1st Edition

Routledge Handbook of Environment and Society in Asia

Edited By Paul G. Harris, Graeme Lang Copyright 2015
    492 Pages
    by Routledge

    492 Pages 43 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Nowhere is the connection between society and the environment more evident and potentially more harmful for the future of the world than in Asia. In recent decades, rapid development of Asian countries with very large populations has led to an unprecedented increase in environmental problems such as air and water pollution, solid and hazardous wastes, deforestation, depletion of natural resources and extinction of native species.



    This handbook provides a comprehensive survey of the cultural, social and policy contexts of environmental change across East Asia. The team of international experts critically examine a wide range of environmental problems related to energy, climate change, air, land, water, fisheries, forests and wildlife.





    The editors conclude that, with nearly half of the human population of the planet, and several rapidly growing economies, most notably China, Asian societies will determine much of the future of human impacts on the regional and global environments. As climate change-related threats to society increase, the book strongly argues for increased environmental consciousness and action in Asian societies. This handbook is a very valuable companion for students, scholars, policy makers and researchers working on environmental issues in Asia.

    Part 1: Introduction  1. East Asia and the Environment: A Thematic Introduction  Part 2: Human Contexts  2. Human Rights and the Environment: Making the Connections  3. Environmental Justice and Civil Society: Case Studies from Southeast Asia  4. Literature and the Environment: Local Approaches to Ecocriticism  Part 3: Politics and Policy  5. Environmental Policy in East Asia: Institutions in Comparative Perspective  6. Paradoxes of Democratization: Environmental Politics in East Asia  7. Nongovernmental Organizations and Environmental Protests: Impacts in East Asia  8. Corporations and the Environment in East Asia: Responsibilities and Responses of Businesses  Part 4: Air, Land and Water  9. Air Pollution: Inventories, Regional Control and Institutions  10. Seeing through the Smog: China’s Air Pollution Challenge for East Asia  11. Municipal Solid Waste: The Burgeoning Environmental Threat  12. Water Scarcity and Pollution in South and Southeast Asia: Problems and Challenges  13. Dams: Controlling Water but Creating Problems  14. Food and Agriculture: Security, Globalization and Technology  Part 5: Fisheries, Forests and Wildlife  15. Fisheries in East Asia: Political, Economic and Security Challenges  16. Coral Reefs: Artisanal Fisheries and Community-based Management  17. Protecting the Marine Environment: Controlling Pollution in the Coral Triangle  18. Governance of Forests: Regional Institutions in East Asia  19. Wildlife Consumption: Cultural and Environmental Values in China and Southeast Asia  Part 6: Energy and Climate Change  20. Drivers of Climate Change in East Asia: The Energy Dilemma  21. Vulnerabilities to Climate Change: Adaptation in the Asia-Pacific  22. Impacts of Climate Change: Challenges of Flooding in Coastal East Asia  23. East Asia’s Renewable Energy Strategies: Low-Carbon Developmentalism in the Making  24. Explaining Low Carbon Development in Asia: The Case of China  25. Nuclear Energy in Asia: End of the Renaissance?  Part 7: Conclusion  26. Environmental Change in Asian Societies: Lessons Learned and Future Directions

    Biography

    Paul G. Harris is Chair Professor of Global and Environmental Studies at the Education University of Hong Kong.



    Graeme Lang is a Professor in the Department of Asian and International Studies at the City University of Hong Kong.