Author
Ms Jiani Pan
Organisation/Institution
the University of Edinburgh
Country
UNITED KINGDOM
Panel
Environmental Law
Title
Reframing Environmental Governance in Asia: The Role of Government Information Disclosure
Abstract
As major contributors to global carbon emissions, Asian countries have made significant progress in both legislation and practice concerning environmental governance in recent years. One notable development is the growing emphasis on environmental information disclosure. Existing research in Asian contexts has largely focused on corporate environmental disclosure within the framework of corporate social responsibility, which typically involves a balance between mandatory and voluntary reporting. However, it is equally important to recognize that administrative authorities also bear the obligation, characterized by a higher degree of institutionalization, to ensure transparency with only limited exceptions. This paper thus argues that revisiting the environmental dimension within the government information disclosure regime offers a more promising approach to achieving sustainability governance. On the one hand, administrative authorities are often more responsive and capable of addressing social expectations through inter-departmental coordination, particularly in cases of environmental emergencies. On the other hand, administrative transparency not only provides citizens with access to comprehensive and authoritative data but also establishes institutional channels for consultation and feedback. As one of the primary objectives of environmental information disclosure is to promote public scrutiny, placing greater emphasis on the disclosure of administrative environmental information can significantly enhance public participation. Focusing primarily on China and drawing comparative insights from Indonesia and Japan, this paper examines how distinct jurisdictions shape the interaction between transparency, accountability, and environmental sustainability, and explores how administrative information disclosure serves as a key mechanism for advancing environmental justice across Asia.
Biography
Jiani Pan is currently a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. She holds a Master of Laws degree from the National University of Singapore, where she specialised in Asian Legal Studies, and a Master of Philosophy in Comparative Law from the China University of Political Science and Law. She previously obtained her undergraduate degree in law from Hainan University, where she received several national scholarships in recognition of her academic excellence. Jiani’s research interests centre on technology law, comparative public law, and environmental law. Her current doctoral research examines the protection of freedom of information in the context of automated administration. She has served as a research assistant in multiple projects, including studies on the supervision and restraint mechanisms of supervisory committees, analysis of national health administrative cases, and reforms of institutional and administrative systems. She also contributed to research on legal liability for ecological restoration within the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Zone. As a research output, her paper titled Local Practices and Explorations of the Ecological Damage Compensation System was published in a peer-reviewed journal. Before joining Edinburgh Law School, Jiani qualified as a lawyer in China and worked as an assistant editor at the China University of Political Science and Law Press. She has also participated in several international academic programmes, including the 9th Law Schools Global League Academic Conference, the Peking University School of Transnational Law Summer Honors Programme, and the 12th Zhejiang University Guanghua Law School International Summer Programme.
