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The Risk Society and Policy Research Center of National Taiwan University used the opportunity of hosting the 6th International Symposium on Environmental and Social Sciences in East Asia to organize an East Asia Energy Transformation Forum in the afternoon of October 19. The forum invited the following speakers: Professor Koichi HASEGAWA, from Tohoku University in Japan, also the author of "Post-Nuclear Society," Professor Sun-Jin YUN from Seoul National University, who helps to drive the policy for next nuclear power plant in Seoul, and Professor Dowan KU, Director of Environment and Society Research Institute in Korea. The speakers share observations on the latest energy transition policies in Japan and South Korea. In addition, Associate Professor Tze-Luen Lin, from Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University, and Assistant Professor Shu-Fen Kao from Department of Sociology at Fo Guang University are also invited to join the forum. Scholars from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea jointly discussed key issues such as how to get rid of the contention of inherent political and economic system during the process of energy transformation, building consensus on social issues, and conducting specific actions to speed up social learnings.

Professor Hasegawa pointed out: To transform from a nuclear energy system to a renewable energy and energy efficiency system, strong political leaders supported by civil society are the key conditions; and regional renewable energy projects are the best actions to promote social learnings about energy transformation. A key to learning energy transition issues in various East Asian countries is about information exchange, particularly public communications and public discourse. For example, today's forum is an important opportunity.

Professor Dowan Ku suggests that national development should take into account the perspective of "ecological democracy," incorporating descendants and non-human beings into the process of democracy. The success of energy transformation includes three aspects: social movement (civil society), open public sphere (deliberation and communication, such as the importance of mass media) and political opportunity structure (governance system).

Professor Yin began by introducing the evolution and current situation of energy development in South Korea with various charts, pointing out the nuclear energy risk problem in South Korea and the transition challenges that non-nuclear society must face. Then he proposed several opportunities for South Korea in energy transformation, including the Central Government's determination to promote non-nuclear policy, the increase of local energy autonomy, and the decision-making process in energy policy that are democratic and communicative. Energy efficiency improvement and demand-side management are both policy priorities. In addition, the transparency of tariff pricing, the adjustment of electricity tariffs that internalizes social and environmental costs to promote the use of renewable energy and gas power generation, the integration of energy and climate change policies, and the promotion of technological investment in power generation for future generations, etc. all help energy transformation.

Then, Associate Professor Tze-Luen Lin pointed out that energy transition in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are all very dependent on the structure of political opportunities. At present, the force of citizen participation has not changed the mainstream thinking of developmentalism. More social support and public actions are still needed to make good use of political opportunities and to promote energy transformation related institutional work. Assistant Professor Shu-Fen Kao believes that the road to energy transformation is also a process of social learning together, and civil society's participation in energy transformation is of the utmost importance. At present, the government of Taiwan leads a large number of renewable energy projects from top to bottom. However, any renewable energy developments that are initiated locally, and develop from bottom to top (eg, civil power plants) should also be seriously treated by the government and society.

Director Kuei-Tien Chou concluded from the experiences from the three countries and QA sessions and pointed out that after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the people started to engage in reflexivity, opening up an opportunity for the revival of the anti-nuclear movement and the enhancement of civil society. The three countries must also deal with the risks posed by climate change. Facing the three major challenges of energy selection, industrial transformation and air pollution, the three countries need to exchange experiences with each other. The institutionalization of citizen participation will be able to support each other with energy and industrial transformation.