Research Achievements

Excellent papers on Asian regional integration, which are prepared mainly by young researchers such as GIARI members, co-researchers, research fellows, and research assistants, will be published as working papers. Contributed papers, written in English or in Japanese, will be reviewed and examined by the editorial committee before publication. GIARI donates published papers to the libraries of Waseda and other related universities, research organizations, etc.

Regional Environmental Cooperation in East Asia: From Track 1
ODA to Track 1.5 Business Arrangement

ODAIRA, Takeshi
PhD student, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University
Asia Fellow (RA), Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration

February 2011
[190KB]

• Introduction
• I. Literature Review: International Environmental Cooperation in East Asia
  • 1. Theories on the development of regional environmental cooperation
  • 2. Regional environmental cooperation in East Asia
  • 3. Regional environmental cooperation in North East Asia
  • 4. Regional environmental cooperation in South East Asia
• II. Case 1: Japan-China Environmental Cooperation:
  • 1. Ad-hoc track 1 cooperation
  • 2. Institutionalized track 1 cooperation
  • 3. Track 1.5 cooperation
• III. Case 2: Japan-India Environmental Cooperation:
  • 1. Ad-hoc track 1 cooperation
  • 2. Institutionalized track 1 cooperation
  • 3. Track 1.5 cooperation
• IV. Case 3: Japan-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation:
  • 1. Ad-hoc track 1 cooperation
  • 2. Institutionalized track 1 cooperation
  • 3. Track 1.5 cooperation
• Conclusion: Track 1 to Track 1.5 Cooperation in East Asia

The concept of East Asian Community is discussed in both political and academic circles much more often today than in the past. The need for international environmental cooperation is also claimed in the same circles. Therefore, it is meaningful to study the current status of regional environmental cooperation in East Asia, as the global frameworks of environmental cooperation such as UNFCCC have not developed to produce a universally effective means of protecting the environment. This logic is similar to that of FTA researchers and policymakers who tend to deal more with regional than global economic arrangements in the face of the lack of progress in the development of universal trade arrangements at the global level, such as through WTO negotiations. How is regional environmental cooperation developing in East Asia? This paper conducts a qualitative case analysis of verifiable official documents and press releases. The analysis illustrates that ad-hoc environmental cooperation promotes institutionalized formal cooperation, and the latter promotes the emergence of track 1.5 cooperation and eventually constitutes the multi-layered development of environmental cooperation frameworks as a whole in East Asia. The supported hypothesis is meaningful also because the governmental sector, which suffers from limited budget for environmental cooperation, has begun to take advantage of the driving force of the market-driven corporate sector, which drives the deepening economic integration of East Asia, and diversified the sources of the stimuli of the cooperation.

Keywords: Regional environmental cooperation, Track 1.5, ODA, East Asia