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China Japan Korea China Japan Korea Under the Mao’s rule, the Chinese government insisted that the fundamental cause of Environmental pollution lay in Capitalist countries, and pressure from foreign countries had little influence on China’s policy development. However, recently, because of the scarcity of funds and technology for environmental protection, the Chinese government has adopted a very positive stance on environmental diplomacy. Latecomer Japan has had a few opportunities to learn from the experiences in other countries in the field of environmental policy, because Japanese environmental policy was initiated relatively early in the world. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1963 was modeled on Japanese legislation. Ever since, the Korean government has sought to examine the experience in other countries, especially in Japan and USA. Under the influence of arguments within Japan and USA, Korea adopted advanced policy responses such as guaranteeing in the 1980 Constitution the right to environment and creating environmental impact assessment system in 1982. The Environmental Protection Law (in Trial Implementation) of 1979 provided several advanced policy responses such as pollution discharge fee system and environmental impact assessment system similar to those adopted in developed countries. However, the opportunities for China to learn from other countries remain high. Function of the Market Mechanism Faced with the regulation of exhaust gases by the USA’s Muskie Act in 1970 and the Oil Crisis in the 1970s, each Japanese automobile manufacturer was forced to develop new energy-saving and environmentally sound technologies, so as to compete with other automobile makers. As a result, advanced energy-saving and environmentally sound technologies have been developed by Japanese automobile manufacturers. Several “Chaebols” have essentially had a monopoly on markets in the Korean economy. Monopolistic companies in domestic market have not had much incentives to address pollution issues to compete with others. Thus, market conditions in Korea are quite different from the Japanese case. China Japan Korea China Chinese environmental policy development occurred within a planned economy, and the influence of market competitiveness was negligible. Therefore, both investment and technological development for environmental protection by enterprises have not been promoted. Under the transition from a planned economy to a market economy since the mid 1980s, a market economy system has gradually been adopted such as energy pricing reform. Environmental Issues in the Policy Agenda After overcoming industrial pollution by the mid 1970s, the Japanese government addressed issues related to the pursuit of quality of life (“Amenity”). However, environmental policy development in Japan slowed down by the early 1980s. Since the mid 1980s, global environmental issues have received much attention as part of the policy agenda. Pollution control in Korea has not produced satisfactory results when compared to the Japanese case. The Korean government has had to address many environmental issues, such as pollution control, improvement of the quality of life, and global environmental issues at the same time. So far, Chinese environmental policies has arguably achieved few good results. While environmental issue in China is about to falling into crisis, foreign countries expect that China adopts appropriate responses to global environmental issues. 28
Table 3 Comparison of Time-lags Economic Growth Environmental Policy Development Between Japan and Korea 21 12-14 Between Japan and China more than 35 21-24 *years *Time-lags of economic growth are based on GDP per capi ta at 1985 PPPs. Table 4 Economic Indicators on Each Stage of Environmental Policy Development Japan Korea China Starting Year of Progressive Period 1955 1970 1977 GDP per Capita 2,087 1,701(81%) 762(37%) Energy Consumption per Capita 721 610(87%) 386(53%) Starting Year of Consolidation Period 1965 1980 1989 GDP per Capita 4,481 3,130(69%) 1,352(25%) Energy Consumption per Capita 1,550 1,152(74%) 602(38%) Starting Year of Focus-Shift Period 1975 1990 - GDP per Capita 8,249 6,779(82%) - Energy Consumption per Capita 3,068 2,174(71%) - *GDP per Capita = $ at 1985 PPPs, Energy Consumption per Capita = kg. oil equivalent *Percentages reported within parenthesis are X/Japan. 29
Page 2 and 3: UNU/IAS Working Paper No. 95 A Comp
Page 4 and 5: 1.Introduction High rates of econom
Page 6 and 7: 1) Japan (1945-1954) Since the mid-
Page 8 and 9: areas. Pollution damages became so
Page 10 and 11: As a part of the policy reform sinc
Page 12 and 13: condition of the disease, however,
Page 14 and 15: has occurred in the late 1980s, cam
Page 16 and 17: confronted with the scarcity of fun
Page 18 and 19: een nearly 10%. At that time, moreo
Page 20 and 21: new environmental issues in the pol
Page 22 and 23: through a similar pattern. Thus env
Page 24 and 25: References Agency of Natural Resour
Page 26 and 27: Environmental Affairs 2(2): 103-108
Page 28 and 29: Table 1 Comparative Chronological T
Page 32 and 33: 1.National Experience (1) Events of
Page 34 and 35: 20 % 15 10 Japan Korea China 5 0 19
Page 36 and 37: 4,000 kg.oil equivalent 3,500 3,000
Page 38 and 39: 70 % 60 50 40 30 Agriculture Indust
Page 40: 70 % 60 50 40 30 Agriculture Indust

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