Search - environment

 
 
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 24, 2009

Students share hopes for nation's future environment

Each year on May 5, Japan celebrates Children's Day with waves of young families flooding local parks, playgrounds and amusement centers.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2002

Uncertainty overshadows Earth summit

The largest United Nations gathering in history is to start in Johannesburg in nine days' time, with nations reflecting on the progress -- or the lack of it -- toward achieving a more sustainable world over the past decade and wrangling over how to do a better job in the future.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2000

Updated environment plan to add new economic options

The Basic Environment Plan -- Japan's 5-year-old master plan for a more environmentally sustainable society -- is in the middle of a seismic revision.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2018

Move the nation's environmental policy forward

The nation's Basic Environment Plan needs to be quickly fleshed out with concrete policy measures.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Environment Agency rises a rank

In less than a month, the Environment Agency will -- at least in theory -- get its hands on a bigger piece of the administrative pie.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES SYMPOSIUM
Mar 26, 2011

Firms urged to develop leaders in global business environment

Japanese firms seeking to globalize their operations need to develop leaders who can achieve their missions in a diverse business environment across national borders, experts on human resources development told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / Longform
Jan 17, 2022

Beneath the surface: Are Japan’s iconic hot-spring resources sustainable?

The public and private use of hot springs is leaving a significant imprint on the environment.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2003

Trade-environment debate deserves a judicial solution

The Cancun World Trade Organization Ministerial meeting concluded last weekend with little progress on a swath of issues it must try and complete by Jan. 1, 2005. Agriculture subsidies were the main stumbling block, but the talks really failed on a number of other fronts including trade and environment....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2001

What women can do for the environment

The growing worldwide demand for resources is threatening the world's environmental health to an unprecedented extent. Unless new policies are set in place, this situation could have devastating implications for human develop- ment. Significant among the possible options are massive campaigns, both at...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 10, 2020

'Green recovery' offers Japan a chance to slash carbon emissions

A slight reduction in Japan's carbon dioxide output has already been seen this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 10, 2020

‘Mottainai Grandma’ spreads her environmental message in new cartoon series

The animated series “Mottainai Grandma” teaches youngsters the importance of respecting the environment around them.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 27, 2017

Japan's coveted cherry blossoms and other ecosystems threatened by alien species

Spring has come — the season when cherry blossoms bloom nationwide.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2003

Environment panel calls for carbon tax in 2005

A government advisory panel tasked with studying environmental taxes adopted a proposal Wednesday for the introduction of a carbon levy by as early as 2005.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2001

Private panel to advise on environment

A private advisory group to the prime minister will start deliberations as early as next month with the goal of charting a more environment-friendly path for Japan, government officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

Globalization seen as bane of environment

KITAKYUSHU -- An award-winning environmental activist from India who specializes in agricultural and food issues warned that ongoing globalization could destroy the environment and called on women in particular to counter the trend.
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 10, 2000

This is last chance to get straight with environment -- UNEP report

This is last chance to get straight with environment -- UNEP report ft,b For those of us who get a kick out of odometers hitting big round numbers, this is it, a new century. Environmentally speaking, though, 100-year blocks of time are almost irrelevant.
JAPAN
May 28, 2023

Japan slowly wakes up to health risks of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’

Residents in western Tokyo have been testing themselves to measure their exposure, with results showing levels of the chemicals that could bring long-term health risks.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2023

In Tokyo, a more natural vision for an unnatural waterfront

Against a history of development and environmental issues, a plan by the Tokyo government conjures up images of lush parks and biodiverse shores. Bringing it to fruition won't be easy.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / Longform
Jan 16, 2023

The race to save the Japanese giant salamander

River infrastructure is causing the salamander's decline. To stop Japan from losing this rare species, conservationists are calling for an alternative vision of rural development.
The white-tailed eagle's wintering grounds include Hokkaido, northern Honshu, the Russian coast, the southern Kamchatka Peninsula and the Kuril Islands.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
May 26, 2025

Eagle nest discovery sparks opposition to megasolar project

Groups want to put a stop to the project near eastern Hokkaido's Kushiro Wetlands National Park.
People swim in the Mediterranean Sea on a sunny and warm spring day during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which gathers leaders, researchers and activists to discuss how to protect marine life, in Nice, France, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 11, 2025

Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into 'wild west'

Anxiety over Trump's push to fast-track deep-sea mining in international waters took center stage at the opening of the U.N. Ocean Conference in France.
While leaders, researchers and activists at the third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France, took steps to tackle overfishing and pollution threatening delicate ecosystems and the people who depend on them, getting countries to agree to better governance has been challenging.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 17, 2025

Investors want clear ocean management rules to scale up funding

The lack of a clear governing framework and robust ocean-related data has stymied private sector finance to date.
People buy ice cream in Rome, near the Vatican, on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 29, 2025

Europe bakes in summer's first heatwave as continent warms

According to Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Europe has been warming at roughly twice the global average since the 1980s.
Children play on the splash pad in Miami Beach, Florida, on Friday as the region came under an extreme heat warning.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / FOCUS
Jul 26, 2025

World court climate ruling: nonbinding but game changing

By saying that all countries were firmly bound to a swathe of legal obligations, experts say the ruling will influence climate decisions globally.
Activists stage a demonstration in front of the United Nations Offices in Geneva on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 5, 2025

Pressure from oil producers and U.S. threaten global pact on plastics pollution

Plastic production is set to triple by 2060 without intervention, choking oceans, harming human health and accelerating climate change, according to the OECD.
Sharon Kwok Pong, founder of the Hong Kong Parrot Rescue, interacts with "Winnie," a rescued yellow-crested cockatoo.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 19, 2025

Hong Kong scientist puts hope in nest boxes to save endangered cockatoos

Their future now hangs in the balance, due to habitat loss and, some suspect, a black market for the rare birds.
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 7, 2023

Feeling anxious? Wastewater, heat and Japan’s year in climate

In a year that saw Japan release 24,000 tons of wastewater (so far) from Fukushima No. 1 as the planet smashed heat records, it’s no wonder climate anxiety is on the rise. Mara Budgen joins us to break down the year in environment news, where we could see hope, and what we should be worried about....
Yasuhiro Otomo and Miku Narisawa during one of Odyssey Nature Japan's educational fishing programs.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 22, 2024

A young 3/11 survivor and her vow to protect the ocean

At 12, Miku Narisawa experienced a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed her home. Now she is working to protect it.
While not the most outspoken politician on the issue, digital minister Taro Kono has a track record of being serious in his commitment to addressing the climate crisis.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
May 19, 2024

The politicians moving Japan forward on climate

In the halls of power, climate-friendly voices may be few and far between, but some in politics are pushing for more aggressive action on decarbonization.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight