OECD Environment Working Papers
This series is designed to make available to a wider readership selected studies on environmental issues prepared for use within the OECD. Authorship is usually collective, but principal authors are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language English or French with a summary in the other if available.
- ISSN: 19970900 (online)
- https://doi.org/10.1787/19970900
Greening Growth in Japan
A decade of sluggish economic growth, concluding with the sharpest recession since the Second
World War, has underlined the need for Japan to develop a new growth model. Such a model should
restore public finances and long-term growth while preserving environmental quality and ensuring a
sustainable use of natural resources. This paper assesses Japan’s progress in moving towards such an
environmentally friendly growth pattern. It summarises Japan’s achievements and challenges in decoupling
environmental pressures from economic performance. It analyses the use of market-based instruments,
such as environmentally related taxes and charges and emissions trading schemes, to meet environmental
and economic objectives, as well as steps taken to remove environmentally harmful subsidies. The level of
integration of environmental concerns in Japan’s response to the economic crisis and in its long-term
growth strategy is also analysed, particularly the policy mix used to take advantage of the growth and jobs
opportunities arising from eco-innovation and the environmental goods and services sector. This Working
Paper relates to the 2010 OECD Environmental Performance Review of Japan
(www.oecd.org/env/countryreviews/japan).
Keywords: voluntary agreements, eco-innovation, climate change, pollution abatement and control expenditure, environmentally harmful subsidies, economic instruments for environmental policy, environmentally-related taxes, Japan, performance targets, green growth strategy
JEL:
Q54: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming;
Q58: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Environmental Economics: Government Policy;
O38: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Technological Change: Government Policy;
Q55: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation;
O33: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights / Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes;
Q52: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects;
H23: Public Economics / Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue / Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies;
O44: Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth / Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity / Environment and Growth
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