<Chapter 1> Development and Environmental Policy under Neo-Corporatism: Slow Progress toward Pluralistic Decision-Making in Japan

This pdf is non-edited author's draft. Its published version is the following paper: Akihisa Mori, Development and environmental policy under neo-corporatism: Slow progress toward pluralistic decision-making in Japan 'Democratization, Decentralization, and Environmental Governance in Asia' pp.26-51. Kyoto University Press (March 2012).このPDFファイルの論文を草稿として、その後改稿されたものは、次のように書籍掲載論文として出版されています: Akihisa Mori, Development and environmental policy under neo-corporatism: Slow progress toward pluralistic decision-making in Japan 'Democratization, Decentralization, and Environmental Governance in Asia' pp.26-51. 京都大学学術出版会 (2012年3月)

<Chapter 1> Climate-energy policy: Domestic policy process, outcome and impacts (Part I Why China’s carbon-energy policy matters)

Edited by Akihisa MoriAs an introduction, this chapter aims to define the five key concepts throughout this volume to develop a logical framework that links them: the climate-energy conundrum, climate-energy policy, socio-technological transition, the resource curse, and the disruption of livelihood and ecology. In short, the global climate change concerns raises the climate-energy conundrum, while technological and institutional lock-in makes it hard for the government to advance socio-technological transition of the energy infrastructure system toward a low CO2 emission pathway. Climate-energy policy is generally created as a compromise among the conflicts of interests between multiple stakeholders, which would be less effective in reducing CO2 emission and bring domestic and/or international implications or both, including a resource curse and the disruption of livelihood and ecology. The framework also points out that, climate-energy policy and its domestic and international implications vary by country, alluding to possible consequences found through in-depth analyses of later chapters

8. Impact of the resource boom in the 2000s on Asian-Pacific energy exporting countries, Akihisa Mori and Le Dong (Part III International impacts of China-induced resource boom and climate-energy policy)

Edited by Akihisa Mor

Carbon leakage, relocation, and halo: A framework to understand impacts of China's carbon-energy policy on Asia's energy transitions

Edited By Akihisa MoriThis chapter aims to conceptualize carbon leakage, relocation, and halos and develop a framework to analyze cross-border economic and environmental consequences of carbon-energy policy through outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in power projects and exports of renewable energy-soured electricity (RES-E) technologies. It revisits the arguments over the concept, research methodologies, and outcomes on pollution heaven, halo, and carbon leakage, conceptualizing carbon relocation and carbon halo on top of these arguments to give definition. Next, the chapter raises the core research question throughout this book: how has China’s carbon-energy policy incentivized outward FDI in coal power and RES-E projects and exports of these technologies; how have these Chinese outward FDI and exports generated energy transitions in host countries, and caused carbon leakage, relocation, and halos; and can regional connectivity be a countermeasure

Do Chinese power companies employ investments in foreign power projects as a geographical diversification strategy?

Edited By Akihisa MoriChina increased investments and contracts in foreign coal power projects after the Chinese government implemented more stringent regulations on air pollution and CO₂ emissions and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Against this backdrop, this chapter investigates the relations among them to further understand their effect on carbon relocation.Our empirical analysis uncovers that power project developers and to a less extent coal power plant manufacturers proactively increased contracts and investments in foreign coal power projects. They perceive the shrinking Chinese market and seek profit opportunities in foreign countries. The regulated grid companies take advantage of crises to purchase shares and assets of foreign utilities, increasing influence in the direction of power development. By contrast, the regulated power generators have used foreign power projects as a minor option at best and are less innovative and competitive than the project developers and incumbent manufacturers.These results suggest that Chinese climate–energy–air pollution control policies, coupled with the going global strategy and the BRI, cause a partial relocation of carbon-intensive processes in the electricity sector. The electricity supply system is more likely to be reconfigured toward a coal-centered system in host countries with weak grid governance and investment framework agreements with China

