WWS Spring 2020

SATO

Mainstreaming Climate/Environment in Asia
WWS 402e Policy Task Force(Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University)
Thursdays 7:30-10:00pm
Instructor:
Jin SATO
Senior Commissioner:
Jane Sul
Course objectives:
Asia accounts for 60% of the world population, while producing more than 30% of theglobal GDP. The region is also known for its hot spots of greenhouse gas emissions, waterand air pollution, forest degradation, and biodiversity loss, all of which may invite large-scale
natural disasters.
Prioritizing the environmental agenda is a challenge, especially in countries still sufferingfrom poverty and domestic inequality. It is estimated that China alone has 10 million poor
people living under the budget of $1.90 (international poverty line) a day. Under suchconditions, it is natural that governments place greater emphasis on economic development
and infrastructure buildings at the expense of the environment. Where economic
development is urgently sought after, what role can UN agencies play in mainstreaming anenvironmental agenda?
The overall goal of this policy task force is to identify key dilemmas/trade-offs between
environment and sustainable development in the context of Asia (e.g., mining and forest
conservation, energy development and pollution control), and to suggest strategies to theUN agencies (as well as to the donor communities) how best to mainstream environmental
agendas. We focus particularly on how the international community can help countries
address the question of inequality (i.e., uneven impacts on different groups of people urban vs rural, gender, or socio-economic and ethnic groups) in pursuing environmental
and sustainability objectives: the question often masked by economic growth.
The first third of the semester will consist of short lectures on broader themes ofenvironment and development in Asia, followed by a discussion on assigned readings.
Students are expected to explore and narrow down their paper topics by Week 4. Please bereminded that none of the readings are meant to replace your own analysis based on yourown research.
The second part of the course consists of guest lectures and the following discussions.
Guest lecturers are mostly practitioners who have had hands-on experiences working withaspects of “mainstreaming environment”. They offer excellent opportunities to “test” yourown ideas and explore topics to include in your final report.
The final section will concentrate on practice presentations – not just to develop
presentation skills, but also the ideas and how they can come together as one unified
recommendation. The grand finale will take the form of final presentations in front of theUN officers in NYC in early May.
Grades:50% Task Force Research Paper
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10% Briefing Paper of Research Paper
15% Oral Presentation
25% Group Participation
Possible Topics:
The following are the possible questions that could be asked to guide each paper. They
are examples and you are expected to use these to develop your own question. Sample
questions are grouped into 1) country case studies, and 2) thematic and methodologicalstudies. Group 1 type of questions mostly emphasize the conflict between the long-terminterests of a particular country (and of the globe) and short-term economic interests. Yet,certain conflicts may arise among the long-term goods (e.g., national security and theenvironment). Group 2 expands to address cross national and systematic topics.
Please develop two or three scenarios and discuss topic choices individually with theinstructor during Week 2 to ensure minimal overlap of research themes. Try to come up
with better ways to frame the question as the term progresses, especially in line withquestions asked by your classmates working on other chapters.
Examples of Country Case Studies
1) How can China reduce air pollution where majority of the rural poor must rely on coalenergy?
2) How can Malaysia and Indonesia protect their forest when oil palm is making so muchmoney for the farmers and the government?
3) How can Japan attain CO2 emission target without giving up on nuclear power as areliable energy source?
4) How can poor countries like Laos and Cambodia conserve its forest and contribute tocombatting global climate change while accelerating economic development andreducing inequalities?
5) How are island countries like the Philippines coping with sea level rise disaster risk ?
Examples of Thematic/Methodological Studies
6) Rural development and climate: What are the connections, what policies should takeplace in view of SDGs?
7) Indicators: What are the appropriate indictors for measuring progress in environmental
conservation?
8) Finance: How can we finance SDGs in general and climate change mitigation inparticular?
9) Actors: What is the role of regional organization such as ASEAN?
10) Science and technology: How does science relate to policy decision? What are theimpacts of technology on climate change?
Course Format:
This class is tailored towards improving individual junior papers with a common interest
striving to make a practical impact to our client (i.e., the UN). Typically, our meeting consistsof a combination of short lectures and discussions based on assigned readings. The lecture
will provide a broader background on weekly topics, while the discussion will be geared more
towards drafting the final recommendations. While the immediate goal of the task force is2

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to come up with powerful policy recommendations, the ultimate goal is for students tounderstand the key dilemmas of environmental mainstreaming in the Asian context and how
best to address them in individual papers.
Each class will have two discussion facilitators who will jointly prepare what questions todiscuss and why they are important based on the assigned readings. While we expect
everyone to read the assigned readings, the facilitators should re-emphasize the main pointsof each reading before moving on to the discussion. If you are assigned to one of the guest
lecture series, you are expected to lead the discussion based on the main topic of the day.
Schedule:
Week 1 (Feb 6) Introduction to the Theme
Topics: (1) Overview of environment and development agenda globallywith specific attention to Asia
(2) The role of policy recommendations and the shifting of(1) ADB Report on Asian Environment
international agenda from MDGs to SDGs

Discussion:

Student Work: Explore paper topics

Read:1) Asian Development Bank. 2017. A Region at Risk: The Human Dimensions of
Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific. ADB.
2) Lidia Brito. 2012. “Analyzing Sustainable Development Goals,” Science Vol. 336.
Issue 6087, pp. 1396-1396.
Week 2 (Feb 13) What is the Problem? What is a (good) Policy Paper?
Topics:1) What exactly is the “climate problem” in Asia?
2) Discussion on 3 assigned readings (two facilitators)
3) How are policy papers different from research papers?

