Exploring a glacial lake in Bhutan as part of the “Study on GLOFs (Glacial Lake Outburst Floods) in the Bhutan Himalayas” project (Photo: Jiro Komori)

Additionally, at the Third TICAD Ministerial Follow-up Meeting held in Dakar, the capital of Senegal in May 2011, Japan proposed that African countries formulate their strategy to promote low-carbon growth in Africa, and is supporting to build a low-carbon society in Africa. Moreover, Japan is promoting the “East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership” which aims to promote dissemination of low-carbon technologies and achieve both economic growth and measures against global warming in East Asia, which is the world’s economic growth center and also includes the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gas.

## • Biodiversity

The Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) and the Fifth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP5) $ ^{*} $ were held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture in October 2010. At the meeting, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020) $ ^{*} $ which is a global target beginning in 2011 to effectively implement the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Nagoya Protocol $ ^{*} $ , which specifies concrete measures for Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) of genetic resources that should be implemented by each of the party countries, and the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol $ ^{*} $ which stipulates the scope of responsibility and response measures when genetically modified organisms have damaged the ecosystem, were adopted. In addition, Japan announced the Initiative to Assist Developing Countries with the Conservation of Biodiversity (Life in Harmony Initiative) to support efforts by developing countries to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, pledging a total of 2 billion over a period of three years beginning in 2010,

Conducting training on ecological monitoring for local environmental protection staff as part of “The Capacity Enhancement Project for Coral Reef Monitoring” in Palau (Photo: PICRC)

such as China and India.

Japan made constructive proposals and actively contributed to discussions at COP17, which was held in Durban, South Africa at the end of 2011. This yielded four significant results, namely progress for future frameworks, an agreement towards the establishment of the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol, the Green Climate Fund and a series of decisions regarding the implementation of the Cancun Agreements. The basic design of the “Green Climate Fund” was agreed upon, and strides were made towards its establishment.

for areas that aid in preserving biodiversity. Moreover Japan supported the establishment of the Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF) at Global Environment Facility (GEF) and in 2010 contributed 1 billion yen to the fund in order to support early entry into force and effective implementation of the Nagoya Protocol.

In the future, it will be extremely important to work steadily toward achievement of these goals to conserve biodiversity and ensure its sustainable use.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiji Maehara speaks as a representative of the COP 10 host country at a High Level Meeting on Biodiversity in the UN General Assembly