JWF Water Journal
Vol.1

2017

Thinking about
Sustainability
from Japan■ Trends of efforts based on the Basic Act on Water Cycle
and Basic Plan on Water Cycle■ World Water Day in Tokyo 2017
■ Toward the 3rd Asia-Pacific Water Summit

表 2 シロ

JWF Water Journal
2017

Index

Opening Dialogue
2~7

Thinking about Sustainability from Japan

Dr. Norihito TAMBO Vice President, Japan Water Forum
Dr. Kotaro TAKEMURA Chair and Secretary General, Japan Water Forum

8~9

Trends of efforts based on the Basic Act on
Water Cycle and Basic Plan on Water Cycle

Secretariat, Water Cycle Policy Headquarters, JAPAN

10~11

World Water Day in Tokyo 2017
Tidal current to SDGs and water

12~13

14~15

Prof. Taikan OKI
Senior Vice-Rector, United Nations University
Professor of Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo

Toward the 3rd Asia-Pacific Water Summit

Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum / Japan Water Forum

Opening
DialogueThinking about Sus

In September 2015, theSustainable Development Goals
was adopted, and various initiatives
started. In an opening dialogue of
JWF Water Jounal, from the viewof "sustainability" as a keyword,
Dr.Norihito TAMBO, vice presidentof Japan Water Forum,and Dr.Kotaro
TAKEMURA, chair of JWF Water
Forum, talk about theknowledge of those who
worked on water and thefuture of water.

End of the Modern Era
Tambo In 1981, I contributed an article entitled “Endof the Modern Era” to “Hokko Kaishi,” the journal of the
Hokkaido University, School of Engineering. The keywords
for the modern era I think are “progress and growth”, andthey have been supported by huge consumption of
resource and energy with advanced technologies.
Whatever ideologies you followed, technologies have been
supporting progress and growth. In that article, I pointed
out that we have no other option but to change thedirection of our civilization in order to fundamentally
solve the conundrums that await us at the end of the・Born in Kanagawa in 1945
・Doctor of Engineering（riparian engineering）
・Graduated from Tohoku University with a
Master’s Degree in Engineering in 1970
・Current and past posts include Chair
and Secretary General of Japan Water
Forum; Director of Administrative Officefor the Miyagase Dam construction;
Head of River Department, Chubu Region
Construction Bureau; Director of Kinki
Region Construction Bureau; and Directorof the River Bureau, the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Chair and Secretary General,
Japan Water Forum

Kotaro Takemura
2tainability from Japan
modern era, in the finite environmental conditions.
From the standpoint of realizing a sustainable society,my opinion has not changed since then. I believe theproblem is that we haven’t managed to come up with abasic stance toward changing society as a whole.
Takemura It is a rather surprising subject to addressin the height of the era of economic growth. What madeyou think of it?
Tambo There were too many variables in themultiple equations of the environmental conditions, and I
couldn’t manipulate them by myself. This made me feelthat the situation was left as a free-for-all, because no one
could cope with such many variables.

Takemura I guess you could say what you said thenprecisely because it was uttered from a subjective point ofview. There’s no way you can check everything if you try
to include objective points of view in this matter.
Tambo What is most positive to say, in this ending
modern era, is that “progress and growth” is no longer the
keywords. In my estimation, the upper limit of humanpopulation that can be sustained by the resources andtechnologies we currently have is roughly 6 billion.
Our only weapon is the technologies but they arebasically freeriding on the giants such as René Descartes,
Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Francis Harry Compton
Crick and James Dewey Watson. Those technologies are
all useless unless we have anenormous amount of energy at our
disposal.
On the other hand, water circulates
in a 10-day cycle globally. If the use ofwater exceeds this cycle, there will bea need to accelerate the cycle by using
energy. The real-life example of this isSingapore. Singapore is marching・Born in Hokkaido in 1933
・Doctor of Engineering（environmental
engineering）
・Graduated f rom Graduate School ofEngineering, Hokkaido University with a
Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1957
・Currently President of the Hokkaido
Research Organization
・89th President of the Japan Society of Civil
Engineers
・2nd President of the International Water
Association（IWA）
・His previous posts include 15th President of
Hokkaido University and 5th President of
the Open University of Japan・Winner of the IWA Presidential Award for
Global Vision（2010）

Vice President, Japan Water Forum

Norihito Tambo
3

Opening
DialogueThinking Sustainability in Japan

toward the end of the modern era so to speak, and it gives
us a glimpse into “how we might disappear when themodern era comes to an end.” On the contrary, Japan is at
the spearhead of the overshooting progress and growth.

