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August 23, 2025
 

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Valerie Volcovici
Environmental activists on the sidelines of the New Global Financial Pact Summit in Paris on June 23
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 24, 2023
Countries deadlocked on 'loss and damage' as climate summit nears
Developing and developed countries at odds over fund's eligibility and who will oversee it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2023
U.S. envoy John Kerry says China-U.S. climate relations need 'more work'
The two sides agreed climate change was urgent and that they should stick to the global commitment 'to keep 1.5 alive.”
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 17, 2023
China-U.S. climate progress could hinge on new methane deal
China had drafted a plan with concrete measures to curb methane emissions from energy, agriculture and waste but has yet to make the plan public.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 10, 2023
Pressure grows for world's militaries to report and reduce greenhouse emissions
As temperatures hit new highs, scientists and environmental groups are stepping up efforts to end a long-standing exemption that has kept some military climate pollution off the books.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 8, 2023
Accounting for war: Ukraine's climate fallout
The first 12 months of the war is expected to trigger a net increase of 120 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to the annual output of a country such as Belgium.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2023
After rough start, U.N. plastic treaty talks end with mandate for first draft
By the session's close, countries agreed to prepare a 'zero draft' text of what would become a legally binding plastics treaty.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2023
U.S. climate envoy Kerry says China has invited him for talks
China last year briefly suspended talks with the U.S. on climate, security and other areas in response to a visit to Taiwan by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2023
Biden's climate agenda has a problem: Not enough workers
With the U.S. unemployment rate at a historic low of 3.5%, companies fear that plans to transition away from fossil fuels could stall out as they struggle to fill job vacancies.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Nov 1, 2022
COP27 climate summit to test resolve of world battling war and inflation
With nations dealing with the fallout of urgent crises, questions loom over whether they will act quickly and ambitiously enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jul 1, 2022
Biden forced to rethink climate game plan after U.S. Supreme Court limits EPA powers
The U.S. president came into office with the aim of slashing power sector emissions to net zero by 2035, using the EPA as his key tool in doing so.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 1, 2022
U.S. Supreme Court limits federal power to curb carbon emissions
The decision will constrain the EPA's ability to issue any regulations on power plants that push for an ambitious national shift in energy policy toward renewable sources.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 18, 2022
World far short of climate goals during 'decade of action'
Failing to meet the 2030 emissions target risks pushing the world toward irreversible climate impacts, even if a second goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 is met, scientists say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2022
A U.N. pact may restrict plastic production. Big Oil aims to stop it.
U.N. members are set to meet this month to draft the blueprint for a global plastics treaty. That's a problem for Big Oil, with the plastic industry set to double output within 20 years.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Nov 15, 2021
How a dispute over coal nearly sank the Glasgow Climate Pact
As envoys prepared to take their seats to adopt the accord on Saturday night, an unresolved dispute over coal threatened to derail it, and most of the people in the room had no idea.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Nov 15, 2021
Was the Glasgow pact a win for the climate? Time will tell.
Success will be determined by the future actions of the governments that thrashed it out the deal, according to the summit's U.K. hosts, participants and observers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2021
Trash and burn: Big brands' new plastic waste plan faces skepticism
Experts say that burning plastic in cement kilns, a practice firms are promoting, emits harmful emissions and amounts to swapping one dirty fuel for another.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 11, 2021
To save the planet, focus on cutting methane, U.N. climate report says
Countries must make 'strong, rapid and sustained reductions' in methane emissions in addition to slashing carbon dioxide emissions, the report said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2021
The recycling myth: Big Oil’s plastic waste solution littered with failure
While residents have dutifully packaged up their trash, expecting it to be put to a green use, many have been left disappointed.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2021
150 years of spills: Philadelphia refinery cleanup highlights toxic legacy of fossil fuels
A U.S. refinery cleanup of the size and scope of the one in Philadelphia has no known precedent, remediation experts said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2020
Make Science Great Again: U.S. researchers dream of life after Trump
Dozens of U.S.-based climate scientists shifted their research to France, or sought refuge in academia or in left-leaning states after Donald Trump was elected in 2016.
Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
Big burgers and bigger ambitions for Japan's Burger King
Kazuhiro Nomura, president of BK Japan Holdings, which operates Burger King in Japan
Tokyo crowned No.1 'workation' spot
Workations were a burgeoning trend in the corporate world for years before the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged it.
Atsushi Kitagawara’s exhibition finds poetry in architecture
The inverted cone, one of Atsushi Kitagawara’s six signature elements in architecture, is a key feature of the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection museum building.
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
Hawks pitcher Livan Moinelo has a 1.13 ERA in 19 starts this season.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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