Biological Diversity and Japan's Technologies

In October of this year about 190 countries and regions will gather in Nagoya for the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in order to discuss how to prevent the breakdown of the natural environment, which is proceeding rapidly and on a global scale.

Recently world interest has focused on the problem of global warming (the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions), but I believe that in the near future interest will undoubtedly shift to the more fundamental problem of the destruction of biodiversity. The reason is that the survival of humankind depends to a great extent on the blessings of biological diversity, including food, and in recent years that balance has been collapsing at a rapid pace (due mainly to population increases and economic development around the world).

One of the important items on the agenda at COP 10 will be "Business and Biodiversity." How can companies tackle biodiversity, and what contributions can they make? Business circles also are required to make positive statements and proposals on this issue.

There are, I imagine, many things that companies should do. Many companies are conducting corporate social responsibility activities, such as "planting trees and nurturing forests." And at manufacturing sites, efforts to reduce the load by, for example, eliminating material waste are activities that have a direct effect on the preservation of biological diversity. First of all, it is important for us to steadily continue these grass-roots initiatives in the workplace.

Having said that, though, in view of the terrible degradation of nature that is occurring on a global scale, and especially in developing countries (on annual missions of the Committee on Nature Conservation, I myself have witnessed dreadful conditions in more than 10 countries), and the accumulated discussions of experts so far, quite honestly I strongly feel the need to further deepen our activities at the corporate level.

I believe that one contribution toward biodiversity that only companies can make is the development of more advanced technology. Let me go so far as to call this "green sustainable technology." Specifically, technological innovations can be made in the following fields:

1. (1) Enhanced productivity in the agricultural, fishery, and forestry industries (as a food crisis looms, increased productivity through biotechnology, etc.)
2. (2) Biological resource recycling technology (as yet unresolved recycling technology for scrap wood, used clothing, etc.)
3. (3) Technology for ecosystem preservation and restoration (How can ecosystems, such as water, soil, and forests, be preserved and restored in the process of development activities?)
4. (4) Information monitoring technology (satellite investigation of deforestation, ocean pollution, etc.)

Experts around the world have great expectations of Japan's ability to develop innovative technologies. In the field of biodiversity as well, I hope that Japan can demonstrate the same strength in achieving outstanding technological breakthroughs that it once showed in the development of energy-saving technologies.