Uniformity and Diversity
Takemura One of the barometers to help us
understand modern Japan is the “long-term population
model of Japan” that you have been talking about for along time. I view the period from 2008, the population
peak of Japan, as the period after the modern, i.e. the postmodern era.
I was born in 1945, so I really am a child of the modern
era. I kept climbing to its peak, meaning I have beenworking under the pressure to expand all through my life.
The more the people, the less the sources. My selling point
was to be able to come up with something that didn’t exist
before with limited time and budget.
Tambo My generation is the same.
Takemura The keyword here was “efficiency,” orincreasing productivity in other words. This efficiency canbe divided into three parameters: per person, per unit
time, and per unit space. The only thing our generation
could do to increase these parameters was to aim for“uniformity”: making the same things over and over again
like a robot. To increase productivity per person and perunit time, we invested energy into speeding things up. And
to increase productivity per unit space, we concentrated
manpower and goods on urban and industrial areas. In
short, I think the drive toward increased productivity perperson, per time and per space represents the modern era.
Let’s think about the opposite of this way of thinking.
The antonym of “uniformity” is “diversity.” This means not
expending energy by sacrificing the productivity per unit
time. This is to say that production is done according to
the natural flow of time. The opposite of increasing
productivity per unit space by focusing on urban areas isdispersal to local cities.
Assuming the fundamental keyword of the modern era
is “expansion,” then we say the keyword of the next era is“contraction.” As soon as this word is uttered, everyonestops listening to you! “Contraction” doesn’t seem to strikea chord with anyone at all.
So instead of talking about the expansion of the modern
era as a whole, I have been expressing these ideas withmore specific keywords: I decided to assert that respecting
diversity, not expending energy and making dispersal iswhat will become necessary in the era that comes after
the modern era. Indeed, these are the sustainablemeasures. Recently, I feel I can finally express in my own
words what you have been saying since 1981.
Diversity is the state of being diverse. From one initialline, many lines diverge. In the Japanese language, theresult of divergence is called “diversity.”
Tambo So it is whether you see it as dynamic or
static, I suppose.
Takemura Undoubtedly, the evolution of livingorganisms is a case of divergence. Perhaps then, the path
we followed in the modern era when everything went
toward unification in cities could be called retrogression.

Solar Energy and Water

TAKEMURA
4

Takemura In summarizing the post-modern era, theantonym of “expansion” is “sustainability.” I think the
keywords to realize this idea in more practical ways are“gravity” and “bioenergy.” If we can maximize them, there
are still lots of other things we can do.
It is essential that we use the natural energy derived
from gravity and bioenergy as much as possible. The
reality of modern cities represented the total opposite ofusing gravity. And I feel bioenergy contains unlimited
power to combat the environmental problems.

Tambo After all, both gravity and bioenergy comedown to solar energy at roughly 1.8 kWh/m2. If we use
trees as biomass energy, it would take 50 years to return
to its original state in the first place, so this is carbonneutral with a 50-year cycle span. The problem of themodern era is that we are using up fossil fuels that havebuilt in a hundred million-year in just 300 years.
The resources we can use is not stock but flow, and only
solar energy can really be called the resources of flow. So
we must learn to operate within the limit of solar energy.
I do believe being sustainable is to be self-sufficient
locally by fully cycling food, energy and water, much likethe dispersal model you mentioned. However, we won’t
survive this way. Humans will start fighting if we weren’t
connected with each other. To survive, we have to connect
with the outside world through networks. The electronics
information type network will play a significant role in the
post-modern era. This type of network is quite resistant tohuman intervention and it doesn’t use much energy either.
There are only 100 million people in Japan but there
are 7 billion in the whole world. The knowledge of the
100 million and that of the 7 billion are different. To
coexist, it is vital to globalize information. Moreover, being
self-sufficient locally should help reduce the reasons of
those fights.
Takemura It may sound like a kind of sophistry by awater expert, but the eldest son of solar energy is water.
Water circulates. When things circulate, water acts as themedium. Energy, life and minerals – water acts as themedium for all of them. This is the concept of water
circulation. We should be speaking out and cheering
ourselves that the next mission is to create places with low
energy consumption helped by water cycle.
Tambo I agree with you. We can say with confidence
that water cycle is the basis.
Takemura Throughout our Japanese archipelago,
there are innumerable rivers, and using water for us is infact to follow the dispersal model. I don’t think any othercountries in the world can distribute water as fairly
divided by the units of river basins as in Japan. No othercountry could equally furnish their residents withpropsperity of water resources than in Japan.

Mt. Fuji and Mt. Sinai
Tambo I’d be useless in predicting the future of“Tokyo,” but I think I have a fair guess as to what might
happen to “Japan excluding Tokyo.” The outcome ofpredictions would rely on whether a given river basin canbecome self-sufficient in terms of water, food and energy.
There is absolutely no way that Tokyo could become selfsufficient.
Also, there’s a difference between cities and rural areas:in cities, you can make a living even if you can only do one
thing. For example, in cities you can survive even if you
can only work with computers, but in rural areas of
Hokkaido, you can’t make a living with just computers.
You can, if you can raise cattle and use computers. In rural
areas, you need to have composite abilities. But we don’t
have a system to reward such composite abilities in themodern era.
We also need to face the limitations of gravity andbioenergy as you mentioned. These things are difficult tobring off in megacities, and if too many chemicals are
involved, biological treatment would also become difficult.
This is precisely the reason why I said I could predict whatmight happen to Japan excluding Tokyo, although Tokyo’s
future is no one’s guess. Sustainability is about reinventing our system into one that is based on circulationand coexistence.
One of key characteristics of gravity and bioenergy isthat it takes time. This is why we need to reduce ourpopulation. The upper limit of the global population isaround 10 billion. It is a deplorable logic that we must
increase the birth rate because there won’t be enoughyoung people to support the pensions of the elderly. We
won’t have the capacity to support the growing populationin the era of vanishing resources, namely energy, waterand food won’t be guaranteed for us.
Takemura After all, the decline in population might
not be such a bad idea as the global environment and therestrictions on resources are expected to become severer.
Tambo There’s nothing to worry about population
decline if we can change the system. It is just that we
simply won’t be able to sustain ourselves if we keep goingwith the current system.
Takemura It is obvious that the population of Japan
will keep shrinking, and everyone is aware that what wewould face as a nation is not “progress and growth” andthat we are going down the hill. We are at the top of therollercoaster, scared and controlled by this fear, so undersuch circumstances we cannot make a clear statement.
I’ve been thinking this has something to do with thehuge influence of Mt. Fuji over Japanese people. It has abeautiful peak and stands alone. You can climb up, admire
the sunrise, and then climb down. The purpose of climbing
Mt. Fuji is to stand on its peak.
The Jewish mathematician Mr. Peter Frankl, who is wellknown in Japan, once said something quite interesting tome: “The Jews climb down a mountain to go up anotherone.” This must be the image of Mt. Sinai – with
continuous rugged peaks. Hearing this, I felt ashamed: theJapanese must discard the image of Mt. Fuji.
In the coming era, we will face extremely restrictedresources. Climate change will continue for a few
centuries. With the view of these next mountains we must

