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.

The concept of green growth, coupled with one of green economy and low carbon development, is a global concern especially in the face of the multiple crises that the world has faced in recent years - climate, oil, food, and financial crises. In East Asia, this concept is regarded as the key in transforming cheap-labour dependent, export-oriented industries towards a more sustainable development. Green Growth and Low Carbon Development in East Asia examines the beginnings of low carbon, green growth in practice in East Asia and how effectively it has directed East Asian nations, especially Korea, China and Japan, to put environment and climate challenges as the core target zone for investment and growth. Special focus is paid to energy and international trade - areas in which these nations compete with pioneered nations of Europe and the United States to develop renewable energy industries and enhance their international competitiveness. On the basis of the lessons learned in East Asia, together with a comparison of Russia, this book discusses the applicability and limitations of this developmental approach taken by the developing nations and resource-rich emerging economies, including the conditions and contexts in which nations are able to transition into sustainable development through the use of low carbon, green growth strategies.

This book presents new vision of regional de-carbonization with concrete scheme design and substantial quantitative demonstration from original interdisciplinary studies. It provides new horizon for not only climate change, environmental conservation but also for international cooperation and peace in East Asia. The chapters introduce diverse low carbon society principles from local to global level with best practices integrating technology evolution and social innovation. While the book is designated for academics and the ultimate goal is to facilitate international climate regime making and environmental cooperation, local government and international organizations (United Nations, World Bank, and others) officers, researchers, international NGO/NPOs, consultants, students (particularly those studying environmental policy studies or international relationships), as well as reporters will find this book useful in broadening their understanding of low-carbon development in East Asia.

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.

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.

Building Sustainability in East Asia: Policy, Design and People illustrates the holistic approaches and individual strategies to building sustainability that have been implemented in construction projects in Asia. Top-down and bottom-up approaches (from formulating policy to constructing individual buildings) are effective in terms of the sustainable development of cities, and this book covers both, illustrated with a range of case study developments.

This book presents good practices in Asia and ASEAN countries for effectively promoting advances in response to climate change, which can help to achieve sustainable development in Asia and around the world. As a proposal, the aim is to influence the discussions at COP 21 by providing a positive agenda with concrete actions from an Asian perspective. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 describes the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction scenario from an Asian perspective and in line with global 2 ° targets. Based on modeling analysis, the studies demonstrate the theoretical potentials and send the policymakers at COP 21 the positive message that “Asia can reach the target.” As Asian countries vary in terms of their economic strength, country-specific scenario studies for the two giants China and India as well as for Japan and Vietnam are introduced to show the different approaches for each country. Part 2 shows successful examples of how modeling analysis are reflected in actual policy development, which provides practical guidelines to help policymakers develop their own roadmaps with stakeholder dialogue, not only in Asia but also in other regions of the world. The Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) roadmap development in Thailand as well as the Iskandar Malaysia project show at the country and city level how researchers and policymakers are working closely to succeed. Part 3 focuses on a number of sector-specific activities including transportation, forestry, capacity development, and inventory work in Asia. Rather than discussing the Low Carbon Society (LCS) concept in detail, the respective chapters highlight unique, concrete, and practically applicable examples from Asia, showing how Asian countries are addressing climate change mitigation issues in a collaborative manner, an approach that can be replicated in other regions. While the ultimate goal of this book is to facilitate international climate regime making, local government and international organizations (United Nations, World Bank, and others) officers, researchers, international NGO/NPOs, consultants, students (particularly those studying international relationships or environmental studies), as well as reporters will find this book useful in broadening their understanding of low-carbon development in Asia.