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The Forest Declaration Assessment is a continual and collaborative process achieved collectively by civil society organizations and researchers. Since 2015, the Forest Declaration Assessment has published annual updates on progress toward global forest goals. The Japanese case study in the 2023 Assessment Report provides a very brief snapshot of...

This chapter is developed to the Plastic Atlas Japan Special Edition プラスチック・アトラス アジア［日本語特別版］. As discussed by the chapter, Japan has introduced numerous innovative policies and strategies to promote the circulation of resources and to build a sustainable society. The Japanese experience shows that building an adequate waste management system is a...

This chapter is newly added to the Plastic Atlas Japan Special Edition プラスチック・アトラス アジア［日本語特別版］. From the “economic miracle” period up to the present, Japan has built an excellent system for efficiently collecting and recycling recyclable waste. Yet, recycling does not constitute a definitive solution. Rather, it is important to lower the amount of...

循環経済（サーキュラー・エコノミー）とは、天然資源採掘や廃棄を最少化しながら付加価値を最大化する経済活動を意味する。これまでの大量生産、大量消費、大量廃棄を前提とした「線形経済」（リニア・エコノミー）に代わり、あらゆる段階で資源の効率的・循環的な利用を図る。本稿は、EU と日本における循環経済の確立に向けた政策に関し、特にプラスチックに焦点を当て、ビジネスチャンスを考察する。2020 年に EU が「新循環経済行動計画」を、日本が「循環経済ビジョン 2020」を公表しており、循環経済は新しい経済モデルとなる可能性が高まる。日本では 2022 年 4 月に「プラスチック資源循環促進法」が施行される。これにより製造業者に環境配慮設計を促す公的認定制度の創設など、循環経済の制度設計が進むなか...

Japan has raised its climate ambition by declaring its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and by setting a new target of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 46% against 2013 levels by 2030. This chapter provides a perspective on how Japan’s ambition has evolved since 2015, in terms of domestic discourse, governance to...

北九州市海外水ビジネス推進協議会（KOWBA）は2020年に設立10周年を迎えた。その節目に際してKOWBAが作成した記念誌の一部として「北九州市が取り組む海外水ビジネス」を執筆した。これは「持続可能な社会への挑戦－北九州市とアジア都市との連携」（2018年7月）と「北九州における水ビジネス海外展開の歴史と発展」（2020年3月）に基づいた内容となっている。IGES北九州アーバンセンターとして北九州市の国際政策を20周年以上見つめてきた立場から、北九州市の海外水ビジネス、並びにKOWBAの役割や未来について論じている。

Asia and the Pacific’s unrelenting industrial development has been a driving force in the economic growth of scores of countries in the region and beyond. This shift has led to greater prosperity, increased urbanization and sustained population growth. Yet as the region has become the “world’s factory”, it is increasingly realizing not only the...

Industry, in the context of this chapter, is mostly confined to the strict definition of the word: -“economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories”. Industry has a major impact on nature and its biodi- versity in Asia and the Pacific, as it does elsewhere in the world. Industry impacts...

This report demonstrates that changes in consumption patterns and dominant lifestyles are a critical and integral part of the solutions package to addressing climate change. The report fills a gap in the existing research by establishing global targets for lifestyle carbon footprints, examining current consumption patterns and their impacts on...

From 1971 to 2010, world trade grew fast by 10% per year on average (World Trade Organization 2011). The rapid growth of international trade contributes not only national economic growth but also increasing environmental pressures, such as raw material extraction and depletion, carbon emissions, water resource deterioration and landscape change and...