This paper focuses on sustainability transitions research, which has been developing rapidly outside Japan. It reviews the main theoretical frameworks in the field —i.e., strategic niche management (SNM), multi-level perspective (MLP), and transition management (TM) —and their research trends. After clarifying the relevant concepts, the paper reviews case studies conducted by researchers based in Japan, and presents future research directions in the Japanese context.

With structural changes in environmental problems, the activity patterns of citizen groups such as environmental NGOs in Japan have changed greatly. This paper pays attention to the strategic trends in the political participation activities of environmental NGOs. In order to verify such trends, the paper first proposes a comprehensive framework for analyzing policy advocacy by environmental NGOs. Then, this framework is used to systematically analyze policy proposal activities by environmental NGOs aimed at promoting legislation on renewable energy policy, examining aspects of the design and implementation process of policy advocacy. The analysis verified the emergence of a new form of social movement in the field of climate change and energy supply, which named “Strategic Policy Advocacy” in this paper. These results provide insights for expanding the participation of environmental NGOs in policy formation.

The market mechanism is one of the key pillars of the modern economy. However, it is by no means a panacea, and the reality is that interventions are made from outside the market to correct externalities in the name of environmental policy. For a variety of reasons, environmental policies do not necessarily impose uniform taxation and regulation on all sources of pollution. This paper first reviews influential theoretical studies on the problem of such leakage in environmental regulation. It then reviews the results of a series of empirical studies that have analyzed the hidden effects present when there is leakage in plastic bag regulations. Finally, it discusses the prospects for future research in Japan.