# 3. New Measures by International Society and Japan's Contribution

## 1 ) Factors of instability of the international society caused by deterioration of the natural environment

The current background of frequent regional disputes has produced a vast number of refugees worldwide. In addition, "environmental refugees" who were forced to leave their residences due to destruction of the environment are estimated to reach 25 million. Thus, environmental problems have become serious problems.

Population shifts caused by the environmental problems and cross-border environmental problems such as acid rain, and pollution of international rivers have become the factors of instability in the international society.

## 2 ) Securing stability of environment, society, and economy

With these conditions forming the background, recently the environment and security issues are often associated in discussions. For example, the subject of "Environment and Security" was included in the final communique of the G8 Environment Minister's Meeting held in 1999. Under the recent climate where mutual dependency beyond borders has become increasingly stronger worldwide due to globalization of the world economy, recent apprehension regarding spread of instability of some regions in the world due to environment destruction is increasing. To secure sustainability on the global scale, the approach from each facet of the environment, society, and economy is necessary. For Japan, which largely

Dependency of Japan on imports for its major resources

1980	2000 ( $ ^{*1} $ )
Production amount	Import	Overseas dependency (%)	Production amount	Import	Overseas dependency (%)
Timber <raw material> $ (1,000\ \text{m}^{3}) $	34,051	43,892	56.3	17,987	19,511	52.0
Grains <including feeds> $ (1,000\ \text{tons}) $	10,750	26,120	70.8	10,450	26,810	72.0
Coal $ (1,000\ \text{tons}) $	18,095	72,711	80.1	3,126	145,278	97.9
Crude oil $ (1,000\ \text{kl}) $	503	256,833	99.8	740	249,814	99.7
Natural gas $ (million\ \text{m}^{3}) $	2,197	22,854	91.2	2,431	103,225	97.7
Iron ore $ (1,000\ \text{tons}) $ $ ^{*2} $	477	133,721	99.6	4	131,733	100.0
Copper $ (1,000\ \text{tons}) $	53	867	94.2	1	4,469	100.0
Bauxite $ (1,000\ \text{tons}) $	0	5,708	100.0	0	2,096	100.0

Source: "Raw materials demand and supply statistics", "Food demand and supply table" by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan, and "Trend of Mineral Industry of Japan" and "Trade White Paper" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Transport.

1. The data of timber and grains is that of 2000

2. The values of 2000 were estimated using the average grade of iron ore as 38.9% based on the statistics survey of the amount of mineral reserves.

depends for its resources, energy, and food on overseas countries, active contribution is important to secure sustainability on the global scale, considering the size of the environmental load.

## 3 ) Significance of "World Summit On Sustainable Development"

From the end of August, 2002, the "World Summit On Sustainable Development" will be held in Johannesburg (South Africa). For the significance of the meeting, the following items are expected :

<1> Political decisions made by the world leaders indicate the guideline of international efforts associated with sustainable development in the 21st Century.

<2> New challenges and opportunities that the international society is facing are verified and international agreements are made regarding the future practical measures.

<3> Participation of various concerned stakeholder over a wide range, as well as the Governments, further promotes the realization of sustainable development.

Constructive discussions by world leaders in one place regarding actualization of sustainable development, in particular, environmental prosecution and poverty eradication in developing countries are extremely meaningful in securing worldwide sustainability. For Japan, which depends significantly on overseas countries, this is a good opportunity to make active contributions.

## 4 ) International contribution in the environmental field

According to the analysis result of the relationship between

Environment Kuznets curve

Presentation: Prepared by Ministry of Environment