JICC
Newsletter
No.9, August 2012 |
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
(Rio+20)
Toward a Sustainable Decade
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Conference
hall |
Panel
discussions |
Japan pavilion |
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Writing messages for Tohoku |
Japan Evening |
Japan Evening |
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
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