Discussions lead by Mayank and Jenny:

Student Work: Start researching on individual topics. Explore past JPs.
Student Work: Selection of topics
Lecture: Framing Environmental Problems
Read: 1) World Social Report 2021 (draft concept note)
2) World Economic and Social Survey 2016: Climate Change Resilience: an opportunity
for reducing inequalities. UN DESA.
3) Fukuda-Parr, S. 2019. “Keeping Out Extreme Inequality from the SDG
Agenda–The Politics of Indicators,” Global Policy Vol. 10, Supplement 1, 61-69.
Recommended Reading:
Susskind, L. 2001. Better Environmental Policy Studies. Island Press.

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*Please make individual appointments with the instructor regarding topic selection.
Prepare a prospectus and a drafting plan (time table) prior to the meeting.
Week 3 (Feb 20) Anatomy of Climate/Environmental Policies
Topics: Why not follow the logic of “grow first, clean up later”? Why do we needmainstreaming?
Student Work: Continue researching on individual topics

Lecture: Policy Process: Inside the State
Read:1) Keohane, R. 2015. “Global Politics for Climate Change: Challenge for PoliticalScience,” PS, Political Science & Politics 48.1 : 19-26.
2) Sato, J. 2011. “State Inaction in Resource Governance: Natural Resource Controland Bureaucratic Oversight in Thailand,” in Sato, J. ed. Governance of Natural
Resources: Social Purpose of Materials in Nature. UNU Press.
Week 4 (Feb 27) The Role of UN in Environmental Mainstreaming

Topics: What is the priority of the UN? How does UN work?
Start Drafting: Make appointments with the instructor as necessary.
Student Work: Adjust framing of the paper

Lecture: Environmental Aid and the Leverage of International Organization
Read:1) Barbara Adams and Jens Martens. 2015. Fit for whose purpose? Private funding andcorporate influence in the United Nations. Global Policy Forum.
2) Lewis, T. 2003 “Environmental Aid: Driven by recipient needs or donorinterests?” Social Science Quarterly Vol. 84, Issue 1, pages 144–161.

3) Milner, H. 2006. “Why multilateralism? Foreign aid and domestic principalagent problems,” in Hawkins, D. et al. eds. Delegation and Agency in International
Organizations. Cambridge University Press.

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Week 5 (Mar 5) Guest Lecture 1 (Ray Asada, University of Tokyo)
Topic: Rural Development and Sustainability: Growth without Urbanization?
Discussion:
Student Work: Continue drafting. Prepare at least two questions for our guest.
Student Work: Adjust framing of the paper*Prior to the guest lecture, we will have a special information session with ElanaBroch of the Donald E. Stokes Library on how to make the best use of the WWS
library for your junior papers.

Week 6 (Mar 12) Midterm Week, No class-------Spring Recess---Week 7 (March 26) Guest Lecture 2 (Manuel F. Montes Senior Advisor, Society forInternational Development)
Focus: How can developing countries finance climate/environmental projects inAsia? What can UN do to assist the financing?
Student Work: Continue drafting. Prepare at least 2 questions for our guest.
Week 8 (April 2) Guest Lecture 3 (UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs)
Focus: How does UN work to mainstream environmental agenda? What are themain challenges? How can we make our junior papers more relevant?
Student Work: Juniors’ draft paper (which should not exceed 24 pages) andbriefing memos (one or two page) due.
.
Week 9 (Apr 9) Oral Presentation (1) (3 students)
Week 10 (Apr 16) Oral Presentation (2) (3 students)
Senior Commissioner begins drafting the final report.
Week 11 (Apr 23) Chapter Consolidation and Practice Final Presentation.
Week 12 (TBA) Final Presentation at the UN in New York City5

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Important Dates:
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS AND BRIEFING MEMOS DUE 5:00 PM, TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
SUBMITTED TO THE DIRECTOR All individual papers and briefing memos must be submitted nolater than 5:00 PM, on May 5. Students who do not hand in their individual research papers on the due
date may receive a grade of F for the paper unless they have requested an extension in advance andreceived approval for it from the dean of the student’s residential college. Extensions may or may not be
subject to late penalties.

FINAL TASK FORCE REPORT TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 SUBMITTED TO THE
DIRECTOR
A copy of the final report must be submitted to the Seminar director by the senior commissioner(s) orgraduate consultant no later than May 12th.
Some suggested readings on environmental issues in Asia

(1) The Economist (2013) China and the environment: The East is grey, Aug
10th 2013.
(2) Coxhead, I. (2003) Development and the Environment in Asia. Asian-PacificEconomic Literature, 17: 22–54.
(3) James D. Seymour (2010) Saving Asia’s Environment, Critical Asian Studies
Vol. 35, Issue. 2: 325-335.
(4) Shin, Sagbum. 2015. “Environmental policy in East Asia: Institutions incomparative perspective,” in Harris, P and G. Lang. eds. Routledge Handbookof Environment and Society in Asia. Routledge.
(5) Felix Dodds, Jorge Laguna-Celis, Liz Thompson 2014 Building a Bridge to a
Sustainable Future From Rio+20 to a New Development Agenda. Routledge.

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