June 24, 2002
The Japanese government's decision to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to combat global warming on June 3 was a major victory for nongovernmental organizations that lobbied long and hard for the treaty's approval.
"Citizens and NGOs have made a significant impact on negotiations to ratify the treaty," declared Mie Asaoka, a lawyer who is president of the Kiko Network, a Japanese NGO working on environmental issues. She has attended every international climate conference since 1997, researching the activities of participating countries. When Tokyo's resolve wavered after the U.S. announced its withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol in May 2001, Asaoka and other NGO leaders went directly to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stress the significance of the treaty.
Asaoka is disappointed that the final version of the pact falls short of its original principles, but she still considers ratification a "turning point" for civilization. "While the U.S. sentenced the treaty to death, the rest of the world has made a great leap toward a common objective," she said.
When the treaty goes into effect, Japan will be obligated to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 6% from 1990 levels in 2008-2012. NGOs will play a part in meeting the targets.
"Participation by citizens will be necessary to achieve the target," Asaoka said. "We have to make bottom-up efforts, including rallying public opinion and implementing local government measures based on regional concerns."
International NGOs have played a key role in the Kyoto Protocol since negotiations in 1997, where the groups drew attention for their ability to gather information. "The information network of global NGOs made a great impact on the climate talks," said Yurika Ayukawa, senior officer of the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan, the Japanese chapter of the Switzerland-based NGO.
NGOs released the latest information on a regular basis independent from governments during international conferences on global warming. European and U.S. NGOs, such as the World Wildlife Fund, sometimes published the news before the Japanese government obtained it.
In Europe, NGOs have a significant influence on governments and have made great strides in building relationships based on trust. At a conference in Bonn in 2001, a European government delegation even asked a Japanese NGO what the Japanese government wanted.
Mitsutoshi Hayakawa, managing director of the Citizens' Alliance to Save the Atmosphere and the Earth (CASA), a Japanese NGO, said, "Continued monitoring by citizens led to the government's ratification of the treaty."
On May 29, Hayakawa was invited to the upper house as a witness during deliberations on amending the law on emission-cutting measures.
"Global warming measures have reached the stage for action, and we need to establish appropriate domestic laws," Hayakawa said.
He also argued that the amendment was not sufficient to achieve a 6% emissions cut required by the Kyoto Protocol.
CASA estimates that Japan would be able to achieve a 9% emissions cut by adopting new industrial and transportation systems and popularizing carbon-dioxide emission reduction techniques.
"NGOs need to maintain a level of analytical expertise equal to that of the government in order to continue their influence," Hayakawa said.
More Information on NGOs
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