Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

Alternative Energy Organizations in Japan

Japan for Sustainability (JFS)

JFS strives to be as environmentally friendly as possible. JFS has acquired the Green Power Certification in December 2003, and JFS’s activities are powered by wind energy.

Visit the JFS Website

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) is organizing an innovative pavilion featuring technologies and solutions for energy efficiency, green building and alternative energy marketplace.

The Pavilion will be a featured part of the 32nd World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC) exposition, November 4-5, 2009 in Washington, DC. According to Albert Thumann, Executive Director, Association of Energy Engineers:

“We are honored that JETRO has selected the WEEC as a prime venue to showcase global solutions for energy management and green technology implementation. We look forward to attendees having the opportunity to interact face-to-face with representatives from Japan to foster business development and strategic partnerships.”

Visit JETRO.org

Green Cars in Japan

Tokyo Motor Show

Green car technology will be featured in the upcoming Tokyo Auto Show, which takes place October 24 – November 4, 2009. Many of the leading Japanese car manufacturers are expected to showcase a number of green cars. Here’s a brief article that talks about what to expect:

Cars: The Next Wave of Japanese Electrics

The pending Tokyo Auto Show is going to be awash in new hybrids and plug-ins from the hometown team. Automotive companies that will be featuring green cars include Toyota, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Nissan and General Motors…continue reading at ZDNet.com

Green Electronics in Japan

This is an older article, but is a nice feature on Japan’s green electronics:

Japan: Land of Green Gizmos

The Japanese have embraced green technology – in their cars and in their homes. The Maeda family in Tokyo have equipped their home with the latest energy-efficient air conditioning units and the lowest-wattage electrical appliances, including an energy-conscious refrigerator that emits a signal if you don’t close the door properly.

They are particularly proud of their newest gadget — an experimental home fuel cell that converts natural gas into clean hydrogen, which provides electricity. They say it has cut their utility bills in half…continue reading at ABCNews.com

Overall, Japan seems to be leading the green revolution. Hopefully we’ll continue to find better ways to produce clean energy and clean up our environment!

The topic for last year’s Blog Action Day was the environment. We talked about Japan’s Cool Biz Initive, which “aims to reduce Japan’s emissions of greenhouse gases”.

Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty

Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty

Japan is dedicated to achieving the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, which includes the eradication of extreme poverty. They’re also a member of the G8 Summit, a group of eight nations.

This year’s summit took place in Japan, where one of the major discussions was about how rising food prices (worldwide) are creating additional hardships on the poor. There’s also a great organization called Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) which is “the world’s largest civil society movement calling for an end to poverty and inequality”.

Japan and the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

At the Millennium Summit in 2000, world leaders committed themselves to the achievement of 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Countries agreed to work towards the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the elimination of gender inequalities, the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, protection of our environment, and the provision of education, healthcare and clean water…Continue reading at endpoverty2015.org

GCAP Korea representative hands over Tanabata wishes to Japanese PM

G8 Summit 2008 in Japan

The G8 Summit is a conference where eight of the world’s heads of government meet to discuss world issues. Participating countries include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

There were a variety of topics discussed during this year’s summit, which was held on July 7-9, 2008 on the northern island of Hokkaid?, Japan. Regarding poverty, the rising cost of food worldwide was discussed:

“With regard to rising food prices, the leaders shared the view that they should come out with a coordinated and coherent action to address this issue, which was severely damaging the poor. They agreed that aid and investment in the agricultural sector, as well as domestic measures to boost output, should be promoted.”

“In the context of development, it was emphasized that support for smallholders should be prioritized. Furthermore, the leaders discussed the removal of export restrictions, the sustainable production and use of biofuels, and the need to address the influence of speculative capital”…Continue reading at g8summit.go.jp/eng/

Although the main topic of the G8 Summit ended up being the economy, I think we can all agree that in addition to affecting the wealthy, it will have a lasting impact on the poor.

Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)

GCAP is the world’s largest civil society movement calling for an end to poverty and inequality. They’re involved in helping impoverished people throughout the world, including Japan.

