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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2023

As disease ravages Japan's oak trees, researchers tap tech to aid neglected forests

By digitally cataloging the trees and facilitating their use for green tourism or the building of furniture, researchers say extensive oak wilt can be prevented.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jan 13, 2023

China and Canada pressed on biodiversity leadership after delivering COP15 pact

The two countries, which worked together to broker a landmark global deal to protect nature, now need to help countries meet biodiversity goals at the national level, green groups say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 11, 2023

New Indonesia capital imperils ancient Eden with 'ecological disaster'

With construction ramping up this year, environmentalists warn that the project will speed up deforestation in one of the world's largest and oldest tropical rainforests.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 6, 2023

Collapse and contamination: Mexican scientists sound alarm over Mayan Train

The debate over the train project exemplifies struggles developing countries across the globe face to balance economic progress with environmental responsibility.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 4, 2023

Robot fireflies and okra band-aids: 2022's nature-inspired solutions

'If we look to nature, we can shortcut our development process and get to a valuable solution right away,' said one researcher.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 3, 2023

A plea and a promise for 2023: No more ‘pacifism’

The characterization of Japan as a “pacifist” country is widespread — and very misleading.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2022

Saving the bees isn’t the same as saving the planet

Mother Nature spent millions of years creating the most efficient pollinator on the planet. We owe it to the bees to save them.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 27, 2022

Human activity puts 1 million species on the brink, threatening ecosystems

The speed at which species are now vanishing is unprecedented in the last 10 million years.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 26, 2022

India chases clean energy, but economic goals put coal first

India is in the crosshairs of a global challenge: How to bring power to the world's poor and fight climate change at the same time.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2022

With wildlife pests on the rise, Japan turns to novel countermeasures

The old-school approach of the nation's hunters is being pushed to its limits, prompting some to turn to unusual kinds of drones and robots.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2022

Landmark U.N. deal on biodiversity gets finance and business thumbs up

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed to at recent U.N. talks, is expected to create some red tape but also new opportunities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Dec 19, 2022

Hokkaido kelp farmers aim to boost storage of 'blue carbon' in seaweed beds

Stakeholders in the major kelp-producing region this year started researching the growing conditions of seaweeds and the amount of absorbed carbon with an aim to sell blue carbon credits.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 19, 2022

Japan commences aid for decarbonization of public facilities

The aid is intended to help the introduction of solar power generation systems and renovations for energy conservation.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 19, 2022

Ministers near global deal at landmark U.N. nature talks

Policymakers hope an ambitious deal can spur nature conservation in the same way that a pact in Paris in 2015 helped mobilize efforts to limit carbon emissions.
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2022

Tokyo's solar panel mandate a major shift in a country where fossil fuels reign

The capital is moving to break away from a longtime reliance on other regions — and planet-warming fossil fuels — to meet its massive energy demand.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 18, 2022

Europe reaches deal to bolster carbon market in Green Deal push

The deep reforms are part of the region's plan to cut emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030, and reach net-zero by 2050.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 18, 2022

What campaigners want to see in U.N. nature deal

Many Indigenous activists want to make sure their rights are not trampled in the name of conservation — an outcome that has been dubbed 'green colonialism.'
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 15, 2022

Children of India's burning coalfields dream of a fire-free future

Youth face an uphill struggle in an area where there is no other thriving industry.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington. Since former President Donald Trump’s election victory, investors have dumped stocks associated with high-profile environmental, social and governance (ESG) themes such as wind and solar.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

Trump victory forces ESG investors to regroup

Investment managers targeting climate change say it’s time to start speaking in terms that don’t alienate the millions of Americans who voted for the president-elect.
Makoto Nakae, a researcher of swallowtail butterflies
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Dec 9, 2024

New museum set to bring butterflies of the world to Fukushima

The collection includes Japan’s only display of an extinct butterfly species native to South America.
In scrap yards lacking proper environmental safeguards, towering piles of scrap are at risk of collapse.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Dec 10, 2024

Japan to tighten regulations for electronic devices scrap yards

Local communities have expressed concerns over frequent fires and noise pollution.
Gifting secondhand used to have a bad rap, but it doesn’t carry the taboo it once did.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2024

How to buy a secondhand gift someone might actually want

Gifting secondhand used to have a bad rap, but thanks to more environmentally conscious consumers, it doesn’t carry the taboo it once did.
Food loss happens at food-related businesses including-food makers, retailers and restaurants, as well as at households.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2024

Japan drafts more ambitious 60% goal for cutting business food loss by 2030

The government hopes to require food businesses to change practices such as rejecting foods and beverages that are close to their best-before date.
People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 29, 2024

Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets

Average temperatures across the nation and surrounding seas exceeded last year’s record-breaking levels "by a significant margin," affecting everything from well-being to farming.
Ritsumeikan University researchers succeeded in completely breaking down PFAS compounds, often called "forever chemicals" for their persistence in the environment.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 5, 2025

Japanese researchers develop method to break down PFAS 'forever chemicals'

Ritsumeikan University researchers succeeded in completely breaking down perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS.
Solar panels and a coal-fired power station in Fukushima Prefecture. Japan has not set a clear path for phasing out coal and its new draft energy plan foresees an important role for fossil fuels, especially gas, and nuclear power in its future energy mix.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2025

Japan’s energy plans endanger real climate solutions

The government's draft energy plans were not subject to open debate and their outcome shows an insufficient commitment to making the changes needed to tackle climate change.
The global electric vehicle boom has resulted in a lithium supply shortage since 2022 despite the 180% increase in production compared to 2017.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 1, 2025

Three novel approaches that can revolutionize batteries

The innovations aren’t yet available at a commercial scale, but they are part of an effort to prevent the global clean energy transition from stalling.
A heron flies over the bustling Ver-o-Peso market, in Belem, Para state, Brazil, near the site of the COP30 Summit, which will be held in November.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 10, 2025

BRICS' climate leadership aims hang on healing deep divides

Diverging national interests among BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — may also prove sticking points.
The Environment Ministry plans to have recycled plastics account for at least 15% of overall plastics used in the production of new vehicle models, at a time when the European Union is looking to make using recycled plastics mandatory in vehicle production.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2025

Japan aims to use 15% recycled plastics in auto production

Recycled plastics have rarely been used in vehicle production in Japan due to poor quality and insufficient supply.
A surgical team attend to a patient suffering from black fungus in Rajasthan, India.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 2, 2025

Once-rare fungal diseases are killing millions in an unprepared world

An estimated 6.5 million people develop invasive fungal infections each year, with about 2.5 million deaths directly caused by them.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.