NAGANO -- About 950 people attended the first Nordic-Japan Forum on environmental issues held recently at a hotel in Nagano Prefecture.

In the two-day meeting, titled the Nordic-Japan Environmental Conference 2000, 20 speakers, from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Japan, exchanged views on topics ranging from alternative energy sources to effective ways for organizing community recycling efforts.

The keynote speakers were Princess Takamado, who spoke on "Japan, the Japanese and the Environment," and Markku Nurmi, director general of the Ministry of the Environment of Finland, who gave a speech on renewable energy sources amid climate change.

Pal Schmitt, a leading member of the International Olympic Committee and chairman of its Commission on Sport and the Environment, gave a special presentation titled "The Olympic Games and the Environment."

Yasuo Tanaka, the new governor of the prefecture, greeted the audience and spoke about his own thoughts and experiences related to environmental issues.