The Environment and Japanese Foreign Policy: Anthropocentric Ideologies and Changing Power Relationships
Abstract
Chapter 2 serves as a primer for the more detailed case studies in subsequent chapters, which begin with Mika Merviö’s analysis of the ideological foundations of Japan’s environmental foreign policy. He argues, in Chapter 3, that Japan’s environmental policies, both domestic and international, are based on ‘anthropocentric ideologies’ that often neglect the environment per se. He introduces notions such as ‘chauvinist anthropocentrism’, where environmental protection is presented as an obstacle to economic development and the narrow interests of the local political elites guide policy. While Japan’s environmental foreign policy is based on anthropocentric thinking, it is also influenced by broader foreign policy goals. Japan uses environmental issues to expand its influence abroad through, for example, its large amount of development assistance to other countries – much of it tied to environmental objectives. As such, the environment has taken on a more prominent role in Japan’s foreign policy and has increasingly permeated other aspects of it. Thus, while anthropocentric ideologies and Japan’s more narrow interests remain central, they have had to be reconciled with concerns about the environment.