Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Environmental Justice in Asia

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Global Sustainability

  • 48 Accesses

Abstract

The concept of environmental justice has been introduced to Asia in the 1990s, with its definition embedded in each country’s unique sociopolitical situation. However, it has not yet spread to legal and political discourse in most Asian states. Industrial growth, urbanization, and natural resource extraction in Asia have caused severe environmental pollution and environment-related social disparity which are eroding sustainability in Asia. In addition to income-based and rural-urban environmental injustices, there exist indigenous environmental injustices. Nonetheless, most Asian nations do not officially recognize environmental racism which is the original factor in environmental justice movements in the USA. Although the realization of environmental justice in general is still challenging, it is still evaluated as an important emerging concept useful for solving the problems of disproportionate environmental distribution and burden in Asian countries. This chapter addresses environmental justice issues in Asia from both regional and national perspectives. It first briefly overviews environmental justice in Asia in a regional context (East, South and Southeast, North and Central, and West Asia). It then examines environmental justice in four specific states in Asia (Japan, China, India, and Mongolia).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 799.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 1,299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agyeman J, Ogneva-Himmelberger Y (eds) (2009) Environmental justice and sustainability in the former Soviet Union. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/London

    Google Scholar 

  • Akyüz E (2021) Nuclear power and human rights in Japan: the fallout of Fukushima. Lexington Books, Lanham

    Google Scholar 

  • Avenell S (2012) From fearsome pollution to Fukushima: environmental activism and the nuclear blind spot in contemporary Japan. Environ Hist 17(2):244–276. https://doi.org/10.1093/envhis/emr154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avenell S (2017) Transnational Japan in the global environmental movement. University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Balme R (2014) Mobilizing for environmental justice in China. Asia Pac J Public Adm 36(3):173–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2014.942066

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baranovitch N (2016) The 2011 protests in Inner Mongolia: an ethno-environmental perspective. China Q 225:214–233. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741015001642

  • Basu P (2020) Environmental justice in South and Southeast Asia: inequalities and struggles in rural and urban contexts. In: Holifield R, Chakraborty J, Walker G (eds) The Routledge handbook of environmental justice, 1st edn. Routledge, London/New York, pp 603–614

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck L, Mendel T, Thindwa J (2007) The enabling environment for social accountability in Mongolia. World Bank, Ulaanbaatar

    Google Scholar 

  • Byambajav D (2015) The river movements’ struggle in Mongolia. Soc Mov Stud J Soc Cult Polit Protest 14(1):92–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2013.877387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chuluu, K. E. (2021). The Tongpo case: indigenous institutions and environmental justice in China. Crit Asian Stud 53(1):1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2020.1854616

  • Erdenebayar E, Santos KD, Edwards A, Dugersuren N, Ochir C, Nriagu J (2019) Environmental injustice and childhood lead exposure in peri-urban (ger) areas of Darkhan and Erdenet, Mongolia. BMC Public Health 19(1):163–173. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6486-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan MF, Chou KT (2020) Environmental justice in a transitional and transboundary context in East Asia. In: Holifield R, Chakraborty J, Walker G (eds) The Routledge handbook of environmental justice, 1st edn. Routledge, London/New York, pp 615–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrington JD (2005) The impact of mining activities on Mongolia’s protected areas: a status report with policy recommendations. Integr Environ Assess Manag 1(3):283–289. https://doi.org/10.1897/2004-008R.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill GN (2016) Environmental justice in India: the National Green Tribunal and expert members. Transnatl Environ Law 5(1):1–31. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2047102515000278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jian K (2005) Environmental justice: can an American discourse make sense in Chinese environmental law? Temp J Sci Technol Environ Law 24:253–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Joines J (2012) Globalization of e-waste and the consequence of development: a case study of China. J Soc Justice 2:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Jolly S (2021) The Vendanta (Niyamgiri) case: promoting environmental justice and sustainable development. In: Atapattu SA, Gonzalez CG, Seck SL (eds) The Cambridge handbook of environmental justice and sustainable development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 289–302

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kalas PR (2000) Environmental justice in India. Asia-Pac J Hum Rights Law 1(1):97–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kayaba Y, Yoshigaki F (2019) Ainu lawsuit over fishing rights test case for much larger issues. The Asahi Shimbun. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13646254. Accessed 29 May 2021

  • Kumamoto, H. (2008). “A chain of injustice”: an environmental justice perspective on the US base and Henoko, Nago-city. J Environ Sociol, 14(0):219–233 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin M (1999) Kayano et al. v. Hokkaido Expropriation Committee: ‘The Nibutani Dam Decision’. Int Leg Mater 38:394–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin MA (2001) Essential commodities and racial justice: using constitutional protection of Japan’s indigenous Ainu people to inform understandings of the United States and Japan. NY Univ J Int Law Polit 33:419–526

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis JG (2007) The minimum means of reprisal: China’s search for security in the nuclear age. American Academy of Arts and Sciences/MIT Press, Cambridge, MA