For this year’s G8 Summit in Japan, the GCAP G8 Working Group developed a new online action to share with all GCAP national coalitions and supporting organisation’s websites. The action is called Action Now – End Poverty and Inequality and asks people to choose a message on Aid, HIV/AIDS, Climate Change and Education. The messages were sent to the leaders at the G8 Summit and will be sent to other meetings throughout the year.

Reducing world poverty is a difficult challenge, but the dedicated work of these organizations and others could have a positive impact on the situation. If you’d like to learn more about organizations dedicated to ending poverty, here are some additional places for information:

• Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)
• http://www.whiteband.org/Action/take-action/gcap-mobilisation-2008/g8-japan-2008
• http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/index.html

Write a comment if you have ideas about reducing poverty in Japan (and worldwide)! Also, feel free to post links (there’s a two link limit for each comment) to other organizations that are working hard to reduce poverty.

I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to discuss Japan’s Cool Biz Initiative, which aims to reduce Japan’s emissions of greenhouse gases! Actually, this turned out to be perfect timing – I was driving to work the other day and listening to National Public Radio. Suddenly, science reporter David Kestenbaum was on the air discussing the Cool Biz Initiative! He discussed his recent trip to Tokyo, where he did a full-feature on the Cool Biz Initiative.

Japan Trades in Suits, Cuts Carbon Emissions

“Two years ago, the Japanese government essentially with the stroke of a pen instituted a new policy that has so far trimmed more than two million tons of greenhouse gases from the country’s growing emissions.”

Yuriko Koike, the previous Japanese Environmental Minister started the Cool Biz Initiative, Yuriko Koike is currently the Minister of Defense (First Abe Cabinet).

Cool Biz Initiative Facts and Figures

• Since 2005, Japan has trimmed more than 2 million tons of greenhouse gasses
• Office air conditions must be set no cooler than 28 degree Celsius = 82.4 degree Fahrenheit
• 95.8% of respondents knew Cool Biz
• 32.7% of 562 respondents answered that their offices set the air conditioner thermostat higher than in previous years.
• set summer office temperatures at no lower than 28°C as well as work to have the Cool Biz concept take permanent root in society.
• 460,000-ton reduction in CO2 emission, the equivalent volume of CO2 emitted by about 1 million households for one month.

Dress code suggestions for the Japanese workplace

• Starch collars so they stand up
• Wear pants that breathe and absorb moisture (like cotton)
• Wear short-sleeved shirts
• Don’t wear jackets or ties to work

Additional Cool Biz Initiative Reading

• The Cool Biz Look Sweeps Japan. Sort Of.
  

  The Japanese government has officially launched the Cool Biz initiative, designed to promote more casual business attire and save energy during the summer months. While you would expect to hear cheers from Salarymen around the country, the reaction to the new program has been decidedly mixed.

• Official Cool Biz Intuitive website (Japanese only)
• ‘Cool Biz’ dress code spreads through halls of promotion
  

  “Cool Biz” has received a bigger response than the “Energy-Saving Look” campaign of 1979 did, when then Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira encouraged people to wear short-sleeved shirts and take ties off in the office to cut down on air-conditioning during the world’s second oil crisis.

• Cool Biz Initiative on Wikipedia
  

  The Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE) began advocating the Cool Biz campaign in summer 2005 as a means to help reduce electric consumption by limiting use of air conditioning. This idea was proposed by then MOE minister, Yuriko Koike under the Koizumi cabinet.

While we’re thinking about the environment and how it impacts our Japanese friends (and our own environment), I encourage you to watch (or discuss) these two Hayao Miyazaki films:

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is about the struggle between the guardians of the forest and the humans who need it. “Mononoke” is Japanese for “spirit of the natural world”. It’s a really exciting, action-filled story with a really deep heart. Miyazaki’s main theme of the film centers on the effects of humans on the environment.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

The story of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind takes place 1,000 years after most of the Earth’s ecosystem and the entire human civilization was destroyed by ‘Seven Days of Fire’. There were a few groups of humans who survived. The main character Nausicaa, is princess of the Valley of the Wind, a peaceful community. Nausicaa can talk to bugs and is very close to nature. When another group threatens war, Nausicaa must fight for the creatures and her people.

What sorts of tips can you think of to help out our environment?