Resources for International Cooperation

  • Evaluation
    • Japan has high-quality environmental information: white papers on the quality of the environment have been presented to the Diet and published annually for more than 30 years.
    • Japan has high-quality environmental information: white papers on the quality of the environment have been presented to the Diet and published annually for more than 30 years.
    • The Second Basic Environment Plan has broadened the scope of environmental policy from production-related pollution control to consumption-driven pollution control and natural resource management, with emphasis on options for mobilising societal forces through participatory and partnership approaches.
    • Environmental management and sustainable development are increasingly considered part of local economic development.
    • Environmental education and, in particular, training (e.g. for teachers) should be intensified. Participatory approaches to governance should be better rooted in public administration and civil society.
    • While victims of environmental contamination are well organised, environmental NGOs are still weak in terms of membership, staff and resources. They often focus on individual local subjects, and have limited representation on advisory councils and committees at national and prefectural levels. They have no established legal basis for standing in court for the common good.
    • Local initiatives for sustainable development (Local Agenda 21) are sporadic and would benefit from a national network for co-operation.
  • Recommendations
    It is recommended to:
    • further develop environmental data, indicators and information as tools facilitating decision making and communication, and review the potential for grouping related institutional capacities together;
    • improve public access to environmental information held by the environmental administration, sectoral ministries and the private sector;
    • review distributional implications of proposed market-based instruments for environmental management and sustainable development;
    • promote the development of environmental NGOs and assure their representation on advisory councils and committees dealing with issues relevant to sustainable development at national and prefectural levels;
    • promote environmental education at all levels and forms of education, including training for teachers;
    • assess the impact of changes in technology and lifestyle (e.g. the impact of information / communications technology, increased recreation time, retirement) on environment and nature, taking into account related changes in patterns of settlement, transport, production and consumption.