A decade of climate change negotiations almost ended in failure because of the different policy approaches of the industrialized states. Japan, Germany, and the United States exemplify the deep divisions that exist among states in their approaches to environmental protection. Germany is following what could be called the green social welfare state approach to environmental protection, which is increasingly guided by what is known as the precautionary principle. In contrast, the US is increasingly leaning away from the use of environmental regulations, towards the use of market-based mechanisms to control pollution and cost-benefit analysis to determine when environmental protection should take precedence over economic activities. Internal political divisions mean that Japan sits uneasily between these two approaches. Miranda A. Schreurs uses a variety of case studies to explore why these different policy approaches emerged and what their implications are, examining the differing ideas, actors, and institutions in each state.

This book examines how labor policies were made in the US, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s.

A crucial argument for today's environmentalists—startling proof that environmental regulation and environmental technologies are necessary for a strong economy.

This book is a must; it is best reading for all interested in or working on environmental policy formulation and implementation, be it in a polluted industrial country or in a polluting developing country. Environmentalist . . . a well-conceptualized analysis of the evolution of Japan s environmental policies and programmes. . . The quality of integration from chapter to chapter is much superior to that of most multiple-author texts. International Sociology Review of Books The eleven contributors to this book provide profound retrospective view son the fearsome damage inflicted on the environment of Japan and on its people during the rapid economic growth period from late 1950s to the early 1970s. The book also presents a clear vision of how developing countries might draw lessons from Japan s experiences in overcoming some of its pollution problems. Hiroshi Ohta, Pacific Affairs This is, I m sure, the most comprehensive and the best book ever on Japan s environmental policy. This book is a must; it is best reading for all interested in or working on environmental policy formulation and implementation, be it in a polluted industrial country or in a polluting developing country. Udo E. Simonis, Internationales Asienforum The volume is a great source to explain what factors have made Japanese pollution control policy so successful. . . Imura and Schreurs have unveiled the intricacies of Japanese pollution control policy in this volume. The book can be used at the undergraduate and graduate level, particularly as a stepping stone in projects focused on minimization of contaminant emissions and on Japanese environmental policy and politics. Raul Pacheco-Vega, Global Environmental Politics A gold mine of information, this book gives a balanced, comprehensive, and authoritative analysis of Japan s environmental policy and candidly covers both its considerable achievements and persistent limitations. Although this volume focuses on issues of policy implementation, it impressively addresses most aspects of environmental issues in Japan. . . This is indeed a superb book that provides encyclopedia-like information about environmental issues in Japan and is unmatched, especially in its emphasis on policy implementation. Lam Peng Er, Journal of Japanese Studies Japanese environmental management style is in many ways distinct from that found in Europe or the USA. There is less emphasis on litigation, more emphasis on administrative guidance and considerable use of voluntary mechanisms for policy implementation. This volume considers what factors may have contributed to Japan s relatively successful efforts at dealing with severe industrial pollution and problems associated with rapid urbanization. The book introduces Japan s environmental history, its key environmental regulations and the forces that have driven Japan to introduce these environmental regulations and programs. It also examines the various formal and informal institutional mechanisms and policy instruments that have been introduced over the past several decades to implement pollution control and energy conservation. The authors conclude by putting Japan s environmental policy experiences in comparative perspective and considering what useful lessons can be drawn from the Japanese experience for developing nations. Providing a detailed analysis of environmental policies and policy instruments in Japan by leading experts in the field, this book will be of great interest to students of environmental policy and politics and policymakers concerned with environmental protection in Asia.

International experts provide a comprehensive picture of the principles, concepts and methods that are applicable to problems originating from the interaction between the living/non-living environment and mankind. Both the analysis of such problems and the way solutions to environmental problems may work in specific societal contexts are addressed. Disciplinary approaches are discussed but there is a focus on multi- and interdisciplinary methods. A large number of practical examples and case studies are presented. There is special emphasis on modelling and integrated assessment. This book is different because it stresses the societal, cultural and historical dimensions of environmental problems. The main objective is to improve the ability to analyse and conceptualise environmental problems in context and to make readers aware of the value and scope of different methods. Ideal as a course text for students, this book will also be of interest to researchers and consultants in the environmental sciences.

This volume of comparative studies documents the continuing relevance of the state in environmental politics and policy. The book also demonstrates the analytical power of the comparative approach to the study of environmental politics and policy, offering cross-national comparisons of environmental governance in both developed and developing countries. Some chapters are based on qualitative studies from a small number of countries; others offer statistical analyses of quantitative data from many more countries over a longer time period.

Cognitive-strategic capabilities of a country are decisive for overcoming the strong path dependence in climate-related policies and to achieve ecological and economic modernization. This is the result of a unique comparison approach focusing on four highly intertwined policy areas (Automobiles, Nuclear Energy, Renewables and Rare Earth) in Japan and Germany. Both countries have in principle sufficient economic, technological and institutional capacities for an ecological transformation, but they are lacking an integrated policy strategy to mobilize and organize the existing capacities in favor of structural changes. The focused four policy areas are analyzed in depth and compared by experts from political science.