5

Opening
DialogueThinking Sustainability in Japan

climb, we have to go down from the peak on which we arestanding right now. We need to climb down so we can goup another. We should never be afraid of our declining
population.
Tambo I completely agree with you. In our ten
thousand years of history since JOMON Period, theJapanese are standing at the top of the world for the firsttime. Until now, we were chasing China and then Europe
to achieve success. But as soon as we reached the top, welost our own bearing. Looking through the long history of
the Japanese archipelago, it seems to me as if we Japaneseare being stunned by being at the top of something for the
first time.
After thinking long and hard about where we may begoing toward, I think the answers are remerging, at least
to me, concerning rural areas. One of them is dispersal as
you mentioned, and the globalization assisted by the
information-related networks interconnecting the rural
areas is the other. Building a system to reward thecomposite abilities of single individuals would lead us tocreate values in the next era.
For me, a civilization where value creation ability itself
is a value is just an interim measure. We’ll probably
experience a few decades from now, in which, as long as
we can create the new values, such values would create
another value, though we may not know to where we aregoing. Then in the era that will replace the modern era,
the value that comes out on top of the others will become
the stable value for the time being, and the 22nd century
will open its door.
The 21st century will be the century in search of values.
And I think everyone is aware by now that such values
won’t mean to push the GDP up.

Reflecting on the Vocations in theModern Era
Takemura I had a long career in the administration
as a dam builder. I built three mega dams: Kawaji, Okawa
and Miyagase. What I concern as a dam builder for the
coming era is that dams are not utilized effectively. How to
use the existent facilities effectively: this is the mostimportant point for the coming generations.
One of the utilizations is for energy. In 1957, the Law
on Specified Multipurpose Dams was enacted. This law
was influenced by the Toya-Maru Disaster in 1954. With
the weather forecasting technology of the time, it was
impossible to predict the paths of typhoons. The
framework of this law was designed with the resolve thatthe purpose of dams to control floods must never be
failed. So to this day, with the assumption that “this year,
once-in-a-century deluge will be upon us,” all dams
throughout the country still await this deluge with their

6water levels lowered.
Even though weather forecasting technology has
progressed and now the paths of typhoons can more orless be predicted, the same measures remain in place.
What I am trying to say is that, they should really think
about storing water in at least 1/3, if not half, of thoseempty flood-control capacity spaces. Its reserve energy
potential is massive: we would be able to secure energy
without building new dams.
Another thing I want to point out is the discharge after
heavy rain. It is too wasteful to discharge immediately
after rain to lower the water level. In addition, a sudden
discharge raises a risk when the embankments
downstream are weakened. Unless two consecutive heavy
rainfalls are forecasted immediately, I would suggest thewater to be discharged gradually and fully utilized for
power generation.
The stored water should be used for ensuring power
generation, and the water for this purpose should comefrom the locations where the flood-control water level
limit has been reached. Have the courage to do so, as we
do have the technology to support the courage! This is mycurrent belief and my wish is that “the younger generation
should change the dams built by, us the older generation.”
Tambo I was involved in the world of education and I
came to believe the power of accomplishment in everyday
activities. Schools have their limits. The ones who were
taught well are now in the posts they deserve, though I do
have to admit there are some students who became too
cozy within the ready-made system in their posts.
Takemura It is difficult to strike a good balance
between one’s loyalty to his/her organization, and giving
instructions at your own conscience and discretion after
you have gone up the ladder. It is important to serve yourorganization sincerely, yet you can’t stop there. This iscertainly not an easy time for those who intellectually try
and error, agonize and consider, to climb up to the top.
Tambo And sometimes those who shouldn’t be in aleading position are leading.
Takemura Whether or not you are thinking “I’drealize this thought when I get to the top” while at thesame time always retaining your loyalty to theorganization. I remember those days, around three
decades ago,when there were many such forerunners.
Tambo I feel every person who made historicalchanges to any organization had such mind.

To the“Water Experts”of the Future
Takemura From my experiences, only social
engineers can discuss society from macro perspectives. To
be more specific, even among social engineers, especiallythose who work with water.

