Air quality injustice in Taiwan*: Just transition as the next chapter of environmental governance in post-developmental states

In the 1980s, the East Asian developmental states shifted from a model of bureaucratic capitalism to neo-liberal crony capitalism, predicated upon predatory economics and accumulation by dispossession. In this context, therefore, Taiwan as one of the post-developmental states has failed to develop its capacity for sustainable environmental governance and environmental justice. Statistics show that Taiwan’s air quality and improvements are unequally distributed, with the improvement in highly polluted areas being relatively lower. The areas with high PM2.5 pollution are more likely to be in low-income agricultural counties and cities and overlap with areas with low education levels and high crude death rates. This study proposes that the policies of Taiwan’s government should be targeted and differentiated in accordance with local social and economic conditions to achieve a just transition. The practice of “just transition” can also help to uncover the key issues in the developmentalism and injustice of Taiwan’s neoliberalism, as well as force the government to confront the issue of inequality perpetuated by these models. Introducing “just transition” may be the next phase of environmental governance that post-developmental states need to undertake.