companies and organizations to explore the potential of implementing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Mongolia.

Japanese companies are also engaging in international environmental cooperation in various other ways. For example, an automobile manufacturer has set up a system to fund activities for the improvement and conservation of the environment. It adopts “social investment for sustainable development” as its basic theme for supporting community-based projects that provide practical experience in the two areas of environmental technology and environmental learning. There are also examples showing that Japanese companies, which have high levels of environmental technology and awareness, have played an important role in the environmental conservation of developing countries through direct investment.

The well-organized, flexible efforts of civil organizations such as NGOs working in developing countries are playing an extremely important role in Japan’s international cooperation, including in the environmental field. The diverse nature of their activities, speediness of response, and community-oriented ideas have attracted attention. For example, the Green Earth Network (NPO) plants pine trees and bushes in China’s Ocher Plateau to prevent soil erosion and improve water retention, and builds apricot and apple orchards for primary schools in poor villages so that they can use part of the profits made by the orchards for activities to improve the educational conditions.

## ——Conclusion: Protecting the Global Environment with the Environmental Techniques

## and the Environmental Spirit

The reform begins when we apply “environmental techniques” and the “environmental spirit” to our daily lives. Some of Japan’s environmental technologies are of the highest levels in the world, including the energy efficiency of home electrical appliances and fuel efficiency of automobiles. The dissemination of such “environmental techniques” throughout Japan and the world can certainly contribute to protect the global environment. The traditional Japanese mindset of respecting nature can give rise to a sustainable lifestyle that enables the continued enjoyment of a beautiful nature and a sound and affluent living. If we can present this to the Japanese people and people in other countries in an appealing way, we can contribute to the sustainable development of the world.

If every one of us does not apply environmental techniques and does not act with the environmental spirit, we cannot protect the environment. On the other hand, if only one individual takes action, perhaps a small part of the environment can be improved. For this reason, it is desirable for all individuals, businesses, NGOs, and the government to cooperate in undertaking activities at home, in the community, in the country, and with other countries to better the environment.

By linking and disseminating “environmental techniques” and the “environmental spirit,” we can make environmental conservation into a motive force for developing a new social economy. In other words, we can start the “Environmental Revolution.” Let us develop and spread Japan’s environmental techniques and the environmental spirit so that the world can achieve new development in the 21st century.