Tambo I agree that it’s the river experts’ job to watch
over the country as a whole.
Takemura Each and every river expert has been
wrestling with one’s own river throughout the country.
Those who struggled against rivers for the control and theuse of water are a diverse group of individuals. Their
individual attributes and their ideas are really
heterogeneous, as they are all heavily influenced by therivers and lands with which they have lived their lives.
However, in the end, this diverse bunch of people sharesthe ideal image toward a safe and sustainable country.
Tambo The capacity to solve problems that continue
to pile up is crucial for social engineers, and especially“water experts.” I guess what you are talking about is the
direct consequence of their vocation.
I’m afraid we won’t be producing this kind of water
expert in the future, as each individual is far too
preoccupied with one’s narrow field of expertise. Even if
you look around the field of environmental engineering,which is my specialization, there are specialists on
i n d i v i d u a l p h e n o m e n a b u t t h e r e a r e h a r d l y a ny
environmental engineers who can comprehend the gamutof the entire system. I suspect this is one of the signs thatthe modern era is coming to an end.
Takemura What I ask of the water experts of thecoming generations is to voluntarily tackle the problems. I
think those who encounter a situation such as being able
to resolve truly pressing water problems in a developing
country are really fortunate. It is a wonderful thing tohave a chance to think about and socially implement thetraditional, old technologies of our forerunners, instead of
the specific, large-scale, contemporary technology.
So if you ask me what sustainability is, my answer isthat the generations after ours and the ones following
them can continue to benefit from the similar living
standards to ours, if not completely identical, but being
able to maintain a minimum level. If so, the population
decline is a godsend.
In the future, our true water problems will be closing in.
Tambo I agree. As I live in a local district, I feelTokyo’s extravagance quite strongly. I imagine thebarometers for this extravagance will also start to shift.
We need to climb a mountain that is different from those
we’ve climbed before. It has a different value. But I believe
it will be truly worth doing so.
Takemura I’m repeating myself here but water isthe best child of the sun. It is so wonderful to talk about
various things associated with water as a result of ourengagement in and thoughts about water matters. It is ofparamount importance and also fortunate to organize
your work and ideas with water as the keyword. I hopemore and more young people would become interested in
the field of water.

TAMBO
Tambo I hope more people would start studying
water as a kind of civilization accompanied bytechnologies. Words without technologies are mere
emotions. It is important that technology lies at the base.
Although possessing an international viewpoint is now aprerequisite, I hope they would be able to avoid falling
into formalism and conventionalism.

7

Trends of efforts based on the Basic Act on
Water Cycle and Basic Plan on Water Cycle
The Headquarters for Water Cycle Policy, the Cabinet Secretariat

1

Regarding the Basic Act on Water Cycle
and the Basic Plan on Water Cycle

Water is the essence of life, incessantly circulates aroundthe earth, and has been offering a lot of benefits to diverse
ecosystems, including humankind, while interacting with othernatural components of the environment, such as atmosphereand soil. However, water cycle has recently changed due tovarious factors, including the concentration of population in
urban areas, changes in industrial structures, and meteorologicalfluctuations caused by global warming, and then we witnessed
the emergence of many problems, including drought, flood,water pollution, and effects on ecosystems.
Based on this, it is indispensably important to renew
the acknowledgement of water as a common asset ofhumanity and implementation of measures to maintain
and/or restore the sound water cycle in order to circulate
water soundly and elicit continuous benefits from water.
Accordingly, the Basic Act on Water Cycle was enacted
in July 2014 and the Basic Plan on Water Cycle basedon the law was adopted at a Cabinet meeting in July
2015, for the purpose of promoting water cycle measurescomprehensively and consistently.
The objectives of the Basic Act on Water Cycle are to
specify the basic principles for water cycle measures,
clarif y the oblig at ions of the nat ional and lo cal

governments, enterprises, and citizens, design basic
plans for water cycle, stipulate the fundamental itemsof water cycle measures, establish the Headquarters
for Water Cycle Policy, promote water cycle measurescomprehensively and consistently, and then contribute to
the healthy development of economy and society and thesound improvement of human life.

2

What is river basin management?

Concept of comprehensive and integrated river basin
management does not mean basin-wise management bya single administrator, but the collaboration of related
personnel to maintain or improve the natural environment
relating to human activities and the quantity and quality ofwater in forests, rivers, farmland, cities, lakes and coastal
areas through water cycle measures. This is known as
the “River Basin Management” in the basic plan. As local
communities lead the way in promoting the "river basin
management" according to the actual situation of eachregion, the "River Basin Water Cycle Council" should beestablished in each river basin to promote creating a "river
basin water cycle plan".

3（Fig.1）Image of model surveys
Examples of water cycle issues
Decline in water source
recharge function

Framework for cooperation among the river basins forpreserving and recovering sound water cycle(proposed in the Basic Plan for Water Cycle)

River basin management

Deterioration of water quality
Decrease of rainwater
permeation under the
groundIncrease of flood amountdue to urbanization•

Establishment of the River Basin Water Cycle Council•

Production of the River Basin Water Cycle Plan•

Promotion of water cycle measures based on the plan

Drop in groundwater level

Issues with the promotion of river basin management Issues found through ongoing activities Lack of know-how to operate a council and design plans (There are a broad range of stakeholders regarding water cycle,
and complicated conflicts of interest exist.) It is difficult to find incentives.
 It is difficult to secure a budget.
 Sustainability and continuity of activities

To find solutions through model surveys
 To find a clue to success through on-site model surveys
 How to smoothly reach an agreement among stakeholders, who have a broad range of conflicting interests
 How to clarify the merits of planning and share them among stakeholders
 How to encourage investment from private sectors in this project Allocation of roles and duties to organizations and stakeholders for designing and executing plans

8

Nationwide
promotion based on
the Guidelines,
good practicereports, etc.

