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10/09/2010 - Japan, Tokyo
20 years after Rio – International Initiative for Sustainable Development : Perspectives from EU and Japan ()
Date: Friday 10 September 2010, 10:30 – 12:20
Place: Hotel New Otani, The Main, Fuyo-Nishi Room, Tokyo, Japan
Organiser: EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
Report
Any inquiries: EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, Tokyo, Japan Tel: +81 (0)3-3221-6565
On Friday 10 September 2010, the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, with the support of the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, organised a seminar on “20 Years after Rio - International Initiative for Sustainable Development: Perspectives from EU and Japan”. In this event, Mr. Karl Falkenberg, Director-General for the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission, presented the EU's view on the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) and, on the Japanese side, Mr. Hideki Minamikawa, Vice-Minister for Global Environmental Affairs of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, detailed the Japanese policies implemented since the 1992 Rio Summit on Environmental Development.
The Rio Summit focused on sustainable environment and biodiversity and produced three major documents: the “Rio Declaration on Environment and Development”, the “Framework Convention on Climate Change” and “Agenda 21”, an unprecedented global plan of action for sustainable development. After new international discussions at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002, the UNCSD is planned to take place in 2012 as a follow-up and will be centered on two main themes: (1) green economy within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and (2) institutional framework for sustainable development.
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Mr. Falkenberg underlined the urgency of the current global environmental situation: challenges resulting from the economic and demographic growth must be quickly resolved by the international community to protect worldwide ecosystems and natural resources. In order to force business to take into account the environmental factor, the Commission is thinking of creating a new system for better translating the environmental impact of business activities into the balance sheet of companies, and is researching on how to measure the effects of human activities beyond GDP. In this context, public authorities will have the option to elaborate various market-based mechanisms (such as the European CO2 emission rights market), to regulate markets and to raise the awareness of consumers through campaigns on green products. DG Environment is preparing a Commission Communication on Rio+20 and the launching of a wide public consultation in autumn 2010.
Presentation
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Mr. Minamikawa presented Japan’s vision for a “low carbon/natural symbiosis/sound material-cycle” society and various Japanese initiatives in this regard: the Bill of Basic Law on Climate Change (introduction of a domestic emission trading scheme, a greening tax system and a Feed-in Tariff system for all renewable energies) to be enacted, the signature of the Basic Act on Biodiversity (2008), the endorsement of “National Biodiversity Strategy 2010” in March 2010, the Kobe 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Action Plan, the cooperation with developing countries for mitigation and adaptation actions (15 billion USD support), the Green Asia Initiative, the preparation of the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity next October in Nagoya city (CBD/COP10), etc. If it is based on flexibility, transparency and a win-win mechanism, cooperation between developed and developing countries could lead to the adoption of new regulations at the next UNCSD.
Presentation
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