Editors
Saburo Horikawa, Yoichi Yuasa, Atsushi Hamamoto, Masatoshi Sasaoka
Authors(ordered sequentially by chapter)
Saburo Horikawa, Yoichi Yuasa, Atsushi Hamamoto, Masatoshi Sasaoka, Yuuki Tomozawa, Lee Sang-Hun, Chou Kuei-Tien, Chang Jui-Ning, Zhang Yulin, Ryoichi Terada, Paul Jobin, Catherine Mei Ling Wong
Overview:
- Explores the words, ideas, and philosophies belonging to environmental victims' movements in East Asia.
- Investigates the present state of environmental sociology in East Asia.
- Examines how the notion of "environmental justice" in East Asia differs from that of the West.
About this Book:
This book explores environmental victims' movements and how they have shaped the history of East Asia. The book focuses on the impact of these movements and whether the ideas of environmental justice in this region align with Western concepts or whether they take a different approach.
Bringing together leading researchers in the field and using in-depth case studies from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China, the chapters trace the evolution of victims’ movements, uncover their distinctive characteristics, and reveal the forms of environmental sociology they have inspired. Offering fresh insights into the intersection of social activism and environmental change, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in environmental justice, social movements, and the dynamics of East Asian societies.
In the pursuit of achieving 2050 Net-Zero targets, decarbonization without exacerbating regional development imbalances has become a shared challenge in global climate governance. In early 2025, Taiwan introduced the “Net-Zero Pathway: Taiwan’s Comprehensive Carbon Reduction Action Plan,” identifying “regional equity” as one of the four pillars of a Just Transition. However, translating this principle into actionable policy tools requires a robust, evidence-based foundation.
Since 2017, the Risk Society and Policy Research Center at National Taiwan University has continuously monitored Taiwan's top ten greenhouse gas (GHG)-emitting enterprises. Beginning in 2019, the Center has regularly published the "Tracking Corporate Climate Action" feature, tracking emission changes among Taiwan's high-carbon industries and enterprises. As the feature enters its seventh year in 2025, we continue to update data on GHG emissions from major emitters required to conduct inventory and registration, as announced by the Ministry of Environment (for 2023).
The book launch for the research monograph, Taiwan in Net-Zero Transition: An East Asian Perspective on Developmental Environmentalism (2025), authored by Dr. Kuei-Tien Chou, Director of the Risk Society and Policy Research Center (RSPRC) and Professor at the Graduate Institute of National Development, National Taiwan University (NTU), was held in late October, 2025.
The East Asian environmental sociology network originated from the ISESEA network, co-founded in 2007 by scholars from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and other regions. This community organizes a biennial Symposium , with hosting duties rotating among Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. This year (2025) marked the 10th Symposium , with NTU’s RSPRC once again serving as Taiwan’s host institution after previously hosting the event in 2017.