<Chapter 10> Impact of the China-induced Coal Boom in Indonesia: From a Resource Governance Perspective (Part III International impacts of China-induced resource boom and climate-energy policy)

Edited by Akihisa MoriThough Indonesia is well-known as major oil and gas exporter, it becomes net oil importer. It then turns out as a major coal exporter amid the China-induced coal boom. Meanwhile, coalmines are criticized as harmful to ecology and local livelihood, as many of them are located in the forest. Against this backdrop, this chapter analyzes how the China-induced coal boom has affected resource governance. It employs the typology on natural resource governance presented by Luong and Weinthal (2010) to assess how Indonesia’s democratic decentralization and the revision of its Forest Law affected coalmining and deforestation. This chapter reveals that democratic decentralization changed the ownership structure to from state ownership without control to private ownership with control, and generated duplicate licensing authority and inconsistent and contradictory rules between the central and local governments, all of which have resulted in weak central control and widespread corruption. Chinese companies have capitalized on this weak control, backing local companies or their joint companies to obtain licenses---thus accelerating open cast mining. They have also invested in major Indonesian miners, gaining political power to protect their vested interests, which makes it difficult for the Indonesian government to enforce more stringent environmental and social safeguard policies and to shifting the energy system toward a low CO2 pathway

China's carbon-energy policy and Asia's energy transition from carbon leakage, relocation, and halo perspectives: Conclusions and the future

Edited By Akihisa MoriThis chapter revisits major findings of this book to give answers to the three research questions raised in Chapter 1: (a) how China’s carbon-energy policy has incentivized outward FDI in coal power and RES-E projects and exports of these technologies; (b) how Chinese outward FDI in and exports of RES-E have generated energy transitions in Asian countries and caused carbon leakage, relocation, and halos; and (c) can regional connectivity be a countermeasure to minimize carbon relocation and enhance the carbon halo effect. Then, it states this book’s novel contributions to the arguments over international trade, FDI, and the environment in theory and empirical findings, and prospects for a future research agenda worth developing

<Chapter 5> Environmental policies in East Asia: Origins, development, and future

Environmental policies vary, depending on how a country frames and defines environmental challenges. Underlying causes of the environmental challenges can be classified as market failure, undefined ownership, government and/or institution failure, and globalization and their combination. The government of each country has seen the underlying causes as they wanted and chose policy instruments based upon their recognition. Coupled with the differences in economic development, pressures to the environmental challenges, and their management capacity, this has brought about difference in the choice of policy instruments, enforcement, effectiveness, and distributional impacts. For an environmental policy to be more effective, it is indispensable for the government to frame environmental challenges and to address their underlying causes properly. Then all the government ministries and the political leaders should share the proper framing and definition so that they will take the environment into account in their sectoral policies, in other words, implement preventive measures and convince people and firm to integrate the environment into their activities

Introduction: Sustainable development and environmental governance in East Asia

Edited by Akihisa Mor

How do incumbent companies’ heterogeneous responses affect sustainability transitions? Insights from China’s major incumbent power generators

Transitions research has often been unintentionally biased toward novelty and assumes incumbents as homogeneous groups that are “locked-in” to certain socio-technical regimes. In reality, incumbents are heterogeneous at the company and industrial levels and thus have heterogeneous responses that can both accelerate and deter sustainability transitions. To fill the research gap, this paper explores the determinants of such heterogeneous responses and insights for sustainability transitions, taking China’s major incumbent power generators as its case study. The results are: first, incumbent companies respond heterogeneously if firm-specific, socio-economic, and institutional factors give different opportunities and barriers. Policy feedback effects and development of complementarities in infrastructure, instruments, and organizational elements can increase heterogeneous responses. Second, their heterogeneous responses can accelerate sustainability transitions if they go beyond destabilization of regime, legitimization of alternative policy instruments, and development of infrastructure and institutions that trigger co-evolution with socio-economic and institutional factors