Legal institutions for enhancing and protecting forests as a carbon sink in Japan and the Republic of Korea

This paper examines legal institutions for maintaining and enhancing forests as a carbon sink in Japan and the Republic of Korea. Analysis of climate change legislation, such as laws and ordinances, can reveal the directions of policies and responsibility of relevant political actors. This paper, based on the theory of institution by Crawford and Ostrom, investigated legal institutions with a focus on actors, contents of their activities and types of responsibility. Legal institutions specify required, permitted and forbidden activities of stakeholders. The analysis of legal institutions revealed that Japanese and Korean legislations require national plans, and strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change, including policies for enhancing and protecting forests as carbon sinks. The climate change laws and ordinances encourage the creation of new organizations for the efficient mitigation of climate change. They call for the establishment of climate change centers, voluntary participation by the private sector and better communication among various sectors. Fundamentally the laws and ordinances support policy integration among various sectors and between central and local governments. Japanese and Korean legislations distinctly facilitate forest carbon offset activities by various actors. This paper's findings reveal the features of integration and governance of legal institutions on climate change and forestry in Japan and the Republic of Korea. The legal approach by two countries could be useful for other countries in designing legal institutions to regulate climate change with respect to the role of forestry.