Global Environmental Issues: Responses from Japan

Abstract

The timing of the Japanese Government's acceptance of the United Nations multilateral treaties governing several environmental concerns indicates Japan's priorities: biodiversity, global warming, and depletion of the ozone layer. Banning transboundary movement of hazardous wastes is the least prioritized, as indicated by Japan's failure to accept the Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention. The Japanese Environment Agency's policy statements and budget allocations between 1985 and 2000, as well as other official statements and programs, likewise indicate the same priorities. Moreover, of the three priorities, global warming is the top.

Japan, which has been looking for a niche in world leadership, has found it in global warming concerns. However, it would be hard for it to maintain a leadership role in global environmental concerns if it would not be able to play a proactive role in the more technologically, economically and politically difficult task of banning transboundary movement of hazardous wastes.