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Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2023

Japan's emissions up for first time in eight years in blow to climate goal

The country's emissions expanded 2% in the year ending March 2022 to 1.12 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the Environment Ministry said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Commentary
Apr 2, 2023

Landmark U.N. deals highlight need to see ties between climate and biodiversity

If you look behind the headlines on recent climate and biodiversity progress, there is growing recognition that how these efforts interact is critical.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Mar 28, 2023

Recycling offers hope to safeguard net zero goals despite soaring metal demand

Concerns are currently growing about the environmental impacts of mining and producing metals required for clean technologies, from damage to biodiversity to rising emissions.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2023

Weathering the storm: How Japan is factoring climate change into defense policy

Until recently, there was only limited interest in climate security within Japan’s defense circles, but that has changed as the challenges have become more evident.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2023

Where is the fast fashion backlash?

For all the talk about shifting shopping patterns, there is no clear quantitative evidence of any demographic ditching fast fashion en masse.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 6, 2023

Indonesia banks on dams to tackle water crisis — but at what cost?

Facing worsening water security concerns, the Southeast Asian nation is building more water retention dams, but the building process is causing its own new challenges.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 6, 2023

Iceland shows the world how to run on reliable and clean energy

Every home in Iceland is heated with renewable energy, with 90% coming from district heating systems that tap hot water directly underground.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2023

Peak emissions are just the start of the climate battle

Fossil-fuel pollution may be declining faster than anyone anticipated, but most of the world's carbon is locked up in places you'd least expect.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 1, 2023

Greta Thunberg detained by Norwegian police during rights protest

Thunberg had on Monday joined protesters demanding the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by Sami herders in central Norway.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 28, 2023

The EU is cracking down on plastic. Will others follow?

The European Commission has proposed sweeping packaging regulations, requiring product packaging in the EU to be easier to reuse, recycle or in some cases, compost.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 25, 2023

Thai farmers tap into sustainable rubber industry

The vast majority of Thailand's rubber plantations are still worked conventionally, but a few farmers are abandoning pesticides to try and lessen their impact on the environment.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 30, 2023

Bangladesh develops green economic zones, but will locals benefit?

Activists are concerned about how enough land will be found for the zones without compromising agricultural production or infringing residents' rights.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 25, 2023

Life's no longer rosy at Senegal's pink lake after floods

Extreme floods contaminated the lake five months ago, turning its famous waters green and threatening thousands of people who depend on it for their livelihoods.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 17, 2023

Turkey quake survivors' latest menace — dust

Some 210 million metric tons of rubble must be disposed of, and some fear safety measures are being ignored.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 13, 2023

A showdown in Jamaica is deciding the fate of the deep ocean

Seabed mining has the potential to become a trillion-dollar industry as the transition to electric vehicles spurs demand for metals like cobalt and nickel.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2023

‘Extremely hot’ summer arrives in Japan amid climate change and El Nino

Across the nation on Tuesday, 57 locations saw highs that surpassed 35 degrees Celsius.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 7, 2023

South Korean market tests seafood to dispel Fukushima radiation fears

Shoppers say they want policy steps by the authorities that are backed by science, rather than sensational claims aired during debates.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 3, 2023

Norway's quest for 'black gold' from used car batteries

An essential part of many clean energy technologies, 'critical minerals' may energize the transition to a decarbonized economy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 26, 2023

The world is losing the 'war on plastic.' What can be done to curb waste?

The U.N. this month took a major step toward what could become the world’s first treaty to curb plastic pollution. But a recent report highlights the immense challenge that lies ahead.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2023

Department stores focus on sustainability for Valentine's Day gifts in Japan

Department stores in Japan are trying to ride a shopping wave for Valentine's Day confectionary gifts with products featuring sustainability.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2023

How eco-friendly is that product? Here are four ways to spot greenwashing

Research in the EU found that more than half of the 'green' claims it studied were vague, misleading or unfounded — and that consumers don't trust businesses to tell the truth.
A camp of informal gold miners in Los Amigos, in the Madre de Dios region, Peru. The Peruvian government estimates that illegal miners dump about 180 metric tons of mercury in Madre de Dios annually.
WORLD
Aug 7, 2023

Gold mining in the Amazon poisoning scores of threatened species

Miners in southeast Peru use mercury to find gold — inadvertently contaminating hundreds of species native to the area.
The "furoshiki" style of wrapping gifts takes advantage of a fabric that can be used more than once.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 10, 2023

Eco-friendly eating with a healthy helping of Japanese

Sustainability-related vocabulary isn't the only way to get your thoughts across on sustainable food practices in Japanese.
Surging populations of plant-eating insects are disrupting farms and the food supply chain, causing problems far more serious than sticky windshields from bug excrement.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2023

The insect apocalypse is coming to your neighborhood

Polar bears and sea turtles get most of the attention as victims of climate change, but when the bugs invade we're all going to feel it personally.
A handful of trees stand at the Tabqa Reserve near the village of Jaabar, in the Kurdish-held part of Syria's Raqqa province.
WORLD / Society
Aug 21, 2023

Illegal logging turns Syria's forests into 'barren land'

Fuel shortages and rampant poverty have pushed many Syrians to chop the trees to sell or use for heating, dealing a blow to the nature surrounding Jaabar.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a ministerial meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2023

Japan to begin releasing treated Fukushima water Thursday

Despite fishing cooperatives' lingering worries of reputational damage, the government will go ahead with its plan.
A Saudi Aramco oil tank at the Ras Tanura refinery and terminal in Saudi Arabia
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2023

U.N. experts challenge Saudi Aramco over climate change

The largely state-owned enterprise plans to ramp up national oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day by 2027.
The Environment Ministry plans to launch a survey in fiscal 2024 on how manufacturers recycle plastics and metals contained in industrial waste.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2023

Japan to conduct survey on closed-loop recycling

Closed-loop recycling is spreading in recent years on the back of improvements in technology to remove impurities from recyclable waste.
Packs of raw fish at a Japanese food store in Beijing prior to China's ban on Japan's seafood products
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2023

China takes its anti-science disinformation campaign to a new level

Japan can counter China's disinformation on the safety of the Fukushima water release, and gain people's trust, by sharing the data.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 17, 2023

Climate litigation remains a tough sell in Japan despite wins overseas

So far, Japan has seen just four climate lawsuits, all concerning the construction and operation of coal-fired power plants.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear