International Development and the Environment : Social Consensus and Cooperative Measures for Sustainability

This book analyzes the interplay between development and the environment, focusing on how to forge social consensus and practices in the international community. Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, sustainable development has increasingly attracted the attention of the international community, and several international agreements have been concluded to combat issues such as climate change. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced as common objectives, and the Paris Agreement was adopted as a subsequent outcome. In light of today’s globalized world, how to best achieve sustainable development—and prioritize climate change in particular—is an issue involving various perspectives on the environment and economic development in the global community.

The book provides students, businesspeople and government officials with a concept of sustainable development that is based on using social consensus, social norms, and practices (cooperative global actions) to achieve common goals. It is divided into three parts, the first of which focuses on the goals and development needed to achieve sustainable development. The second part explores measures to promote sustainable development, while the third highlights current climate change issues and aspects related to the effective implementation of international frameworks.

Shiro HORI is a professor at the Central Research Institute of Fukuoka University, Japan. He has worked closely with business, governments and international organizations, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). He was Vice Chair of the IEA’s Energy Technology Committee, and a member of government delegations to the UNFCCC. He has also worked with the Japanese government and Japan International Cooperation Agency, engaging in environmental and economic development, especially in Asian countries. His research interests include: the role of social norms in strengthening international environmental regimes and the business community, climate change mitigation and international consensus, global energy policy, and social consensus on nuclear energy. He has published several books in the fields of energy and global environment.

Yukari TAKAMURA is a professor at the Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study (UTIAS), Japan. She studied at the Graduate School of the University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), France (1993–1995) and was a visiting researcher at the University of London, UK (2000–2001). Her main research interest is in public international law, especially international law of the environment. She is the author or co-author of many books and articles, including “Climate Change and Small Island Claims in the Pacific” in Climate Change: International Law and Global Governance, Volume I: Legal Responses and Global Responsibility (Nomos, 2013).

Toshiyuki Fujita is a professor at the Faculty of Economics, Kyushu University, Japan. He has conducted extensive research concerning mathematical model analyses of international cooperation on environmental issues. His research interests include: efficiency of clean development mechanisms, self-enforcing international environmental agreements, and the effects of uncertainty and irreversibility on environmental policies. He has published several books in the field of environmental economics, including Basic Studies in Environmental Knowledge, Technology, Evaluation, and Strategy (Springer, 2016), and several articles including “A self-enforcing international environmental agreement on matching rates: Can it bring about an efficient and equitable outcome?” (Strategic Behavior and the Environment, 2013).

Norichika KANIE is a professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Japan. He is also a visiting professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, guest professor at the University of Tokyo, and a former visiting professor at SciencesPo and Marie Curie Incoming International Fellow of the European Commission. He is currently the external director of RENOVA, Inc., a member of the council committee at the Center for Environmental Information Science, and a member of the Committee on Sustainable Development Goals Stakeholder’s Meeting, Government of Japan. His research group chiefly focuses on issues of sustainability governance in the era of Earth system transformation, and particularly on institutional architectures and agency. He has published many books, including co-editing books Governing through Goals (MIT Press 2017); Improving Global Environmental Politics (Routledge 2014); and climate change in Asia (UNU Press 2008).