam examined in this book could, with the right policies and financing, stabilize CO2 emissions by 2025, improve their local environment, and enhance energy security without compromising economic growth. They must move their energy sectors toward much higher efficiency and more widespread use of low-carbon technologies, while obtaining substantial financing and low-carbon technologies from developed countries. This clean energy revolution requires major policy and institutional reforms, including energy pricing reforms, regulations such as energy efficiency standards, financial incentives such as feed-in tariffs for renewable energy, and accelerated research and development. Finally, building low-carbon cities will be key to containing the rapid urban energy growth through compact urban design, public transport, clean vehicles, and green buildings. The window of opportunity is closing fast delaying action would lock the region into a longlasting high-carbon infrastructure. The technical and policy means exist for such transformational changes, but only strong political will and unprecedented international cooperation will make them happen.

The rapid and sustained economic growth of the past two decades has led to marked increases in energy demand in the region and developing Asia will continue to lead the energy demand growth. The increase in energy demand threatens energy security and efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions, affecting health and social well-being. These common energy challenges will need to be addressed through concerted efforts. This book provides several multi-dimensional quantitative analysis of the relationship between energy and other subjects including but not limited to income and economic growth, environment and health, food and agricultural production. The book also provides the most constructive policy recommendations concerning the relationship between energy, economic development, social development, and environmental development.

Introduction : the evolution of the East Asian eco-developmental state / Mary Alice Haddad, Stevan Harrell -- East Asian environmental advocacy / Mary Alice Haddad -- China's low-carbon energy strategy / Joanna Lewis -- Energy and climate change policies of Japan and South Korea / Eunjung Lim -- The politics of pollution emissions trading in China / Iza Ding -- Legal experts and environmental rights in Japan / Simon Avenell -- Local energy initiatives in Japan / Noriko Sakamoto -- Indigenous conservation and post-disaster reconstruction in Taiwan / Sasala Taiban, Hui-nien Lin,Kurtis Jia-chyi Pei, Dau-jye Lu, Hwa-sheng Gau -- Nature for nurture in urban Chinese childrearing / Rob Efird -- Sustainability of Korea's first "New Village" / Chung Ho Kim -- Environmentalism in China's Chengdu Plain / Daniel Benjamin Abramson -- Environmental activism in Kaohsiung, Taiwan / Hua-mei Chiu -- Indigenous attitudes toward nuclear waste in Taiwan / Hsi-wen Chang -- The battle over GMOs in Korea and Japan / Yves Tiberghien -- Grassroots NGOs and environmental activism in China / Jingyun Dai, Anthony Spires -- The eco-developmental state and the environmental Kuznets curve / Stevan Harrell.

East Asia is a key region in the global economy, including both the second and third largest global economies already and, led by China, continuing to expand at a rapid rate. This economic growth has led to unprecedented gains in prosperity in the region but it has also led to increasing environmental pressures and energy issues. This book assesses ways in which East Asia can continue or even increase existing rates of economic growth while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental degradation. Using advanced modelling approaches, future scenarios for four East Asian countries are assessed in detail, including analysis of particular challenges in each country (e.g. coal power in China, nuclear power in Japan). Prospects for each country’s energy system are assessed in detail and the potential effects of various types of Environmental Tax Reform in the four countries are also considered carefully. The final section of the book explores the interaction between trade liberalization, a key driver of growth, and emission levels in the East Asia region.

This book aims to analyze the impact of green growth and low carbon development on the transformation of energy systems and international trade and to evaluate the environmental and economic consequences of such policies in Northeast Asia. Green Growth and Low Carbon Development in East Asia, thereby, uncovers the limitations and challenges of advancing sustainable development world-wide.