Search - environment

 
 
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 24, 2018

India speeds up environmental approval process for major industrial projects

India is fast-tracking environmental clearances for projects like power plants and coal mines in a bid to boost growth, setting off alarm bells among environmentalists and affected residents who say the decisions are being made too quickly.
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 2017

Protecting the marine environment

Japan can and should do more to preserve the world's oceans.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 11, 2003

'War on Terror' veils assaults on the environment

Alread two years have passed since terrorist attacks in New York and Washington shook America and shocked the world. Today, the repercussions of those tragedies continue to impact American lives in ways never imagined. For environmentalists, one of the most disturbing consequences has been the Bush administration's...
LIFE / Language
May 3, 2002

Never too young to start making a difference

You don't have to wait until you're grown up to be counted. In fact, if you're between 10 and 12 years old, you're the perfect age to take part in the International Children's Conference on the Environment. And to start thinking of how to preserve and improve the world that you are living in.
JAPAN
May 30, 2001

Environment Ministry plugs green tax in first white paper

In its inaugural white paper approved Tuesday by the Cabinet, the Environment Ministry is touting the merits of introducing an environment tax to help put Japan on a more environmentally sustainable path and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 8, 2022

Tide turns as more governments oppose rush to mine deep sea for valuable metals

A U.N.-affiliated authority is convening in Jamaica to fast track regulations that could allow the mining of fragile and biodiverse deep sea ecosystems for valuable metals as soon as 2024.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 4, 2022

Big Oil's plastic boom threatens U.N.'s 'historic' pollution pact

When the U.N. agreed on a deal to create the world's first ever global plastic pollution treaty, every party was quick to claim victory, but that could spell trouble.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 11, 2021

China teaches children its own version of the climate change story

China's state-led approach to climate change is less tolerant of public debate over how it's going to reach its emissions targets.
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 16, 2021

The true cost of the climate crisis on Japan

The prime minister has called for Japan to be carbon neutral by 2050, but bolder measures look necessary to reduce the economic damage caused by global warming.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 8, 2019

Trump to tout green bona fides while gutting environmental rules

Donald Trump is preparing a novel campaign strategy for a president who's pulling the U.S. from the international Paris accord on climate change, cheerleading for coal, one of the dirtiest source of power, and suggesting that wind turbines cause cancer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / IDEAS IN ACTION
Oct 5, 2018

Company stumbles upon new software to build healthy work environment

Haruki Atarashi never thought his company's flagship software, Recog, which fosters communication between employees within companies, would ever evolve beyond just an internal project.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2015

Pope Francis as environmentalist

Pope Francis has issued a powerful call on mankind to protect the environment, achieving an important alignment of science and religion.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2015

Rural revitalization can be green

Revitalizing rural areas, in addition to slowing the exodus of people to big cities, could also lead to improved environmental conservation.
EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2012

Environment tax in effect

The environment tax was introduced from Oct. 1. Although the introduction came very late, it is hoped that the new tax will help change the mind-set and behavior of enterprises and consumers so that they can contribute to mitigating global warming through reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, which...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 28, 2004

Where the candidates stand on your environment

When it comes to politics, I'm a one-issue voter, and the environment is my litmus test. More often than not, if a politician is responsive to environmental concerns, then he or she is likely to support other policies I care about.
COMMENTARY
Mar 29, 2004

Environment tax can work

On Nov. 18 the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Nippon Keidanren) issued a statement opposing a proposed environment tax. Keidanren noted that it had set its own fiscal 2010 targets for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions generated by the industrial and energy-conversion sectors below 1990 levels,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2003

New environment minister seeking to boost PR efforts

The Environment Ministry needs to work on making better presentations to the public if it hopes to create greater awareness of environmental issues, according to newly appointed Environment Minister Yuriko Koike.
JAPAN
May 31, 2000

Report suggests environment tax to combat global warming

The 2000 white paper on the environment released Tuesday called for the introduction of an environment tax so Japan can more vigorously combat global warming and waste dumping, government officials said.
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 18, 2023

How Japan's top soccer league is striving to become a climate leader

As the league continues to grow, and as climate change wreaks havoc on operations, its quest to bring healthier lifestyles to the Japanese public has expanded into environmental issues.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2022

A looming biodiversity crisis demands action

Some 188 governments agreed to a sweeping deal to protect the Earth's biodiversity at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference: COP15 that convened earlier this month in Montreal, Canada.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 20, 2021

Inside the deadly water crisis threatening Iran’s leadership

The nation's long-brewing crisis over water scarcity is the result of decades of unchecked industrial expansion.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G20 Osaka
Jun 26, 2019

Odds of sweeping deal slim, Japan to use Osaka G20 to tackle plastic waste problem one step at a time

When international delegates arrived at Karuizawa Station for the Group of 20 environment ministers' meeting earlier this month, they were greeted by local schoolchildren, bilingual volunteers — and a wild boar the size of an elephant.
JAPAN / Beyond Tokyo
Feb 24, 2019

As the world drowns in plastic, Kameoka in Kyoto and other cities across Japan fight back

Plastic pollution in the ocean has become one of the world's most urgent environmental problems. Footage of vast fields of floating plastic debris between California and Hawaii — now commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — have driven home the gravity of the problem, with scientists and...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2018

Ocean pollution crisis on agenda for next year's G20 summit in Osaka, Yoshihide Suga says

With worldwide concern and political attention rapidly growing over the plastic garbage polluting the world's oceans, Japan has said it will put the environmental crisis on the agenda when it hosts next year's Group of 20 talks, including the leaders' summit in Osaka.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2017

We need an environmental criminal court

There has never been a more dangerous time to be an environmental activist.
An activist in Seoul protests Japan’s plan to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 7, 2023

Anger at Fukushima’s wastewater; hope in its renewables

Good news and bad news out of Fukushima.
Titan Cement's factory in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2024

How big fossil-fuel-producing countries export emissions abroad

A loophole in the 2015 Paris accord has allowed countries to say they are making climate progress while also exporting fossil fuels at breakneck pace.
Hidetaka Ishii, an official at the Chiba Municipal Government, says close coordination with private-sector operators is key for regional decarbonization efforts.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Mar 2, 2025

Japan’s climate heroes show potential and limits of local initiatives

Chiba and others show the potential for local areas to accelerate the energy transition, as well as the challenges of building locally driven, carbon-free energy models.

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