Center for Northeast Asian Studies Tohoku University Faculty

Ishii Atsushi
Associate professor

International relations, sociology of science and technology

Bringing Regions Together through Environmental Cooperation

Although in Japan the idea of environmental cooperation with Northeast Asia has been under discussion for some time, experts have yet to develop a well-reasoned model that indicates how Japan should work together with the nations of Northeast Asia to achieve this goal. Researchers working toward such a model should not be satisfied with merely analyzing how environmental cooperation works and what factors determine its failure or success. What they must do instead is first, to work to incorporate local perspectives into standards for evaluating environmental cooperation by collaborating with scholars from the different countries and sharing understanding with them about environmental issues, and second, to argue for more integrated outlooks toward environmental issues, which should be viewed not as a series of isolated problems but as parts of a larger whole.

The Tumen River, along the border between China and North Korea, is one region where improvement and international management of the environment is currently a pressing issue

Principal areas of interest

●	Environmental issues in North Korea
●	Combining Science and Technology and Society studies with international relations theory (diplomatory science)
●	International negotiations and domestic policies related to climate change
●	International negotiations and environmental cooperation relating to cross-border acid rain in Europe, North America, and Asia
●	Scientific assessment and international environmental regimes
●	Interlinkages between environmental issues

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