Chou explores the structural dilemmas, mindsets, challenges, and solutions of the net-zero transition in Taiwan. Using Taiwan as a representative example of the structural challenges faced by East Asian countries in achieving the global net-zero carbon emission goal, the book examines the proposition of developmental environmentalism in the context of East Asia.Taiwan faces diverse challenges, such as internal and external net-zero carbon emission pressures, geopolitical socioeconomic competition, an internal carbon-intensive industrial structure, and the path dependence of the brown economy. Within this framework, the developmental net-zeroism perspective, from the vantage point of developmental environmentalism and the distinctive characteristics of Taiwan, offers insights into the climate governance particularities of East Asian countries as high-carbon manufacturing systems and as part of the global supply chain.A valuable read for researchers and policymakers concerned about the political, economic, and social situations in Asia and Taiwan affecting the net-zero transition.
Kuei Tien Chou is Director of the Risk Society and Policy Research Center at National Taiwan University. He conducts research on risk governance, just transition, and net-zero emissions. He has edited books on energy transition, climate change, and air pollution governance in Asia/East Asia.
Introduction1. Why is Taiwan Delaying the Transition? An East Asian Perspective2. Analysis Framework: Reflexive Governance on Developmental EnvironmentalismPart I Structural High Carbon Path3. Climate Conventions and High Carbon Path4. Embedded Distrust: Legacy of Environmental Movements5. Competing Socio-Technical Imagination on Energy Transition and DecarbonizationPart II Deadlock of Transition6. Weak Socially Robust Knowledge in Net-Zero Transition Movement7. Reinforced Carbon Locked-in: Three Missed Opportunities of Carbon Tax8. Climate Governance Delayism and its Limited Carbon PricingPart III Trigger Net-Zero9. Developmental Net-Zeroism10. Democratic Deliberative Deficit under Developmental Net-Zeroism11. Boil Frag in Warm Water: Transition Lag and Anxiety of the EnterprisesConclusion12. Rethinking Developmental Net-Zeroism in East Asia