Resources for International Cooperation

  • Evaluation
    • Concerning marine issues, Japan has taken major steps to improve its capacity to respond to large-scale oil spills since ratifying the OPRC Convention (International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Responses and Co-operation) in 1995.
    • Japan has implemented significant measures to reduce its fishing fleet capacity, in line with Food and Agriculture Organisation recommendations.
    • Japan played a key role in establishing the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia, one of the first region-wide co-operative and collaborative monitoring networks in the region, involving 11 countries. This network has become important for the exchange of scientific data and knowledge, which could lead to regional policy responses.
    • Over 30% of Japan's official development assistance is in the environmental field.
    • Japan ceased its production of CFCs in 1995. There has been a gradual substitution of softwood plywood for hardwood plywood in Japan's imports; the former's share increased from 15% in 1993 to 42% in 1999.
    • Japan has not yet succeeded in developing regional agreements for oil disaster response as the OPRC Convention requires. Although operating the world's second largest shipping fleet, Japan's measures for the management of ballast waters and ship scrapping are currently insufficient.
    • Bilateral co-operation with Russia faltered in the late 1990s. Shared fish stocks of several fisheries in the North Pacific need to be restored and properly managed.
    • On transboundary pollution, there is still a long way to go to reach the goal of developing a common understanding and basis for policy responses concerning both air and marine pollution.
  • Recommendations
    It is recommended to:
    • continue to develop institutions for regional responses to oil emergencies, including surveillance, analysis, communication and response (e.g. in the framework of the North-West Pacific Action Plan);
    • continue to develop and implement international technical guidelines regarding ballast waters and ship scrapping;
    • seek to strengthen regional collaboration to improve the management of shared fish stocks in the North Pacific;
    • strengthen bilateral and regional efforts to address shared environmental concerns, particularly regarding transboundary air and marine pollution, and migratory birds;
    • implement the new laws on recovery of fluorocarbons from household appliances, automobiles and commercial air conditioning systems;
    • co-operate internationally to develop means of ensuring that timber and wood products used in Japan originate from sustainably managed tropical and boreal forests;
    • further increase official development assistance (ODA) for environmental purposes, particularly that aimed at facilitating solutions to global environmental problems, as well as total ODA, taking into account the UN target (0.7% of GNP).