Search - environment

 
 
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2001

Palau banks on environment to bring in the tourist dollars

The president of the Republic of Palau said Thursday that his island nation will protect its environment through education and the selective admission of foreign capital, while promoting tourism as its major industry.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2001

82% of Japanese worry about environment

About 82 percent of Japanese are concerned about the environment and 80 percent are willing to change their lifestyles to curb global warming, according to a recent Cabinet Office opinion poll.
JAPAN
May 1, 2001

OECD environment strategy faces hurdles

In its first environmental strategy to be adopted later this month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is expected to embrace a five-point plan calling for members to slash subsidies that hurt the environment and introduce incentives to stem environmental damage.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2001

Asia environment ministers urge U.S. to stay with accord

Environment ministers from Japan, China and South Korea have urged the United States to stay within the framework of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and strive to ratify the pact on curbing global warming.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2001

Transport Ministry to study Europe's environment tax regime

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided Saturday to establish a study group to examine European-style taxes aimed at preserving the environment.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 1997

Japan firms urged to take lead in environment

The World Wide Fund for Nature has called on Japanese businesses to establish a council to fight global climate change and take a leading role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions before a key conference in December in Kyoto.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2023

The Japanese firms and megabanks funding rainforest destruction

Comprehensive datasets reveal thousands of investments and loans made by Japan’s top lenders and investment funds that are impacting rainforests around the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Jun 3, 2023

Japan Times 1923: This may be a true story, but again, it mayn’t

Some mysterious behavior from a jar of ashes 100 years ago makes the front page of The Japan Times. Then, 25 years ago, a conference believes newsprint will win out over the internet.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 29, 2023

Recycling in focus as plastics treaty talks get underway in Paris

Many countries have said a goal of the treaty should be 'circularity' — or keeping already produced plastic items in circulation as long as possible.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2023

How a scientific approach to urban greening could cool Japan's concrete jungles

In Tokyo, temperatures have risen by 3 C over the past 100 years, even though global temperatures have risen by only around 1 C. The solution could lie in green infrastructure.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2023

South Korea eyes fines for corporate greenwashing

Under a draft law, a financial penalty of 3 million won will be handed out to companies that are deemed to have misled the public about their green credentials.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2023

Japan's largest lake used to be a cesspool. Now it’s a vision of a sustainable future.

Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, has long been a center of flourishing agriculture and cultural progress, but it's also been at the center of countless environmental crises.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 28, 2023

How two weather balloons led Mexico to ban solar geoengineering

The backlash arrives as more scientists and policy makers say emissions cuts alone won't stop climate change and other innovations may be needed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2023

Twelve years after 3/11, dispute grows over Fukushima’s radioactive soil

The central government has pledged to — and is legally obliged to — move all of the soil out of Fukushima Prefecture by 2045.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 6, 2023

Is biodegradable better? Making sense of 'compostable' plastics.

Some fear these 'magical' solutions could lead to further environmental havoc and even encourage more wasteful consumption.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Explainer
Jul 16, 2023

Why China is opposed to the release of treated water in Fukushima

Japan's plan is facing a strong backlash from China, South Korea and other locations in the Pacific. But where are the concerns coming from?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2023

Squeezed on housing, Sunak’s Tories take aim at EU-era water law

The British leader is considering scrapping the law as his government faces pressure to build more houses while fending off a voter backlash on pollution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 25, 2023

Colorful snow algae is blooming in Japan's alpine areas. What does this mean for climate change?

Scientists race to Mount Gassan to see how the algae might affect the natural balance in vulnerable ecosystems and potentially perpetuate warming.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 22, 2023

Under Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia can use global funds to 'do better' on climate

So far, Anwar has focused on corruption and the rising cost of living but has said little on how he will bolster Malaysia's green credentials.
Employees of a fishing net manufacturer, including Ainu Indigenous people, work at a facility in Urahoro, Hokkaido, in June.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Jul 23, 2023

In Hokkaido, an Ainu group's lawsuit and climate change converge on salmon fishing

The Raporo Ainu Nation in Hokkaido is fighting for its Indigenous rights to fish for salmon. But warming waters are raising questions about future fish stocks.
An apartment building construction site in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, on July 19. Officials at Daito Trust Construction, which oversees the building project, say heatstroke dangers are a top concern given their aging workforce.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jul 30, 2023

In Japan, extreme heat and an aging population are a deadly mix

Heat waves combined with high humidity are weighing particularly heavily on the nation’s 36 million people age 65 and over, who are at much greater risk of severe illness and death.
The Azabudai Hills development in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2023

Mori Building to open Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo in November

The company hopes the project will boost the capital’s competitive edge over metropolises overseas.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen during a practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. Saudi Aramco has perhaps the most visible presence among fossil fuel giants at Formula One races as one of the series' top sponsors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Sep 30, 2023

F1 says it will reach net zero by 2030. But can it shake its polluting image?

Formula One's pledge faces myriad challenges, including its long-standing ties to some of the world's dirtiest fossil fuel companies.
Hang Dara, an electrician-turned-fisherman, passes the two active coal-fired power plants in Sihanoukville’s Steung Hav district.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Nov 26, 2023

Cambodia's big bet on the dirtiest fossil fuel faces major delays

Large projects are facing long delays amid uncertainty over foreign funding.
3M’s Cottage Grove, Minnesota factory had been churning out varieties of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS since the 1950s.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 9, 2024

PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ pervasive in water worldwide, study finds

The study of over 45,000 water samples worldwide found that about 31% of groundwater had levels of the chemicals considered harmful to human health.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa at a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo in March.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

Japan's security environment at its 'most severe and complex,' policy report says

While North Korea and Russia pose challenges, some of the strongest words were reserved for China.
An Israeli tank maneuvers inside the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Gaza's environment was already suffering from recurring conflicts, rapid urban growth, and high population density, before the most recent conflict began on Oct. 7.
WORLD / Society
Jun 18, 2024

Gaza conflict has caused major environmental damage, U.N. says

Water, sanitation, and hygiene systems are now almost entirely defunct, the report found, with Gaza's five wastewater treatment plants shut down.
A loggerhead sea turtle hatches eggs on a beach in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 29, 2024

Aichi sea turtle researchers assess risks of warmer nesting sites

The warmer the nest is, the more likely hatchlings will be female — that bodes ill for the survival of the marine species.
Their trucks, sometimes driven by Someya herself, go around Tokyo collecting used cooking oil from restaurants and households.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 27, 2024

Turning tempura oil into fuel: 30 years of environmental efforts by Tokyo entrepreneur

"Seeing all the used cooking oil being collected, I thought Tokyo is basically an oil field."

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan