Future Perfect

[

] 176

ustainability

olicies

, P

rogrammes

and

their

conomic

mpact

Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem

Services. It also announced the Life in Harmony Initiative, which

allocated US$2 billion over three years starting from 2010 in order

to assist developing countries’ efforts to achieve their targets. As a

concrete measure under this initiative, Japan established the Japan

Biodiversity Fund (JPY1 billion) and the Access and Benefit Sharing

Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (JPY1 billion). The aim is

to support developing countries in revising their national biodi-

versity strategies and action plans based on the Aichi Biodiversity

Targets, which comprise the global strategic plan for biodiversity,

in order to support developing countries’ efforts to implement the

outcomes of CBD/COP10.

Sustainable production and consumption

To realize sustainable production and consumption, environmen-

tally sound management of waste is crucial. Since proposing the 3R

(Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Initiatives at the G8 Sea Island Summit

in 2004, Japan has been actively promoting the 3Rs through such

means as:

• Amending the Waste Management Law for appropriate disposal

• Enacting the Green Procurement Law, in order to promote

Government procurement of products and services that contrib-

ute to reducing burdens on the environment

• Enacting the Green Contract Law to promote contracts which

give due consideration to the reduction of GHGs

• Enacting the Environmental Consideration Law to promote

environmental reporting

• Encouraging the use and purchase of environmentally friendly

goods and services by introducing eco-points for electrical appli-

ances, a home eco-point system, eco-reform and eco-action

points

• Encouraging low-carbon facilities through an eco-leasing

subsidy programme for households and businesses

• Promoting a low-carbon society by subsidizing interest in

projects that encourage environmentally friendly management.

Producers bear a heavy responsibility as regards achieving sustain-

able production and consumption. Therefore, it is critical that

businesses conduct their activities in an environmentally friendly

manner, through products, production processes and business

models that restrain waste generation as well as through the

transition to a recycling-centered society, focusing on emitters’

responsibility and extended producer responsibility (EPR).

Cities

Since large parts of the global population live in urban areas and

urban populations are expected to grow, sustainable city build-

ing is an urgent task. Japan has been promoting its Future City

initiative with the aim of selecting qualified cities as the models

for Future Cities, which continuously create economic, social and

environmental values by generating successful cases in terms of

technologies, systems, services and city planning, while tackling

environment challenges and the issues of an ageing society and

a declining birth rate. In December last year eleven cities were

selected as Future Cities, including those in the disaster-affected

areas. In order to further refine the Future City concept, Japan

intends to collect and disseminate information on domestic and

international best practices in the areas of the environment and

dealing with an ageing society and a declining birth rate. Japan

has been conducting the Challenge 25 Local GHG

Reduction Model Project to promote action plans in

local municipalities to tackle global warming, based

on the Act on the Promotion of Global Warming

Countermeasures and to verify effective and advanced

measures for CO2 reduction such as low-carbon trans-

portation systems and the utilization of untapped

energy in urban areas. Japan also has been conduct-

ing verification of next-generation energy and social

systems to promote smart communities that tackle

the improvement of local transportation systems. Eco

Model Cities have also been introduced to achieve a

low-carbon society and local revitalization.

The City of Tokyo started to require large-scale

offices above a certain standard to report and disclose

their CO2 reduction plans in 2002. An upper limit for

CO2 emissions for large-scale offices was introduced

in 2010. When buildings with a large amount of floor

space are built or extended, the Tokyo Metropolitan

Government requests them to submit construction

plan to ensure they are equipped to save energy and

are environmentally friendly. The authorities have also

introduced labelling for apartment buildings, showing

how energy-efficient they are. Through these measures

for the greening of offices and apartment buildings,

CO2 emissions from large offices were reduced by 12.7

per cent from 2005 to 2009, and a series of Green

Buildings have been constructed, demonstrating the

highest energy efficiency levels in the world. Based on

these results, Japan would like to promote the Future

City concept to the rest of the world.

Education for sustainable development

In order to achieve a sustainable society, not only

is it important to take individual measures in fields

such as disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, climate

change and human rights, but education for sustain-

able development (ESD) is also indispensable, as it

aims to develop human resources capable of confront-

ing challenges in these areas comprehensively and

taking the necessary actions to settle them. Japan

advocated the United Nations Decade of Education

for Sustainable Development (DESD) and will host

the UNESCO World Conference on ESD to mark the

final year of the DESD in 2014. It intends to work

continuously to promote ESD and to enhance coop-

eration.

Sharing best practices

Through the activities outlined in this article, Japan has

been making efforts to realize sustainable development.

Japan sincerely hopes that not only its own best prac-

tices in various fields but also those of other countries

will be shared with the international community and

that progress towards sustainable development will

be made on the occasion of Rio+20. Japan is ready to

support measures taken by other countries, utilizing its

past experiences and undertakings as a ‘green economy

advanced nation’.