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COMMENTARY
Aug 14, 2008

Growing energy disarray

The energy policies of European nations, and of Britain in particular, are in disarray. Admittedly the ferocious rise in crude oil prices has eased, but how long the present dip will last, with the Russians bombing one of the main oil transit pipelines from the Caspian region through Georgia and the...
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2008

Carbon-credit market trial to start in October

The Japan Electric Power Exchange will start trading carbon credits in October on a trial basis as part of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's goal to cut greenhouse gases by more than half, officials said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Aug 10, 2008

Fiat's 'Bambina': a 'small car with a big heart'

Japan makes plenty of fun little cars, but it is far from having a monopoly on the aesthetic.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Aug 8, 2008

Hone science, tech abilities: education chief

Promoting science and technology is every bit as important as improving the education system in general, according to Tsuneo Suzuki, the newly appointed education, culture, sports, science and technology minister.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 3, 2008

Jiang Rong: Writing in a world of wolves

Jiang Rong (pen name of Lu Jiamin), who is now 62, was born in Jiangsu Province, China, and educated in Beijing. In 1967, at age 21, he volunteered to go and work in Inner Mongolia, where he'd heard about the practice of people there paying homage to "wolf totems" erected in the rolling grasslands that...
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2008

Japex eyes China for foray into carbon-capture business

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. plans to develop a carbon-capture business and wants to lead a project to trap and store pollution from coal-fired power plants in oil wells in northeastern China.
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2008

New world order is long overdue

George Herbert Walker Bush, when he was president of the United States, used to talk a lot about a "new world order" emerging after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Seventeen years later, that new order is still not in place as the countries that dominated the old order refuse to make way for...
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2008

Too much for the G8 alone

The results of this week's Group of Eight summit show that the topics discussed, such as global warming and soaring oil and food prices, are so serious and of such great scale that the G8 nations cannot alone solve them. Discussions on global warming in particular highlighted a division between the G8...
Reader Mail
Jul 10, 2008

Support for emission reductions

Regarding recent comments by the government about Japan's agreed Kyoto Protocol targets: The fact that Japan is struggling to meet its goals is due to nothing more than bad leadership. I work with companies in Japan that lease offices, and they are keen to make their new offices more environmentally...
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 10, 2008

Lack of concrete promises disappoints NGOs

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — Various nongovernmental organizations expressed deep disappointment Wednesday over the G8 summit, which ended without any concrete goals or commitments and left much unfinished business for next year's meeting in Italy.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2008

A modest step forward

The Group of Eight leaders have reached an agreement on efforts to fight global warming, a main topic at their summit this week in Toyako, Hokkaido.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 9, 2008

Developing nations skewer G8 proposal

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — Five of the top developing nations on Tuesday denounced the Group of Eight's qualified proposal to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, saying the industrialized powers should slash their own emissions by up to 95 percent below 1990 levels.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2008

Nature stifling wind power in Japan

CHOSHI, Chiba Pref. — About a 2 1/2-hour drive east of central Tokyo, on the edge of the Kanto plain, stands one of the closest wind farms to the capital, whirring away as it generates up to 25,500 kw of clean electricity.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 9, 2008

G8 offers halving of emissions by 2050

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — The Group of Eight powers agreed Tuesday to "seek to share" with both developing and developed states the goal of at least halving global emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, showing only scant progress from last year's summit in fighting global warming.
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT 2008
Jul 8, 2008

New EU fund takes aim at food crisis

TOYAKO, Hokkaido — To address the ongoing international food crisis, which has sparked violent, deadly riots in several parts of the world, the European Commission hopes to make euro 1 billion available to support agriculture in developing countries, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2008

Toyota leads charge for new 'green' power source

As the world warms and gasoline prices rise, Japanese automakers are gearing up their efforts to develop vehicles that emit less or zero carbon dioxide.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2008

Tokyo's emission controls

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has enacted a by-law that will start imposing limits in fiscal 2010 on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by large business establishments. This is the first move in Japan to impose compulsory limits on COティ emissions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2008

Midterm CO2 goal needed: Ban

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon lauded Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura for not wearing a tie as part of energy-saving efforts but demanded bolder action Monday to save the Earth, urging Japan to set a midterm emissions-reduction goal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 28, 2008

Blair shifts focus on climate to Copenhagen conference

The Group of Eight leaders gathering next month in Hokkaido should not attempt to resolve all climate issues up to 2050 or even 2020, but instead focus on setting a clear course for an agreement at next year's U.N. conference in Copenhagen, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday in Tokyo....
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2008

U.K. climate-change envoy pitches 'low-carbon society'

Failing to respond effectively to global warming would be tantamount to taking away public security and prosperity, a British envoy for climate change issues said Thursday in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2008

The global food crisis: It's time to empower the world's have-nots

HONG KONG, (AP) The Times of London ran a cartoon offering its "solution" to the world food crisis as leaders gathered for their recent Rome summit: It showed Pope Benedict XVI holding a cross in his left hand and a packet of "extra safe" condoms in his right.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2008

Building an eco-friendly society

The government's 2008 white paper on the environment deals with the transition to a low-carbon and recycling society. In view of the expiration in 2012 of the Kyoto Protocol, it stresses the need to build a post-Kyoto framework under which all major greenhouse gas-emitting countries strive to curb emissions....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2008

Nobel laureate raps Japan for avoiding midterm carbon goal

YOKOHAMA — Japan's reasons for not committing to a medium-term target for cutting carbon emissions are "unfounded," the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change told The Japan Times on Saturday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2008

Robot startups join forces against South Korea competition

Four of Japan's leading robot startups have joined forces, brought together by a common concern that neighboring South Korea could pull ahead in the race to transform robots from science fiction fantasy to commercial success.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji