Comparison of Successful Tackling Experiences and Future Challenges of Air Pollutant in China and Japan

UC Davis, Davis CA 95616, United States

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Within the global trend of environmental protection and emission reducing, many nations struggle with maintaining their industrial growth without cutting pollution controls at the same time more stricter promises of doing so. The article attempts to add a comparative outlook through the reflections on the experiences of two large Northeast Asian economies, China and Japan, both of which are typified with diverse dominant pollutants and governance environments. By placing emphasis on the major steps in their pollution control pathways, the review would be able to synthesize the processing of evidence on the regulatory changes, policy tools and the progressive development of manufacturing and technologies. Combining such institutional and technological changes, with the regional economic structure and long-term trends of pollutant concentration, the article focuses on how various development backgrounds determine viable actions of mitigation. Specific focus is put on the discovery of trends that are consistent across the national setting, and limitations that are closely tied to the region. Instead of proposing prescriptive measures, this review demonstrates the joint actions of phased policy interventions and incremental technological upgrading in leading to air quality improvements, as well as demonstrating the structuring constraints that come with energy reliance, industrial form, and transportation intensity. By employing this comparative synthesis, the article seeks to explain how air pollution in China and Japan has been addressed and to profile common approaches and lingering issues that can be used to shape future research and policy formulation in the exercise of similar transitions within economies.