Signed up yet? If not, I can't recommend enough that you get busy and do so. As mentioned in an earlier post, the event will be all in Japanese, but it still presents a great opportunity to meet other people who think about being green in a wide variety of ways. Whether it's a farmer's market, sustainable building, or alternative energy ideas, you're sure to find someone there interested in and working on the same topic.
Here, to further whet your appetite, is a post that first appeared in October, 2010 at greenz offering an overview of a panel discussion about then upcoming COP 10 in Nagoya. (Some links may not work, as greenz sadly closed down their English site.)
On
the cusp of the COP10
discussions now underway in Nagoya,
participants a the
October Green Leaders Event got
a basic primer in the
issues at stake and
recommended remedies.
Added
to the vast web of relationships that is biodiversity, speakers at
October’s event - Masahiro Kawatei from the Citizens
Network for the Convention on Biological Diversity;
Masako Konishi, Climate Change Leader for World
Wildlife Fund – Japan;
and Yasunori
Tanaka,
Itabashi Ward Assemblyman – interwove threads of law, education,
funding, and advocacy to create a protective netting to stave off
future exploitation and ensure the survival of our planet.
Global
Guidelines to Ensure our Survival
Urging
the audience to see biodiversity as
integral to culture, as well as our livelihoods and ultimate
survival, Masahiro Kawatei looks for legally binding international
rules. Taking a strong stance in opposition to all genetically
modified organisms (GMO),
Kawatei’s group believes laws are the best protection.
Such
safeguards would not only help level the playing field between
developing and developed countries, but encourage global citizenship.
According to Kawatei, realizing an individual relationship with
biodiversity results in better consumer choices, living a sustainable
life, and supporting sustainable work in our communities.
“Biodiversity
is the basis for all life. All people are users of it, and if they
can relate it to themselves they will act voluntarily,” said
Kawatei. He advocates using CEPA
(the Programme of Work on Communication, Education, and Public
Awareness) as
the common language to link citizen activism to government and
business in support and protection of biodiversity.
“We
need to move government, and citizens need to keep an eye on
government in order to bring business along. Citizens, government and
business need to work together on issues of biodiversity,” he said.
Linking
Deforestation, Biodiversity and Climate Change
Masako
Konishi advocates for the protection of developing nations and
their resources in order to slow climate change and preserve
biodiversity. Like Kawatei, she believes regulation and education are
key components in this process.
Focusing
on deforestation as one of the primary culprits behind climate change
and staggering losses in biodiversity, regulations could effectively
stall slash and burn agricultural practices as well as illegal
logging. Requiring developed nations to share financial as well
as scientific gains with developing countries would ensure funding to
reeducation and retraining.
“The
overlap between climate change and biodiversity in this area is
clear,” she said.
Waiting
for rules to be made and agreed upon, though, means the loss
continues unabated. Projects such as REDD+ and
the Forest
Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) bring
people and organizations together to start work for change now and
creating models for the future.
“Such
programs help get not just funds from developed countries to
developing nations, although that is key. If a developing country
takes action then they get funds. It’s a carrot and stick method,”
said Konishi.
Yet,
as a member of the audience so aptly put it, the challenge of
individual consumer choice remains. “The real drivers of
deforestation are the developing nations products. We need to change
product consumption and use to something more sustainable,” said
her friend during the question and answer period.
How
a Firefly Thinks about Biodiversity
As
an assemblyman, Yasunori Tanaka thinks about education, advocacy, and
regulations every day. Surprisingly, he’s also thinking about
biodiversity, but from a slightly different angle: a firefly’s.
Describing
the work he’s done in collaboration with researchers and other
groups from across the community in effort to bring the much-beloved
firefly back to one of its traditional homes now gone ultra-urban,
Tanaka guided listeners through the web of biodiversity he regularly
navigates with the firefly.
As
the clean water, soil, and grassy expanses they rely on gave way to
spreading development and changes in agricultural practices,
fireflies steadily declined. Reversing polluted conditions and
creating green space made it possible for fireflies to begin
returning and even thriving.
Restoring
their natural habitat, of course, also resulted in improving human
habitat. The grassy spaces they call home result in cooler
temperatures even in the most urban of areas, while clean air and
water speak for themselves. Other indigenous species also returned –
such as maruhanabachi ground bees – to assist with pollination as
their habitat was restored.
Despite
these fantastic results, funding remains an obstacle. To meet this
challenge, Tanaka drew in community support by creating a local CSR
program.
Involving businesses as well as individual community members means
educating people about biodiversity and driving change from the
ground up.
“We
need to think about the diverse behaviors of various living organisms
and how we are all intertwined. It’s important to address many
things to see biodiversity as it exists around us and to see it’s
impact on our lives,” said Tanaka.
Missed
this one? Never fear!
November
Green Leaders Forum (GLF11): Global Green Entrepreneurs
Monday,
November 15th @ British Council from 7pm to 9pm (Doors open for
snacks and mingling at 6:30pm.)
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