A4 Organized session

[2C209] Revisiting International Development Studies from an Environmental Sustainability Perspective: Comprehensive Approaches to the Resource, Production, Consumption and Social System

*Akihisa MORI⁴, *Sayuri SHIRAI⁵, *Fumikazu UBUKATA², *Aya YOSHIDA³, *Jin SATO⁶, *Shoko YAMADA¹ (1. Nagoya University, 2. Okayama University, 3. National Institute for Environmental Studies, 4. Kyoto University, 5. Keio University, 6. University of Tokyo)

Keywords:Environmental sustainability, Contribution of international development studies, Resource utilization governance, Production and consumption, Finance and social technology system

1. Background of the Project
The SDGs, which encompass a wide range of development issues, including human development, social and economic development, and environmental sustainability, are now at the stage of mid-term review. Despite the wide coverage of the field, “environmental sustainability” tends to attract the biggest public attention. Then, it would be worth asking how this theme is addressed from different academic perspectives. Also, as an academic association of international development studies, we would need to ask how the research works by our members situate themselves in this landscape.
Text analysis of all the articles published in the International Development Studies Journal in the past ten years reveals that the word “environment” is the 36th most frequently used word, appearing 1,729 times. While it is a relatively common word, its co-occurrence with the word “sustainability” is low. The themes discussed using the word “environment” are characterized by environmental assessment of ODA projects, resource use, and resource politics.
Given such trends in journal articles, presenters will discuss “environmental sustainability” from their own specialization of engineering, economics, and agriculture, but in relation to the potential contribution of international development studies in this field.

2. Main points to be discussed
Ubukata discusses the potential contribution of international development studies to environmental sustainability by showing the inherent trade-offs that forest and land use governance can bring about.
Yoshida discusses sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12) transition measures in Asia (Thailand and Vietnam) from the perspectives of engineering and economics.
Mori presents implications for international development studies from the viewpoint of sustainable transitions of socio-technical systems.
Shirai discusses trends and issues toward the expansion of climate finance that supports the realization of net zero greenhouse gas emissions from the perspective of SDG 17 (partnership).
Sato, the designated discussant, will raise issues to the floor based on his research and experience on the politics of resources and people’s interpretation of them.

3. Expected outcome of the session
This session will provide a forum to discuss how international development studies can incorporate environmental sustainability into their research and contribute to a more comprehensive and interdisciplinary discussion as the international community intensifies its efforts to achieve environmental sustainability goals.