Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at how Japan has been shaping its development aid framework with changing forces of economic difficulties and environmental disasters both in Japan and in counterpart countries, especially in Southeast Asia.

Paper long abstract:

Environmental change has been one of the signifying elements of the global change agenda. International and regional/local processes of development have also taken towards a rather comprehensive form, including various aspects of environmental change and human-environment interaction. Japan has always been one of the development aid-friendly countries and has been contributing to the international development aid platforms via bilateral and multilateral/organizational linkages. Japan, on the other hand, has been experiencing both natural and man-made environmental disasters in incrementally increasing phase in recent years. Japan`s development aid partners, especially in Southeast Asia, have also been suffering from wide catastrophic impacts of natural-environmental disasters. These environmental challenges with natural and man-made disasters and the changing economic conditions have forced Japan to redefine its development aid strategies with the recent years.

This paper is part of a project focusing on environmental and societal change issues in Southeast Asia and specifically looks at how Japan has been shaping its development aid framework with changing forces of economic difficulties and environmental disasters both in Japan and in counterpart countries, especially in Southeast Asia. The first part of the paper looks at the changing direction of development and development aid frameworks with environmental emphasis in the 21st century. Then the paper focuses on Japan`s ODA policies and economic as well as environmental forces that transformed the ODA strategies in recent years. The last part examines how Japan would reconfigure its own position as one of the main providers of aid within the changing global development aid scheme and communicates its international aid experiences with the forces of environmental change within the country.