Japan's green aid plan: The limits of state-led technology transfer

Asian Survey

Volumn 40, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 825-842

  Evans, Peter C ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY; INTERNATIONAL AID; TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER;

JAPAN;

EID: 0342749452     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.1999.39.6.01p0031s     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. The concept for the Green Aid Plan was first unveiled in August 1991 by Minister of International Trade and Industry Eiichi Nakao in a speech in Bangkok, Thailand, titled "Toward the Further Development of Asian Economies in the 21st Century - a Proposal for New Energy and Environment Policy."
2. In the period 1990-96, pledges to the Multilateral Ozone Fund were $687.7 million of which $444.2 million had been paid by donors. See Frank Biermann, "Financing Environmental Policies in the South: Experiences from the Multilateral Ozone Fund," International Environmental Affairs 9:3 (Summer 1997), p. 186.
3. For a discussion of North-South environmental bargaining see Susan Sell, "North-South Environmental Bargaining: Ozone, Climate Change, and Biodiversity," Global Governance 2:1 (January-April 1996), pp. 97-118.
4. In early research on transboundary acid rain, Japanese government documents and even the media rarely mention China directly as the source of acid rain. Instead, they use the more ambiguous term tairiku or "the continent." See for example, "Sansei u to no kanren shiteki: Tairiku kara no eikyou mo" (Acid rain and the influence from the continent), Nihon keizai shinbun, July 5, 1994.
5. Atmospheric Science Department, Komae Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Komae-shi, Tokyo, Japan, e-mail communication, April 27, 1998.
6. "Acid Rain in Japan," in Japan Economic Cooperation, 1992 (Tokyo: Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Overseas Public Affairs Office, 1992), p. 197.
7. Koji Monta, "Coal Demand in the Pacific and Possible Environmental Problem," Coal in Asia-Pacific 5:4 (March 1994), p. 73. See also, "MITI Seeking Anti-pollution Funds," Nikkei Weekly, August 24, 1991.
8. Koji Monta, "Coal Demand in the Pacific and Possible Environmental Problem," Coal in Asia-Pacific 5:4 (March 1994), p. 73. See also, "MITI Seeking Anti-pollution Funds," Nikkei Weekly, August 24, 1991.
9. Miranda A. Schreurs, "The Devil in the Sky: Acid Rain in the Japanese Press," in Acid Rain and the Media: An International Comparison, eds. William C. Clark and Nancy Dickson (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, Center for Science and International Affairs Study in Environmental and Natural Resources, 1995).
10. "Helping Curb China's Pollution Problem Is in Japan's Own Interest," editorial, Nikkei Weekly, January 9, 1995, p. 6.
11. Ai Nakajima, "Aid Offered to Clean Environment Abroad," Nikkei Weekly, July 21, 1991.
12. For an analysis of China's energy situation and potential impact on Japan, see Hisahiro Kanayama, "The Future Impact of Energy Problems in China," Institute for International Policy Studies (IIPS) Policy Paper 124E (Tokyo: IIPS, June 1994).
13. Tsuyoshi Nakai, chief representative North East and Central Asia, NEDO, Beijing Office, author interview, July 1996. These views are consistent with the results of a MITI advisory panel in 1995 that advised China and ASEAN to rely more on coal as a power source and to rely less on oil. See "Asia Urged to Rely Less on Mideast Oil," Nikkei Weekly, June 5, 1995, p. 2; and Masato Ishizawa, "Aid to Asian Nations Planned to Boost Coal Output: Reduced Oil Dependence Sought in Japan's Unprecedented Technology Transfer in Region," Nikkei Weekly, September 4, 1995.
14. Tsuyoshi Nakai, chief representative North East and Central Asia, NEDO, Beijing Office, author interview, July 1996. These views are consistent with the results of a MITI advisory panel in 1995 that advised China and ASEAN to rely more on coal as a power source and to rely less on oil. See "Asia Urged to Rely Less on Mideast Oil," Nikkei Weekly, June 5, 1995, p. 2; and Masato Ishizawa, "Aid to Asian Nations Planned to Boost Coal Output: Reduced Oil Dependence Sought in Japan's Unprecedented Technology Transfer in Region," Nikkei Weekly, September 4, 1995.
15. Author interview, Yoshihiro Maeda, Agency for Energy and Natural Resources, MITI, July 9, 1998.
16. Edward J. Lincoln, Japan's New Global Role (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1993), pp. 160-200.
17. Sam Howe Verhovek, "Pollution Puts People in Peril on the Border with Mexico," New York Times, July 4, 1998. See also, Nicole T. Carter and Leonard Ortolano, "The Institutional Context of Water and Wastewater Projects in Mexican Border Municipalities" (paper presented at the Planning for Developing Countries and Borderlands Track of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning 40th Annual Conference, Pasadena, California, November 1998).
18. Sam Howe Verhovek, "Pollution Puts People in Peril on the Border with Mexico," New York Times, July 4, 1998. See also, Nicole T. Carter and Leonard Ortolano, "The Institutional Context of Water and Wastewater Projects in Mexican Border Municipalities" (paper presented at the Planning for Developing Countries and Borderlands Track of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning 40th Annual Conference, Pasadena, California, November 1998).
