Trajectories of Japanese and South Korean Environmental Aid: A Comparative Historical Analysis

TY - JOUR

T1 - Trajectories of Japanese and South Korean Environmental Aid

T2 - A Comparative Historical Analysis

AU - Tonami, Aki

AU - Müller, Anders Riel

PY - 2014/6

Y1 - 2014/6

N2 - Environmental aid has become a major component of development aid. We analyzed the contingent characters of environmental aid of Japan and South Korea using the definition of Williams, which regards aid policy as donor driven and autobiographical of the donor agencies and societies from which they sprang. Both Japan and South Korea consider environmental aid as an important tool of their diplomacy. A combination of a moral obligation and domestic, international, political, and economic interests underpin both countries’ environmental aid policy. Seen from the stated policies and practices, both countries use accounts of their past as once- developing countries trying to catch up in their aid narrative. In this manner, the environmental aid of Japan and South Korea is autobiographic, reflecting their interpretation of their own development history and position in global politics.

AB - Environmental aid has become a major component of development aid. We analyzed the contingent characters of environmental aid of Japan and South Korea using the definition of Williams, which regards aid policy as donor driven and autobiographical of the donor agencies and societies from which they sprang. Both Japan and South Korea consider environmental aid as an important tool of their diplomacy. A combination of a moral obligation and domestic, international, political, and economic interests underpin both countries’ environmental aid policy. Seen from the stated policies and practices, both countries use accounts of their past as once- developing countries trying to catch up in their aid narrative. In this manner, the environmental aid of Japan and South Korea is autobiographic, reflecting their interpretation of their own development history and position in global politics.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - environmental aid

KW - East Asia

KW - Japan

KW - South Korea

KW - policy analysis

KW - aid as autobiography

U2 - 10.1177/1070496513510518

DO - 10.1177/1070496513510518

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1070-4965

VL - 23

SP - 191

EP - 219

JO - Journal of Environment and Development

JF - Journal of Environment and Development

IS - 2

ER -