Efforts for promoting
river basin management

We have implemented
the following measuresf or promot ing river basin
management.
《Production of guidelinesand good practice reports》
We pro duced a "Guidline
for Developing and Prmoting
the River Basin Plan", which
understandably explains thebasic policy for establishingand operating the River Basin
Water Cycle Council as well as
for developing and promoting
the river basin water cycle
plan, including examplesof planning procedures forthe plan, as well as a "Good
Practice Report for Water Cycle
Plan" which reviews advanced
effrots in this regard, and madethem publicly available. Therewill be more enhancement and improvement by adding
the outcomes of model surveys and other hints.
《Release of the white paper on water cycle》
Article 12 of the Basic Act on Water Cycle（Act No.
16 of 2014）stipulates that Government shall submit anannual report on measures taken for the water cycle to theDiet every year. In May 2016, the “Water Cycle Measuresin fiscal 2015”（the first white paper on water cycle）was
adopted at a Cabinet meeting, and released in July 2016.
The water cycle measures in fiscal 2016 will also bereported around that month.
《Implementation of model surveys》
In order to implement water cycle measures effectively,
the Headquarters decided to select groups that conductadvanced river basin management, support their activities,
and carry out the first survey on model activities bycollecting, analyzing, and summarizing the cases ofriver basin management to be used as reference（Fig.
1）. In fiscal 2016, We publicly invited cooperative
groups in this survey for the purposes of（1）conducting
collaborative measures involving various organizations forsecuring water resources, including the maintenance andimprovement of water storage and recharge functions, and（2）education, enlightenment, publicity and diffution of

the information on water cycle in cooperation with local
staff as a start for model surveys. Among applicants, weselected 3 organizations as surveying groups（Table 1）,
supported their activities, and conducted model surveys.

《Approval for for River Basin Water CyclePlan》
For the purposes of grasping the situation of river
basin management in each region and further diffusing
and energizing related activities, the plans regarding
water cycle, etc. produced throughout Japan wereconfirmed, approved, and publicly disclosed as “River
Basin Water Cycle Plan” for the first time in fiscal
2016. Organizations developing plans throughout
the nation submitted their plans by the last day of
November 2016, the deadline of the first project, andas a result 17 plans were selected and approved tomeet the requirements for the River Basin Water Cycle
Plan（Fig. 2）.

4

Activities from now on

In fiscal 2017, the target rangeof model surveys will be expanded,and symposiums about river basin
management and the development of（Table.1）Organizations that conducted model surveys in fiscal 2016
information bases, such as websites,
Municipality that
Organization
applied for thisOutline of activities
are scheduled. Through these activities,
project
practical information will be offered to
Fukushima Prefecture Council
Fukushima
To devide the prefecture into 3 regions, and produce moreof Per son n el I nvol ved i nlocal communities that plan to conduct
Prefecture
detailed plans utilizing regional characteristics.
Water Cycle Measures
the river basin management, so that
Ok a z a k i Ci t y Cou nc i l f or
Okazaki City, Aichi
To propose new measures regarding "the volume of water"
Promoting Water Cycle
Prefectureand discuss their expected results.
they will be able to engage in river
To improve the system for grasping the behavior ofbasin management more actively.
Kumamoto Ground Water
Kumamoto
groundwater through data analysis, and reflect it into moreFoundation
Prefecture
effective measures.
River basin management is jointly
conducted by various elements,
including each and every（Fig.2）Plans corresponding to“River Basin Water Cycle Plan”
citizen. Therefore, we willtake measures for promoting
Map of River Basin Water Cycle Plan
educational activities
for deepening citizens’
understanding and awarenessof the importance of soundwater cycle, while focusing on
Utsukushima Plan for “Coexistence with Water”
Water Day on August 1.
Saitama City Water Environment Plan
情報提供ありToyama Water Vision for the 21st Century

Plan for Improving Water Cycle in Lake Inba
Basin and the First Phase Action Plan (provisional)

Echizen-Ohno Spring Water Culture Restoration Plan

Kunitachi City Basic Plan for Water Cycle

Hyogo Water Vision

Hachioji City Water Cycle Plan
Hadano City Plan for Comprehensive Conservation andManagement of Groundwater

Plan for Comprehensive Conservationand Management of Groundwater inKumamoto Region

Zama City Basic Plan for Groundwater Conservation

Kumamoto City Second
Groundwater Conservation
Plan

Shizuoka Water Vision
Second Basic Plan for Environment of Shizuoka City
Okazaki City Water Environment Creation Plan

Basic Plan for Reducing Nitrate
Nitrogen in Miyakonojo Basin

Takamatsu City Basic Plan for Water Environment

Dec. 2016
58

9

World Water Day in Tokyo 2017

Water Conference for Future

On February 22nd, the JWF hosted a symposium entitled World Water Day in Tokyo 2017, Water
Conference for Future. This is the second year since the SDGs were established. It is essential that avariety of players work together towards achieving the SDGs and solving other environmental issues.
World Water Day in Tokyo 2017 focused on companies as important players. Companies are ourpartners in building sustainability. In order to consider the roles of companies, we focused on the trendsof ESG（environment, society and governance）
investment. From that perspective, we confirmed that it
was important for companies to tackle environmental issues as part of their business strategies.

Program■ Opening Remarks Dr. Kotaro TAKEMURA（Chair, Japan Water Forum）■ Remarks Ms. Yuko NAKAGAWA（Chief of the Secretariat of Special Mission

Committee on Water Security Strategy and member of the House ofRepresentatives）
Mr. Takashi IGARASHI（Director, Water Resources Department, Water andDisaster Management Bureau, MLIT/Secretary General, Cabinet Secretariat
Headquarters for Water Cycle Policy）■ Special Address Sustainable Development Goals（SDGs）-Japan’s EffortsMr. Mikio MORI（Deputy Director General, International Cooperation Bureau,
MOFA）■ Presentation
Ms. Natsuki SASAKI（Consultant, Environment and Energy Division 2,
Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc.）

Dr. Michiyo MORISAWA（Japan Director, CDP）
Dr. Youhei KANEKO,（Vice President, Corporate Sustainability-Ecology, Kao

Corporation）

Prof. Taikan OKI（Senior Vice-Rector, United Nations University/Professor,
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo）■ Panel Discussion "Working Together to Build Sustainability"
Facilitator： Prof. Taikan OKI
Panelists： Dr. Michiyo MORISAWA, Dr. Youhei KANEKO and Mr. Masahiko
SHIBATA（Senior Consultant, Environment and Energy Division 2, Mizuho
Information & Research Institute, Inc.）

10

Organizer：
Supporters：

Japan Water Forum（JWF）
Ministry of Foreign Affairs（MOFA）,
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare（MHLW）
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries（MAFF）
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry（METI）
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism（MLIT）
Ministry of the Environment（MOE）
IWA Japan National Committee
Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resouces
Water Security Council of JAPAN（WSCJ）
Funding Support： The River Fund of the River Foundation, Japan
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Date：
Multipurpose hall, First Members’
Venue：
Office Buildings of the House ofRepresentatives, Tokyo

Mission Statement of Water Conference for Future 2017
Commemoration of UN World Water Day: Water Conference for Future 2017

Organized by Japan Water Forum (JWF)
Date / Time: Wednesday, 22 February 2017 / 14:00 – 17:00 (open 13:30)
Venue: Multi-purpose Hall, First Members’ Office Buildings of the House of Representatives, Tokyo
Since the start of the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) closely associated withdomestic and international water issues in 2016, unlike the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs for
2000-2015) with the principle objective of promoting progress of developing countries, it has provided
a comprehensive framework for all nations including developed countries to achieve the 17 Goals thatare interrelated each other. Within this framework, the value proposition of water issues was changed
in a way that not only was the Water and Sanitation treated as an independent goal, but various water
issues such as water shortage, aqueous environment and disasters were incorporated into and addressed
throughout SDGs.
Under such circumstances, the participation and mutual cooperation of various parties concerned aswell as contributions from private sectors, especially enterprises with unparalleled influence in today’s economic society, that play central roles in accelerating the problem-solving process are crucial tosolve water-related environment and societal issues for the achievement of the SDGs. The recent trendof growing interest in the investment on Environment, Society and Governance (ESG) grounds is also
noteworthy. Since the UN proposal of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) made in 2016,
many enterprises have been incorporating the ESG factors into their performance indicators aside fromtheir financial information.
This means that the private sectors’ initiatives towards the ESG issues have become part of their businessstrategies, not just as their corporate obligations and responsibilities. As water accounts for a large partof the Environment factor of ESG, the improvement and conservation of the water environment andthe preparedness for drought and flood are seen as active elements in assessing the overall value andproductivity of the enterprise. Furthermore in 2010 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDA), an internationalorganization based in the UK, launched the program on behalf of institutional investors that requests
leading companies in the world to disclose their water-related information of business strategies, risks,
opportunities and the like.
Though in the past enterprises were valued mainly based on their financial performance, as theenterprises’ mode of existence in the society and their value proposition are changing, so do the society
and people’s lifestyle eventually. Therefore, we must be able to understand, work together and support
enterprises’ efforts in addressing the ESG issues, so that we can create a new future society with plentyof opportunities.
While it is enterprise’s task to pursue their business with the idea of combining business andenvironmental interests in mind producing synergy effects rather than merely striking a balance
between their business and the environment, such corporate attitude will be highly valued by consumers
and investors. We believe this kind of interrelation between the private sectors and the society is indeed
a key to build a sustainable society.

11World Water Day in Tokyo

Water Conference for Future

Presentation

Tidal current to SDGs and water
Prof.Taikan OKI

Senior Vice-Rector, United Nations University
Professor of Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo

The percentage of those who cannot access safe drinking water was
24% of the world population of 5.3 billion people in 1990, and dropped
to 11% of the population of 6.9 billion people in 2010. The initial
goal of halving the percentage by 2015, which is one of the United
Nations Millennium Development Goals（MDGs）regarding water, hasbeen attained earlier than expected, and the percentage decreased
to 9% of the world population of 7.3 billion people in 2015. This is
not only attributable to the setting of the MDGs, but also because theeconomies of India and China had grown considerably since 1990, andwater infrastructure has been improved there.
The international development goals in the 1960s were quantified
with financial aid amounts, but Development Assistance Committeeof Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development（OECDDAC）
started setting goals as its new strategy in 1996, to which Japan
contributed considerably, and the MDGs followed this trend.
In the post-MDG discussion, it seems that they discussed whether to
put importance on the environment or the economy and whether toprioritize the reduction of poverty or the development. As a result,
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development（Rio+20）held
in 2012 set sustainable development goals（SDGs）
for the international
agenda till 2030, in succession to the MDGs, by adding development
goals related to the MDGs to “The Future We Want,” which is rather anenvironmental goal.
Consequently unlike the MDGs, which are realistic and attainable
goals, the SDGs, which uphold the idealistic philosophy: “We won’t
leave anyone behind,” include three factors such as ethics, economic
growth, and environmental conservation.
In water-related activities for attaining the SDGs, it is essential toeducate people about the necessity to not merely save water, but also
reduce the negative effects of water use on the environment and theimportance of enabling those who cannot use water sufficiently to use
a necessary amount of clean water at low cost, rather than restricting
the overuse of water.
For global enterprises, the activities for attaining the SDGs areindispensable in continuing their business, rather than charity, social
contribution, or cost. On the other hand, for long-term investors’
points of view, whether a company takes some measures for achieving
the SDGs is an essential information for judging whether or not toinvest in that company.
It is not necessary to tackle all of the SDGs or prioritize some of them.
We believe that the SDGs value lies on its indication that there are avariety of approaches to pursue the global peace and happiness. It is
important to achieve sustainability while comprehensively considering
the economic, social, and environmental fields and taking the SDGs
greatly into account.

12

International trend until SDGs adoption

http://hydro.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/© Taikan Oki, 20171948

Cold War started

Transnational contamination(Acid Rain)
Pollution problems
1959
1973
Gagarin:First man to Space
1962“Silent Spring”
Carson,R.L.

1950

WHO was established1960
1961-1970
United Nations
Monetary Aid
Development Decadetarget(Establishment of Democracy・Freedom from Hunger)
1973 1970
1977
Oil Crisis
United Nation Water Conference(Mar del Plata Action Plan)

1972
United Nations Conference on
the Human Environment“Only One Earth”

1972”The Limits
to Growth”
Donella H.Mecows.et.al

1980

1981-1990
International Drinking Water
Supply and Sanitation Decade“Health for All”
1996
New Strategies of OECD-DAC(Halving
poverty,Education,Environment)

1945
World War Ⅱ ended

Cold War ended

1990

Performance
Target2001-2010
The Fifth United Nations
Development Decade Development is for expanding
freedom Weak sustainability is acceptable

1992
United Nations Conference on
Environment & Development“Agenda 21”

1990
IPCC FAR

2002

2000

MDGs

 Which one should be prioritized –poverty alleviation or development?!

1987
Brundtland Report“Our Common Future”

2010

World Summit on Sustainable Development“WEHAB”
2009“Planetary Boundary”
2012
UN Rio+20 conference“The Future We Want”

SDGs Healthy environment supports
economic growth Strong sustainability is demanded

17targets of SDGs, by division of ethics(society）and economy（development）and environmental（Conservation）

http://hydro.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/© Taikan Oki, 2017

Economy(Development)

Ethics(Society)

Environment(Conservation)13

Toward the 3rd Asia-Pacific Water Summit－ Water Security and Sustainable Development Goals（SDGs）:
Secretariat of The Asia-Pacific Water Forum/Japan Water Forum

The Asia-Pacific Water Forum（APWF）,
for which Japan Water Forum（JWF）serves
as secretariat, is currently preparing for the
3rd Asia-Pacific Water Summit（APWS）.
APWF is an international issue networkof institutions that make efforts to improvewater security in the Asia-Pacific region,and organizes APWS.
APWF has hosted two APWSs（the firstin Japan in 2007; the second in Thailand in2013）, inviting top officials from the AsiaPacific region and suggesting policies forhuman security and sustainable growthfrom the viewpoint of water-related issues,
which has deepened mutual cooperative
relations, and promoted each country andthe international community to take action.

Meanings of the 3rd APWS

management, access to water and hygiene, drainage
treatment, irrigation, hydroelectric power generation,water channels, and measures against water disasters.
APWS provides an opportunity to promote smooth andsustainable development without repeating past failures ofother countries, by sharing previous cases and know-how
for the sustainable water resources management in the
Asia-Pacific region.

The 3rd APWS is the first water summit af ter
sustainable development goals（SDGs）
were adopted at the
U.N. General Assembly in September 2015. The purposeof holding the 3rd APWS is to promote the top officials
from the Asia-Pacific region as well as the international
community to take specific actions for achieving the SDGs.
Especially, the Asia-Pacific region is facing with commonand serious water issues, such as water shortage, water
quality deterioration, and flood risk augmentation,
because of the rapid urbanization and economic growth.
These are the external diseconomies which inhibit sounddevelopment. Furthermore, a water disaster often hits
the Asia-Pacific region, taking away the lives of people,
which accounts for 80% of casualties caused by the water
disasters in the world. From the viewpoint that solving
these problems will lead to the sustainable growth of local
communities and the attainment of the SDGs, the 3rd
APWS will be held with the following objectives:◦ To share the recognition at a high political level that
it is necessary to take appropriate measures against
water issues before they become apparent during theprocesses of rapid urbanization and economic growth.
◦To share useful knowledge and experience in the region,in order to promote specific measures to be taken forsolving the water issues, sharing especially Japan's past
bitter experiences（water issues that occurred during
the high economic growth period）as well as how wemanaged to overcome the issues and the technologies
we used to cope with them.
In the Asia-Pacific region where urbanization andindustrialization are rapidly proceeding, we have abroad range of water issues, such as water resources

The 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit
Chiang Mai,Thailand

14

Assumed outcomes of the 3rd APWS
The 3rd APWS aims at sharing the knowledge,
experiences, technologies, know-how, and the paths for
attaining the SDGs, so as to promote leaders from every
field of business, including the national leaders in the AsiaPacific region, to deepen their recognition of the relation
between water and sustainable developments, share thedetermination to solve the problems, and take specificactions to cope with them.
Outcomes of the 3rd APWS will be scheduled to beshared at other international conventions such as the 8thWorld Water Forum（March 2018 in Brazil), the Singapore
International Water Week（July 2018 in Singapore）andthe 11th International Water Association（IWA）Congress& Exhibition（Septmber 2018 in Japan）.