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J (2015) Environmental justice with Chinese characteristics: recent developments in using public interest litigation to strengthen access to environmental justice. Fla A&M Univ Law Rev 7(2):229–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu L, Liu J, Zhang Z (2014) Environmental justice and sustainability impact assessment: in search of solutions to ethnic conflicts caused by coal mining in Inner Mongolia, China. Sustainability 6(12):8756–8774. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6128756

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mah A, Wang X (2017) Research on environmental justice in China: limitations and possibilities. Chin J Environ Law 1:263–272. https://doi.org/10.1163/24686042-12340016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metzo K (2009) Civil society and the debate over pipelines in Tunka National Park, Russia. In: Agyeman J, Ogneva-Himmelberger Y (eds) Environmental justice and sustainability in the former Soviet Union. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/London, pp 119–152

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Moore P, Pastakia F (eds) (2007) Environmental justice and rural communities: studies from India and Nepal. IUCN, Bangkok/Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori M (2008) Environmental pollution and bio-politics: the epistemological constitution in Japan’s 1960s. Geoforum 39:1466–1479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moses E (2020) Mongolia shows how to fight for environmental justice. World Resource Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/mongolia-shows-how-fight-environmental-justice. Accessed 19 May 2021

  • Murakami, S. (2019). Japan’s Ainu recognition bill: what does it mean for Hokkaido’s indigenous people? The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/02/25/reference/japans-ainu-recognition-bill-mean-hokkaidos-indigenous-people/. Accessed 29 May 2021

  • Nguyen Q, Tsang L, Yang T (2021) China’s cancer villages. In: Atapattu SA, Gonzalez CG, Seck SL (eds) The Cambridge handbook of environmental justice and sustainable development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 257–270

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nixon R (2011) Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Nomani ZM (2015) Environmental security and sustainability in West Asia. In: Rahman A (ed) West Asia in transition: issues, perspectives and global concerns. Academic Excellence, Delhi, pp 234–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyima Y, Yeh ET (2016) Environmental issues and conflict in Tibet. In: Hillman B, Tuttle G (eds) Ethnic conflict and protest in Tibet and Xinjiang: unrest in China’s west. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 151–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberender S (2015) Environmental injustice in occupied Palestinian territory: problems and prospects. Al-Haq

    Google Scholar 

  • Otede U (2019) The environmental protest movement in Inner Mongolia. In: Wright T (ed) Handbook of protest and resistance in China. Edward Elgar Publication, pp 406–416. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786433787.00042

  • Pangsapa P (2015) Environmental justice and civil society: case studies from Southeast Asia. In: Harris PG, Lang G (eds) Routledge handbook of environment and society in Asia. Routledge, Oxon, pp 36–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Rajan SR (2014) A history of environmental justice in India. Environ Justice 7(5):117–121. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2014.7501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy B (2019) India’s environmental justice movements. Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania. https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/brototiroy. Accessed 25 May 2021

  • Schlosberg D (2009) Defining environmental justice: theories, movements, and nature. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrader-Frechette K (2012) Nuclear catastrophe, disaster-related environmental injustice, and Fukushima, Japan: prima-facie evidence for a Japanese “Katrina”. Environ Justice 5(3):133–139. https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2011.0045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sowers J (2018) Environmental activism in the Middle East and North Africa. In: Verhoeven H (ed) Environmental politics in the Middle East: local struggles, global connections. C Hurst & Company Pub Limited, pp 27–52. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190916688.003.0002

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stucker D (2009) Environmental injustices, unsustainable livelihoods, and conflict: natural capital inaccessibility and loss among rural households in Tajikistan. In: Agyeman J, Ogneva-Himmelberger Y (eds) Environmental justice and sustainability in the former Soviet Union. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/London, pp 237–274

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki Y (2013) Conflict between mining development and nomadism in Mongolia. In: Yamamura N, Fujita N, Maekawa A (eds) The Mongolian ecosystem network: environmental issues under climate and social changes. Springer, pp 269–294

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Taniguchi M, Matunaka R, Yamamoto Y (2006) Appearance of environmental justice and introduction to planning. Doboku Keikaku Gaku Kenkyū: Ronbunshū 23(2):319–324 (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Upton C (2012) Mining, resistance and pastoral livelihoods in contemporary Mongolia. In: Dierkes J (ed) Change in democratic Mongolia: social relations, health, mobile pastoralism, and mining. Brill, Leiden, pp 221–248. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004231474_012

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Walker G (2012) Environmental justice: concept, evidence, and politics. Routledge, Oxon

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Watters K (2009) The fight for community justice against big oil in the Caspian region: the case of Berezovka, Kazakhstan. In: Agyeman J, Ogneva-Himmelberger Y (eds) Environmental justice and sustainability in the former Soviet Union. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/London, pp 153–188

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Yeh ET (2013) The politics of conservation in contemporary rural China. J Peasant Stud 40(6):1165–1188. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2013.859575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhukovskaya NL (2009) Heritage versus big business: lessons from the Yukos affair. Inner Asia 11(1):157–167. https://doi.org/10.1163/000000009793066659

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Khohchahar E. Chuluu

Authors
  1. Khohchahar E. Chuluu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Khohchahar E. Chuluu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Robert Brinkmann

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Chuluu, K.E. (2023). Environmental Justice in Asia. In: Brinkmann, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01949-4_76

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation