Japan has one of the highest installed renewable energy capacities in the world. The country is also one of the world’s largest consumers of energy. Lacking its own fossil fuel resources, it relies on imports for nearly all of its supply. This dependence on imports makes the country vulnerable to …
Powered by data flows, digitalization has become crucial for the seamless functioning of economies and societies. Countries, however, can have concerns that once data moves abroad it will not be treated the same as at home. Jurisdictions do not trust each other to act appropriately on data governance. Motivated by …
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has brought the link between zoonotic diseases – those transmitted from animals to humans – and wildlife markets into sharp focus. An online survey conducted by GlobeScan in March among 5,000 participants from Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam found that 82 per …
This Business Plan describes the main objectives and activities of the Mercury Waste Management Partnership Area of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Mercury Partnership. It serves as a planning and communication vehicle both for Partners and others.The purpose of the business plan is to provide a framework for …
The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has already brought considerable human suffering and major economic disruption. Output contractions in China are being felt around the world, reflecting the key and rising role China has in global supply chains, travel and commodity markets.The adverse impact on confidence, financial markets, the travel sector and …
The Asia-Pacific country profiles provide a snapshot of the energy policy highlights of the ESCAP regional member states. The country profiles deliver an overview of the national energy policy framework along with the energy-related emissions reduction and climate change policies, which together aim to facilitate the energy transition to achieve …
Global growth is projected to be slightly faster in 2020 than the post-crisis low registered last year. While growth could be stronger if reduced trade tensions mitigate uncertainty, the balance of risks to the outlook is to the downside. Growth in emerging market and developing economies is also expected to …
Development diplomacy refers to the repurposing of development assistance to service public diplomacy ambitions and aspirations, and simultaneously achieve development goals. While a dual approach like this is not new, the rising power and influence of emerging markets provides the backdrop for Development Assistance Committee donors to reframe their bilateral …
Extreme slip at shallow depths on subduction zone faults is a primary contributor to tsunami generation by earthquakes. Improving earthquake and tsunami risk assessment requires understanding the material and structural conditions that favor earthquake propagation to the trench. We use new biomarker thermal maturity indicators to identify seismic faults in …
In June 2019, Japan issued new fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles starting in model year 2030. The standards require an average fleet gasoline-equivalent fuel economy of 25.4 kilometers per liter by 2030, which is a 32.4% improvement over the fleet average for fiscal year 2016. The 2030 standards also …
Asians are predisposed to a lean heart failure (HF) phenotype. Data on the ‘obesity paradox’, reported in Western populations, are scarce in Asia and have only utilised the traditional classification of body mass index (BMI). We aimed to investigate the association between obesity (defined by BMI and abdominal measures) and …
Although Japan and India have long considered the possibility of establishing the JCM as has been stipulated in joint statements between these two countries, an official bilateral document to start the JCM has not yet been signed. The JCM is one of the market-based mechanisms which involves Internationally Transferred Mitigation …
Torrential rain pounded Japan’s southwestern major island of Kyushu on Monday, hitting 14 inches in 24 hours in one area and triggering landslides and highway closures, with more than 800,000 people urged to evacuate. One woman in Kagoshima prefecture, southern Kyushu, was killed by a landslide, while evacuation advisories were …
Group of 20 environment ministers agreed on Sunday to adopt a new implementation framework for actions to tackle the issue of marine plastic waste on a global scale, the Japanese government said after hosting the two-day ministerial meeting. Environment and energy ministers of the Group of 20 major economies met …
Social network data of tuberculosis (TB) patients could explain the source and pattern of disease spread. A review of the published literature highlights that social network data could identify hidden social or epidemiological links among TB patients and improved TB case finding. Index and betweenness position of patients explained TB …
Japan’s weather bureau on Wednesday said the El Nino weather pattern appeared to be continuing, with an 80 percent chance it would stretch into the northern hemisphere summer. El Nino is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that typically happens every few years, sometimes …
Nigeria and Japan on Tuesday in Abuja signed a $14.2 million aid project to strengthen the diagnostic capacity of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) The signing was done by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma for Nigeria and the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria, Yukata …
Major Japanese investors, including those most indebted to coal, are seeking to back large-scale renewables projects across Asia, marking a “monumental” shift that energy market analysts say is “the start of the end for thermal coal”. At the same time, Japanese banks and trading houses are walking away from coal …
Environmental groups involved in talks at a United Nations conference in Kenya have accused the US of blocking an ambitious global response to plastic pollution. Representatives of countries at the UN environment conference in Nairobi this week agreed to significantly reduce single-use plastics over the next decade but the voluntary …
Starting July 1, anyone in Japan who wishes to register and sell a whole elephant tusk must first prove its age through carbon dating. According to Ministry of the Environment officials, the new measure is meant to ensure that illegal tusks acquired after 1990, when international trade in ivory was …
