Northeast Asia is a region with highly disparate levels of industrialization and political systems. It also contains some very troubling security flashpoints the Taiwan Strait, the Korean Peninsula, and the East China Sea. China s rapacious quest for energy and rapid industrial expansion have led to intense international competition with Japan and the United States and internal instability as well. North Korea poses two distinct environmental security threats: famine refugees and the regime s use of nuclear blackmail for subsidized energy. Yet there is very little regional cooperation, despite the need to manage disputes over energy, natural resources, and pervasive pollution. The Environmental Dimension of Asian Security examines these issues through a regional environmental security complex that explores the potential for greater intersubjective understandings of regional environmental and natural resource problems and greater institutional collaboration and management."
The share of global CO2 emissions from the core Northeast Asian (NEA) countries in 2015 was estimated to be as high as 33.63 percent. Representing 28.21, 3.67, and 1.75 percent of total global emissions, China, Japan, and South Korea were ranked the first, fifth, and seventh largest contributors, respectively. Some parts of China, the Republic of Mongolia, the Russian Far East, and Southeast Asia have long been on serious alert due to accelerated deforestation. With their rapid population growth and economic development, the core countries of Northeast Asia are responsible both directly and indirectly for numerous environmental problems. Urgent individual and collective action is required from the region’s governments. Against the backdrop of debate on how to understand Northeast Asia as a "region," Park focuses on the major regional economies of China, Japan, and South Korea, along with Russia, North Korea, and the Republic of Mongolia, due to both their geopolitical proximity and their significance to the region. The author attempts to answer the questions: "How far has regional environmental cooperation progressed in Northeast Asia?"; and "Why are Northeast Asian countries reluctant to cooperate further on urgent transboundary and regional environmental issues?"
This report examines environmental progress made by Korea since 1997 and evaluates the extent to which domestic environmental objects and international commitments are being met.
This is a summary of UNEP's activities in 2006. The main purpose of UNEP is to encourage international co-operation in preserving and protecting the environment. This objective is developed alongside other United Nations departments and international governments by addressing issues such as climate change and sustainable development challenges. Environmental issues also tie into poverty reduction and the general development strategies as set out in the Millennium Development Goals. The theme of this particular annual report is change; climate change; energy change, ecosystem change, and how such change, with impact on future generations.
"Globalization and China's growing economy have caused different economic growth rates, resulting in constant fluctuations in the balance of power among the nations of Northeast Asia. This publication explores regional institutionalism as a counterweight to the principle of sovereignty. It argues that cooperation through regional institution-building is the best way to deal with the growing intertwinement of global issues and developments and the needs and interests at the regional and national levels. A unified region could also answer the demand for supra-territorial policy responses to such issues as trade, finance, the environment, human rights, and human security"--Publisher's description.