Restructuring Environmental Policy in Japan: The 1990s and Beyond

Japan's environmental policy has shifted its focus from domestic pollution control in the 1960s and 70s to global environmental policy initiatives in the 1990s, most visibly demonstrated by its hosting of the Kyoto conference on global warming in 1997. This article reviews the nation's effort to restructure its environmental administration and policy since the 1990s and assesses its promises and shortcomings. The discussion includes administrative reform and its impact on environmental policy, Japan's domestic and diplomatic responses to global warming, environmental ODA, and the public's environmental consciousness. It concludes that the administrative restructuring that took place at the beginning of 2001 is but one part of the change Japan needs to undergo in order to realize its goal of sustainable development at home and to live up to the promises its environmental diplomacy has made, including the successful implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.