The State of the Environment in Asia 2006/2007

Edited by Japan Environmental Council

The State of the Environment in Asia 2006/2007
Edited by Japan Environmental Council

ISBN 978-92-808-1187-2
360 pages; paper; US$36.00
December 2009

The State of the Environment in Asia 2006/2007 is the fourth in a series of publications on Asia’s environmental landscape. Originally published in Japanese as Ajia Kankyo Hakusho 2006/2007, this English-translated edition serves as an indispensible source of information on the Asian environment and offers pertinent commentaries on such wide-ranging issues as public health, water supply, sanitation, wildlife trade, renewable energy, CDM projects, and environmental laws and treaties.

Four important messages emerge from this volume, namely that environmental problems are expected to become more serious as Asian economies continue their rapid growth, the root cause of such problems is the present pattern of economic development and resource use, climate change presents both a crisis and an opportunity for the region, and intraregional and subregional cooperation in Asia must be greatly enhanced.

Despite the breadth of topics covered and the vastly different socioeconomic and environmental conditions found throughout Asia, this book offers a broad yet sufficiently detailed overview of the environment in Asia. Like its predecessors in the series, The State of the Environment in Asia 2006/2007 succeeds in bringing greater clarity to the region’s environmental situation and offers practical steps for thinking locally and acting regionally in global partnership for sustainable development.

“The uniqueness of this volume lies in its vast collection of contributors from across Asia, including academics, independent experts and environmental NGOs. From this base, strong emphasis is given to information gathering and data collection by way of field visits and direct contact with local peoples concerned.”
—Hisakazu Kato, Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Law, Nagoya University

Japan Environmental Council (JEC), founded in 1979, conducts research, holds conferences, and makes policy recommendations on the subject of the environment. JEC was awarded the “Environment for Tomorrow Prize 2005” by the Asahi Shimbun.

Foreword to the English-language edition, Shun’ichi Teranishi

Preface: Switching to a cyclical resource-conserving socioeconomic system, Michikazu Kojima

Part I: Asia by theme

How much progress has been made in environmental and social safeguards, and in environmental ODA? Akihisa Mori, Satoru Matsumoto, Hidee Hatae and Shoko Murakami
Relief for pollution victims, Masafumi Yokemoto, Akio Muramatsu, Taehyun Park, Kenji Otsuka, Yasushi Aikawa and Yoichi Tani
Proper e-waste processing and disposal, Fumikazu Yoshida, Michikazu Kojima, Yuko Aoki, Aya Yoshida, So Sasaki and Sungwoo Chung

Part II: Asia by country and region

Singapore: Shifting away from government-guided environmental policy, Naoyuki Sakumoto
Bangladesh: Worsening environmental problems and the growth of NGOs, Hiroyuki Miyake
Russian Far East: Taiga Ecosystem in crisis, Tokiharu Okazaki
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: The little-known environmental reality, Soonyong Choi and Hidetoshi Yamashita
Japan: A switch to drastic measures needed , Takehisa Awaji, Yayoi Isono and Shun’ichi Teranishi
Republic of Korea: Institution-building and its challenges, Sungin Na
People’s Republic of China: ‘Explosive’ environmental problems and expectations for the activities of grassroots NGOs, Jusen Asuka, Kenji Otsuka, Yasushi Aikawa and Naoki Kataoka
Taiwan: The challenge of building a cyclical society, Li-Chun Chen and Kazuhiro Ueta
Republic of the Philippines: Private sector-dependent environmental policy, Kazuhiro Ota and Atsuko Hayama
Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Villagers confronted by mega-development, forced into silence, Takayuki Namura
Kingdom of Thailand: The politics of genetically modified crops, Gen Endo
Malaysia: Approaches by the government and NGOs to the urban environment, Yuko Aoki and Yueh Kwon Leong
Indonesia: Initiatives for community autonomy, Sachie Okamoto
India: Development, environment and justice, Kentaro Kanazawa, Roy Dunu and Yuko Tsujita

Part III: Data and commentary

Health, education and labour, Tsuyoshi Kawakami
Continuing military environmental damage, Kiminori Hayashi and Ken’ichi Oshima
Improved tap-water and sanitary facilities needed, Akihiro Chiashi and Ken’ichi Oshima
Advancing motorization: Environmental impacts and safety, Shinya Koyama
Waste generation and transboundary movement., Aya Yoshida
Urban heat islands, Toshiaki Ichinose
Renewable energy use in Asia, Keiji Kimura
Clean development mechanism trends, Yuri Okubo
Organic and eco-farming in development , Kazuyuki Iwasa
Wildlife trade: Japan’s imports from ASEAN, Akiko Ishihara
Trends in ecotourism and international tourism, Mami Nakajima
Environmental agreements and their implementation in Asia, Yukari Takamura
Legislation of environmental impact assessments: The Challenges to be met, Naoyuki Sakumoto