System of APWF
◦ APWF: APWF is a loose issue network that
upholds the concept of “independency and nonprofit activities”, involving international and local
institutions, academic organizations, NGOs, etc.
related to water issues in the region, and promotes
the leaders in each field of business, including the
top officials in the Asia-Pacific region, to deepen
their recognition of water issues, allocate theirresources and take concrete actions to solve theproblems concerning sustainable development◦ President:
Yoshihiro Mori, the former Prime Minister of Japan,
President of Japan Water Forum◦ Chairman:
Ravi Narayanan, former CEO of Water Aid andInternational Mentor of Japan Water Forum◦ Vice Chairman: Simon Tay, Chairman of theSingapore Institute of International Affairs andAssociate Professor of the National University ofSingapore; Changhua Wu, Former Greater China
Director of The Climate Group◦ Secretariat: Japan Water Forum●Objectives: Host of the Asia-Pacific Water Summit,
realization of the outcomes and commitment of APWS,
promotion of the regional process for the World
Water Forum.

◦ Member Organizations of APWF:

Asian Development Bank（ADB）, UN Economic andSocial Commission for Asia and the Pacific（UNESCAP）,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations（FAO）, Singapore Public Utilities Board（PUB）,
United Nations Human Settlements Programme（UNHABITAT）, United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization（UNESCO）, International
Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management（ICHARM）, International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development（ICIMOD）, International
Water Management Institute（IWMI）, Network of
Asian River Basin Organization（NARBO）, Global
Water Partnership Office（GWPO）, Global Water
Partnership（GWP）South Asia, GWP Southeast Asia,
GWP Central Asia and Caucasus, Executive Committee
of International Fund for saving the Aral Sea（EC-IFAS）,
Korea Water Forum（KWF）, Pacific Community（SPC）,
International Water Centre in Australia（IWC）, Japan
Sanitation Consortium（JSC）, etc.

◦ Background of establishment: At the 4th World Water

Forum held in Mexico in March 2006, under the leadershipof the late Ryutaro Hashimoto, the former Prime Ministerand the former chairperson of JWF, cabinet members
involved in water issues in the Asia-Pacific region requested
that an effective mechanism for integrating water resourcesmanagement into the social and economic development
process in the Asia-Pacific region should be developed andthe Asia-Pacific Water Summit should be held in about
every three years. In response to this request, APWF wasestablished in September 2006, in cooperation with the
Asian Development Bank（ADB）and the UN Economic andSocial Commission for Asia and the Pacific（UNESCAP）.

Outcomes of the 1st and 2nd APWS

The 1stAPWS▪ Period: Dec. 3-4, 2007
▪ Host Country: Japan▪ Place: Beppu City, Oita Prefecture▪ Theme: Water Security: Leadership and Commitment▪ Participants: A total of 371 participants, including the Crown Prince of Japan, the Prince
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands（at that time）, and 10 top officials and 32
ministers from 40 countries/regions in the Asia-Pacific region and other 16 countries/
regions▪ Outcome: “Message from Beppu” to set the goals by 2025 beyond the MDGs as the first everadoption of the subject of water disaster being one of water issues at a Summit-level
convention, reflecting likelihood of water-disaster in the region.

The 2nd
APWS▪ Period: May 19-20, 2013
▪ Host Country: Thailand▪ Place: Chiang Mai▪ Theme: Water Security and Water-related Disaster Challenges, Leadership and Commitment▪ Participants: 18 top officials（from Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, South Korea,
etc.）, 16 cabinet members, and over 300 representatives from international institutions,private corporations, academic organizations, etc. from over 30 countries and regions▪ Outcome: “Chang Mai Declaration” to send a message to the international community, urging
the importance of addressing water supply and sanitation issues for the foundation of
global-level development as the matters of national priorities.
15

The future We want

Timeline for Water Actions
The term for achievementof SDGs

The 9th World Water Forum2021.3
Tokyo Olympics andParalympic Games
2020.7〜9

Start of The next Basic Plan on
Water Cycle Policy in Japan （2020〜）
Follow-up and reviews of theimplementation policy on SDGs in JapanThe 11th IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition Tokyo 2018.9
International Decade for Action for “Water for Sustainable Development”（2018〜2028）
The 3rd Asia-Pacific Water Summit

2017.5 The 50th Annual Meeting of the
Asian Development Bank, Yokohama
2016.12 The decision on the implementation policy on
SDGs in Japan
2015.12 the 21st Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change（COP21）

The Paris Agreement came into effect 2016.11
The 2nd UN Special Thematic Session on Water
and Disasters 2015.11
The 70th UN General Assembly,
The adoption of SDGs 2015.9

2018.3 The 8th World Water Forum, Brasilia

2015.7 Cabinet decision about the Basic Plan on Water Cycle Policy in Japan
2015.4 The 7th World Water Forum, Daeg North Kyongsang
2015.3 The 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Sendai

2014.10 The 23rd UN Secretary-Generals' Advisory Board on Water & Sanitation, Tokyo
2014.7 The Basic Act on Water Cycle Policy came into effect in Japan
2014.6 Forming High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters（HELP）
2013.5 The 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit, Chiang Mai
2007.12 The 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit, Beppu
2003.3 The 3rd World Water Forum, Lake Biwa Yodo River basin
1997.12 The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol
1997.3 The 1st World Water Forum, Marrakech
1992.6 UN Conference on Environment and Development（Earth Summit）

JWF Water Journal Vol.1

issued on March 31, 2017

Copyright JAPAN WATER FORUM, All Right Reserved.

Publisher: Japan Water Forum
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This journal was launched with grants from the Japan Society of Civil Engineers and the River Foundation, Japan.