After the wave of democratization and decentralization in several Asian nations in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a marked increase in environmental policy-making. However, social differences among the various countries led to diverse political consequences and therefore a diversity of environmental policies. This collaborative volume outlines political changes in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia during the past 20 years. Against this backdrop, it analyzes and compares environmental policies as well as future prospects for the environment in these countries.

Jeong Hoi-seong is president of the Institute for the Environment and Civilization, visiting professor at Hallym University, and president of the Korea Environmental Policy and Administration Society. He has served as president of the Korea Environmental Institute and advised for many governmental and private organizations, including the Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development. He has written several books and articles, including Understanding Environmental Policy (Parkyeonga Publisher’s Company, 2003, co-author) and Environment and Civilization at the Turning point (Jimo Publisher's Company, 2009).

Kim Jung-wk, a professor in environmental engineering at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, South Korea, is a co-author of The Waterway of Disaster: The Korea Peninsula Grand Canal (Doyo Environmental Foundation, 2008) and the author of “ Environmental Conflicts and Activism with Industrialization in South Korea” (CLAEN-Soil, Air, Water 36 [5-6], 419-42 [2008]).

Akihisa Mori, an associate professor at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan, is the author of Environmental Aid: Logic, Strategy and Evaluationof Environmental Aid for Sustainable Development (Yuhikaku, 2009, in Japanese; 2010 Society of Environmental Economics and Policy Studies promotion prize) and Economic Development and Environmental Policy in East Asia (Minerva Publishing, 2009, in Japanese) and co-editor of Environmental Policy in China: Achievement, Qualitative Analysis and Japanese Environmental Loan (Kyoto University Press, 2008).

Pasuk Phongpaichit, a professor at the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, has written widely in Thai and English on the Thai economy, Japanese investment, the sex industry, corruption, the illegal economy, and the social and environmental impact of development. Her books include Thailand: Economy and Politics (with Chris Baker, Oxford University Press, 1996; 1997 national research prize), Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand (Silkworm Books, 2004), A History of Thailand (Cambridge University Press, 2005), and Thai Capital after the 1997 Crisis (Silkworm Books, 2008).

Seo Wang-jin is a research professor at the Center for International Studies, Seoul National University, and director of the Institute for Environmental Justice, an affiliated organization of the Citizens' Movement for Environmental Justice. He has served as an environmental adviser for governmental organizations such as the Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development and the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee of the Ministry of Environment, as well as several local governments.

Budi Widianarko is a professor of environmental science in the Graduate Program on Environment and Urban Studies, Soegijapranata Catholic University, Indonesia. His main research interest is environmental pollution and food safety, water security and safety, and environmental governance. His publications include Environmental Toxicology in South East Asia (VU Press, Amsterdam, 1997) and “Can Hydrospirituality Ensure Water Sustainability?” [Global Spiral [May 2007] , Metanexus Institute, Philadelphia].

Jiunn-rong Yeh, a professor of Law and the director of the Policy and Law Center for Sustainable Development at the College of Law, National Taiwan University, has published books and articles covering topics such as environmental law and policy, global environmental sustainability, constitutional change and globalization, and regulatory process. He joined the Cabinet of Taiwan as a Minister without Portfolio in 2002, in charge of inter-ministerial coordination, and served as executive director of the National Council for Sustainable Development and the Council for Organic Reform, both of which were chaired by the premier.

Chen Yun, an associate professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, People's Republic of China, is the author of Transition and Development in China: Towards Shared Growth (Ashgate, 2009), and a co-author (with Ken Morita) of Transition, Regional Development and Globalization: China and Central Europe (World Scientific Publishing, 2010) and China’s Development and Capital Market (Taga Publishing, 2009, in ]apanese).