Advance praise for Developmental Environmentalism
"Climate change remains the greatest moral challenge of our generation. And this is a novel, compelling and accessible account of East Asia's ambitious green energy transformation, and the major economic and environmental payoffs that our region and the world are already reaping as a result. Essential reading for policymakers and scholars alike.”
Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia and global president of the Asia Society
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“China and South Korea are global leaders in state sponsored green energy transitions. Under the banner of ‘developmental environmentalism’ this innovative new book argues that such transitions need to be understood from a Schumpeterian perspective of creative destruction, involving the creation of new green energy sources together with the winding back of older fossil fuel energy sources. These transitions are well under way in China and South Korea and this insightful and carefully researched book has important comparative lessons and is a must read for those interested in the future of the planet.”
Stephen Bell, Professor of Political Economy, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland
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“Impressive scholarship, with fresh insights accessible to the general reader on why the transformation to clean energy is bound to continue in Northeast Asia, despite current setbacks, as well as on the opportunities this presents for Australia and others if we understand the dynamics.”
Howard Bamsey, Honorary Professor, REGNET, ANU. Chair of the Global Water Partnership. Former Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute. Former Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund.
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“This important book provides fresh insights into a critical question: why some countries – particularly China – appear more willing and able to accelerate green energy technologies than phase out fossil fuels. The authors nonetheless make a compelling case that the dedicated greening efforts of East Asian countries, especially in light of escalating geostrategic competition, represent a fundamental transformation with profound consequences for the battle to curb climate change.”
Barbara Finamore, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and Founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC) China Program.
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“Northeast Asia is centrally important in humanity’s struggle with climate change — biggest user of fossil and renewable energy, world factory for energy transition goods. This valuable book explains where China and Korea are at and where they are going”.
Ross Garnaut, Professor Emeritus of Business and Politics, University of Melbourne. Author of Superpower: Australia's Low Carbon Opportunity.
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“A massive techno-economic transformation may be needed to save the planet from climate change. In this extraordinary book, Thurbon and her colleagues show how it may result as much from interstate economic and geostrategic rivalry as from well-meaning international cooperation. That, at least, is the lesson they draw from China’s and Korea’s remarkably rapid and ambitious state-led initiatives to build green technology and industry, including the world’s largest renewable energy system. Empirically and theoretically rich, this beautifully written analysis is one of the most interesting and important works of political economy I have read in recent years. Its analysis of “developmental environmentalism” may also provide a small ray of hope for weary environmentalists.”
Eric Helleiner, Professor of International Political Economy, University of Waterloo
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“This book breaks new ground in showing how East Asia's approach to the green energy shift is different from its Western counterpart. To do this, it develops and utilizes a powerful new theoretical framework of ‘developmental environmentalism.’ The authors focus on the delicate mix and sequence of creation versus destruction, namely, between creation of new green energy industries versus the destruction of fossil-fuel incumbencies. They arrive at this insightful comparison as they consider green energy shift as Schumpeterian ‘creative destruction,’ beyond the simple dichotomy of growth vs. de-growth. The book shows persuasively that it is possible for us to both ‘green’ and ‘grow’ our economy.”
Keun Lee, Winner of the 2014 Schumpeter Prize; Distinguished Professor, Seoul National University
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"The world is grappling with the largest transformation since the industrial revolution: transforming energy systems to renewable energy to avert dangerous climate change. This book is a must-read for understanding the international political economy of such a process. Developmental Environmentalism examines how China and Korea are driving the transition to green technology through an elite mindset, a process of political legitimation, and state-led industrial policy sequencing, while struggling to engage in the creative destruction of the fossil fuel industry necessary for a transformation to occur. This meticulous, forceful account of China's and Korea’s green technology ambitions provides a detailed assessment of how these countries are seeking a greater alignment of both creative and destructive aspects of the shift to clean energy. A valuable resource for all scholars of international and comparative political economy, and global environmental politics, as we enter the critical phase of mitigating climate change."
Susan Park, Professor of International Relations, University of Sydney.
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“Scholars and policymakers have increasingly noticed and discussed the central importance and dynamism of East Asia in relation to the necessary global energy transition to address climate change. And they have fiercely debated if China in particular is ‘saviour’ or ‘disaster’ in this regard. Thurbon and colleagues magisterially navigate these debates and provide us with both the most expansive evidence to debate, and a compelling overall framework – developmental environmentalism – for understanding what exactly is going on in the region regarding the energy transition. They show the crucial importance of understanding the difference between creating new green energy systems, and destroying old fossil-fueled ones, and that while China and South Korea in particular have been spectacularly good at the former, they (like many other countries) have struggled with the latter. This is a must read for those of us wanting to understand whether and how we might get to a successful energy transition.”
Matthew Paterson, Professor of International Politics, University of Manchester
