1. United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)

2. World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)

Toward a Sustainable Decade

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was held from June 20 to 22 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). A total of approximately 30,000 people including 97 national leaders and a number of ministerial level figures from 188 United Nations member countries and 3 observers, as well as government officials, lawmakers, local administrations, international organizations, enterprises and citizens participated in the Conference.

From the Government of Japan, a delegation of 130 members including Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hiroyuki Nagahama, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and officials from relevant ministries as well as government advisors (representatives of civil society) attended the Conference. Minister Gemba, who participated in the Conference as the representative of the Government of Japan, made a speech on behalf of the Government (on June 20) and served as acting Chairperson of the plenary meeting (on June 21). Minister Gemba also attended the “Japan Evening” on June 20 and an official side event hosted by the Government of Japan on June 21.

At the Conference, under the themes of “green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication” and “the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development”, the participants discussed the way to achieve sustainable development in the next decade, which resulted in the outcome document “The Future We Want”.

Speech by Minister Gemba, the representative of the Government of Japan (the three specific initiatives toward creating a "Green Future")

On June 20, the first day of the Conference, Minister Gemba made a speech as the representative of the Government of Japan. In his speech, Minister Gemba stated that Japan, which suffered an unprecedented earthquake, would like to earnestly address and find out an answer to the question of “What is a sustainable society?” together with other countries, and that, considering the diversification of stakeholders of the international community since the Earth Summit, all the stakeholders must unite each other in their common interests.

Minister Gemba announced Japan’s contribution plan named “Green Future” Initiatives, based on the principle of “human security” and consisting of three pillars which are the spreading of an environmentally friendly “future city” to the world, contributing to the global economy toward a green economy, and building a resilient society. Specifically, Minister Gemba announced that 1) to provide help in the nation-building of other countries, Japan will transmit successful examples of “Future City” Initiative based on the long experience of energy-conservation and recycling in Japan, 2) in the next three years Japan will organize the 10,000-person-scale Green Cooperation Volunteers in order to cooperate with the development of human resources in developing nations and provide assistance of three billion US dollars for the purpose of supporting a shift to a green economy in other countries by utilizing Japan’s advanced renewable energy-related technologies, and 3) Japan would host the "World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku" in July 2012 and will provide assistance of three billion US dollars in the next three years in order to raise awareness in disaster prevention around the world and to establish a resilient society.

The Japan Pavilion and Japan Day

To showcase Japan’s advanced environmental and energy-saving technologies as well as to publicize Japan’s contribution to building resilient societies against natural disasters as the country which suffered the Great East Japan Earthquake, public and private sectors jointly established the pavilion (visited by over 18,000 in total from June 13 to 24) where exhibitions and seminars were held by governmental and private organizations.

At the pavilion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan set up an exhibition booth to show photos and videos on reconstruction in the Tohoku Region after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and held Japan Day on June 20 to highlight the state of the reconstruction and to showcase the multifaceted appeal of Japan. On Japan Day, the seminar under the theme “Reconstruction of Sustainable Societies after the Great East Japan Earthquake” was held and also Japan Evening with the concept of TOHOKU FORWARD was organized in cooperation with Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures in Tohoku region, which were severely damaged by the Earthquake, as well as Brazil-based organizations of Japanese descendants including the associations of those from these prefectures. The address by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba kicked off the Japan Evening program. Students including those from local Japanese schools presented messages of encouragement to the representatives of the three Tohoku region prefectures, who in turn gave presentations on their reconstruction plans and attractive features of their prefectures. This was followed by the tasting of Japanese food and sake including local cuisine of Tohoku, and a live performance of Wadaiko or Japanese drum.

Official side event held by the Government of Japan entitled “Future Cities We Want”

In the morning of June 21, an official side event entitled “Future Cities We Want” was held by the Government of Japan. In the event, Japan’s efforts concerning the “Future City” Initiative was introduced and presentations were made by co-organizers which are also promoting building of sustainable cities, followed by a panel discussion with the participation of representatives of local municipalities, etc. At the beginning, Minister Gemba stated that Japan regards building of sustainable cities as an important issue and would share its energy-saving and disaster risk reduction technologies with the international community. To wrap-up the Conference, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nagahama announced that Japan will host an international conference on future cities in Japan next year.

At the Conference, initiatives such as a) promotion of initiatives toward a green economy, b) institutional framework for promotion of sustainable development, and c) disaster risk reduction and future city construction, all of which Japan is highly interested in, were discussed, and important results for development of international initiatives in the future were obtained. Particularly, it was an important outcome that developing countries deepened their understanding of a transition to a green economy and the entire international community sent a proactive message to take initiatives for a green economy. In terms of the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development, the participants agreed on the establishment of a high level political forum and the strengthening of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), while sharing a view that the SDGs must be integrated into the post Millennium Development Goals. In this way, the Conference paved the way for future development. On the other hand there are still many gaps among participating countries about green economy and the institutional framework, and further discussion will be required.

Japan’s “Green Future Initiatives” announced by Minister Gemba were appreciated by a number of participating countries as a concrete contribution in line with the priority issues of the Conference. The Government of Japan also consistently emphasized its “Future City” Initiative. This initiative attracted the interest of participants as a unique contribution from Japan, which is experiencing restoration of the Tohoku region. With many visitors, Japan Pavilion was able to showcase Japan’s superior environment and energy-saving technologies and at the same time to show the restoration and attraction of the Tohoku region. The visitors highly appreciated the pavilion, and this is considered as a result of joint preparation by public and private sectors.

- Speech by Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba

http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/environment/warm/cop/rio_20/fm_speech_en.html

- Japan Day and Exhibition at Rio+20 (Overview)

http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/environment/warm/cop/rio_20/japanday_overview.html

- Opening Remarks by H.E. Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, at the Japan Evening of Japan Day at Rio+20

http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/environment/warm/cop/rio_20/fm_speech2_en.html

- Foreign Minister Gemba’s Attendance at Rio+20 (YouTube Video), from MOFA’s website “Foreign Minister’s Corner”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xw65YYGd7s&feature=BFa&list=PLA0C40FA0AF4C901A