19. The Montreal Protocol is generally considered a successful case of regime creation to address a global externality. However, as Oye and Maxwell point out, this case is unusual in that the largest producers of the banned substance, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), benefited from this action because they had developed alternatives. It is more common for producers of a regulated substance to be harmed by bans and lobby against regulations. See Kenneth A. Oye and James H. Maxwell, "Self-Interest and Environmental Management," in Local Commons and Global Interdependence: Heterogeneity and Cooperation in Two Domains, eds. Robert O. Keohane and Elinore Ostrom (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1995), pp. 195-221.
20. Xuchang Xu et al., "The Air Pollution Control Measures in China" (paper presented at the Conference on International Aid and Clean and Efficient Coal Technology in China, Tokyo, January 1999).
21. The U.S. Department of Energy's efforts to secure funds to conduct a demonstration of advanced clean coal technology have been rejected by Congress. See Peter C. Evans, "Japan and the U.S. Diverge on Assistance to China," Japan Economic Institute, Report 19A, May 19, 1995.
22. "Special Report on Green Aid Plan: The Source of Revenue for MITI's Energy and Environmental Cooperation," Kokusai Kaihatsu Janaru (International development journal), June 1993, p. 86.
23. See among others, Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1982); Richard Samuels, The Business of the Japanese State: Energy Markets in Comparative and Historical Perspective (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1987); and Daniel Okimoto, Between MITI and the Market: Japanese Industrial Policy for High Technology (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989), pp. 152-61.
24. See among others, Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1982); Richard Samuels, The Business of the Japanese State: Energy Markets in Comparative and Historical Perspective (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1987); and Daniel Okimoto, Between MITI and the Market: Japanese Industrial Policy for High Technology (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989), pp. 152-61.
25. See among others, Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1982); Richard Samuels, The Business of the Japanese State: Energy Markets in Comparative and Historical Perspective (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1987); and Daniel Okimoto, Between MITI and the Market: Japanese Industrial Policy for High Technology (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989), pp. 152-61.
26. Key associations involved in the Green Aid Plan include the Japan Consulting Institute, Engineering Consulting Firms Association, Japan Iron and Steel Federation, and the Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade. Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) is an umbrella organization and therefore is involved through the participation of its member associations such as the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, which has its offices in the Keidanren building.
27. Even those that argue for the most limited role for government acknowledge the critical role that governments play in defining and enforcing property rights. See Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962), pp. 22-34.
28. This approach has been adopted only in one project in China supported by the Global Environment Facility. This project has provided $33 million in grants to upgrade or introduce new more efficient models of industrial boilers manufactured in China. These funds are being combined with $68 million provided by Chinese institutions to pay part or all of the licenses, royalties and technical assistance provided by Western companies selected through competitive bidding. See China Efficient Industrial Boilers: Project Document, Report No. 16132-CHA (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, Global Environmental Facility, November 1996).
29. Author interviews with Haruhiko Masuda, Policy Planning Department; Nobuhiko Kobayashi, International Cooperation Center; and Tadashi Miyase, Clean Coal Technology Center, NEDO, Tokyo, December 17, 1997.
30. Author interview, Madame Yang, director, Project Management Office, Ministry of Machinery, Beijing, July 15, 1998.
31. Author interviews with company representatives in Tokyo and Beijing at Ebara Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, July 1997 and July 1998.
32. It is worth noting that the GEF industrial boiler project has had difficulty attracting interest from Western firms. Many of the biggest and most well-known companies have declined to participate.
33. The importance of having a reference plant was raised in interviews with companies doing business in China.
34. A good example is the case of Japan's Ebara Corporation, which used approximately $12 million of its own corporate funds to demonstrate its electron-beam flue gas desulfurization process at a power plant in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. This project was completed in 1997. The company has won contracts for three projects using Green Aid Plan monies (two in China and one in the Philippines), but its request to receive funds to demonstrate the electron-beam technology were rejected, requiring the company to use internal resources in order to go forward with the demonstration of the electron-beam technology.
35. Author interviews with officials from the Ministry of Electric Power, Huangdao Thermal Power Station, Taiyuan First Thermal Power Station, and Longyuan Power-Enviro Technology Development Co., July 1996 and July 1998.