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Australia in the Context
of a Sustainable Asia:
Corporate Governance and the Challenges of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development
25 and 26 November 2002
Hilton on the Park, Melbourne
Professor Akio Morishima
Chair of Board of Directors, Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies, Japan
Technology Solutions / Environment
26 November 2002
Sustainable Development
In the 20th century, science and technology was developed to an
extent never before experienced in the history of humanity. Many
industries have grown on the basis of this advanced science and
technology. However, industrial society has intensively exploited
natural and energy resources—and imposed heavy loads on environment.
Towards the end of the 20th century, it was realised that resources
were depleting, and that environmental loads were reaching beyond
the adaptive capacity of nature. In 1992, the World Summit on Environment
and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro. World leaders at the
Summit recognised natural resources had been depleted and the environment
had deteriorated to such an extent that there would likely be no
more room for further growth for mass production and mass consumption.
However, because the majority of the world's population was, and
still is, suffering from poverty, it was necessary for people in
the developing countries to develop economically to meet their needs
to live as human beings. Thus, the World Summit proposed the concept
of sustainable development: meeting the needs of the present generation
without jeopardising the needs of future generations.
Sustainable technology
Sustainable development requires industrial societies to transcend
the paradigm of mass production and mass consumption. In order for
21st century society to develop in a sustainable way, it must, at
least, reduce the use of natural and energy resources, and lessen
the loads on the environment. Needless to say, technology alone
cannot attain these targets for sustainability. Public awareness
of global environmental issues and changes in social and institutional
systems to cope with these issues are the prerequisites for the
paradigm shift to sustainable society. Technological innovations,
however, can be vital tools to realise a sustainable society.
Japan's effort to tackle
global warming
In Japan, following the World Summit on Environment and Development,
government and business have continued efforts to develop sustainable
technologies—in particular, since 1997, when the Kyoto Protocol
was signed. The government has published strategies to promote technological
improvements to cope with global warming. The 'Outline for Promotion
of Efforts to Prevent Global Warming' was formulated in 1993—and
was revised in 2002, after Japan ratified the Kyoto Protocol. Under
these strategic plans, the Energy Saving Law was amended and the
New Energy Sources Promotion Law was enacted. These laws provide
regulatory frameworks to promote technological development to prevent
global warming.
Resource cycling economy
Apart from global warming, waste disposal has been an urgent issue
to tackle. The Law concerning the Creation of Resource Cycle Economy
was enacted in 2000, in order to reuse and recycle resources and
to reduce wastes. Under this basic law, several related laws was
promulgated to facilitate recycling materials. These laws introduce
the 3R principle (reduce, reuse and recycle) and the extended manufacturers’
responsibility for implementing the 3R principle.
Innovative technologies in various sectors play important
roles in implementing the above-mentioned strategies. At the design
stage, technologies to use less materials (or renewable materials)
for products are developed. At this stage, a design to facilitate
easy separation of recyclable wastes from a product at the end of
its use should be employed. At the manufacturing stage, technologies
to use less energy and to discharge less pollution in the process
of manufacturing should be promoted. Products in use should consume
less energy and discharge less pollutants to the environment. At
the end of product use, technologies to separate its parts, to reuse
or recycle its materials, and to reduce wastes are to be improved.
To maximise sustainability of a product, life cycle assessment (LCA)
prior to its production is useful approach; LCA is used to analyse
comprehensively its impacts on aspects of the environment, and to
assess costs and benefits in the total process of product use.
Energy-saving technologies
Among energy-saving technologies, improving energy efficiency of
automobiles, electric appliances and housing materials is in progress
under the top runner approach in the Energy Saving Law; this requires
manufacturers of those products to employ the best available efficiency
standards. Hybrid cars and low-emission cars have already been commercialised,
and are expected to improve further energy efficiency. The insulation
efficiency of housing materials will be drastically improved. Although
the top runner approach in the Energy Saving Law covers only these
three sectors, development of energy efficiency has been initiated
in other sectors as well. For example, development research for
super marine gas turbines (SMGT) for ships is in progress. Improvement
of co-generation technologies, including waste power generation,
is also expected.
Renewable Energies
Renewable energy sources are being developed under the New Energy
Sources Promotion Law. With respect to photovoltaic power generation,
Japan currently occupies 46 per cent of world production, the highest
in the world (209,000 kW in 1999). Photovoltaic technology is promising,
although current costs for generation are twice or three times as
much as for conventional power generation methods. The government
has set a target to increase photovoltaic power to 4.82 million
kW by 2010. Although our wind power generation technology is currently
far behind that of Europe, the government has set a target to increase
wind power generation from 83,000 to 3,000,000 kW by 2010. Biomass
energy technology is another prioritised area for development. While
fuel cell technology is still in the experimental stage, the automobile
and electrical industries are intensively investing in fuel cell
development. Fuel cell cars will be on the market by 2010.
Eco-business
Pollution prevention technologies—such as air pollution abatement
(including desulfurization and denitoration technologies), waste
water treatment, hazardous chemicals treatment and materials recycling—have
been developed since the 1970s, when industrial pollution became
serious in Japan.
In response to regulations based on the recycling
laws, joint ventures have become actively involved in environmental
business and have developed innovative environmental technologies.
Since public awareness of environmental values has been growing,
the future of the environmental business may be promising. According
to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Environment, the size of
the environmental market is expected to grow from 24 trillion yen
in 1997 to 40 trillion in 2010.
Incentives to promote
environmental technology
Some environmental technologies are profitable and competitive with
other technologies. However, the majority of environmental technologies
are still costly due to high initial development costs. Green, environmentally
friendly products are not yet competitive in the market. Unless
its environmental values are appreciated by the public, it is extremely
difficult for any new environmental technology to find users in
the market. Therefore, incentives must be available to introduce
new technologies into the marketplace.
Command and control measures may be effective in some
cases. For example, the top runner approach under the Energy Saving
Law forces the manufacturers of automobiles, electrical appliances
and housing materials to employ advanced technology to meet high
standards of energy efficiency. Economic incentives, such as tax
and subsidy, may be effective in introducing green products. For
example, to introduce hybrid cars into the market, the government
reduces the amount of tax on the car. Some local governments provide
subsidies to purchasers of photovoltaic panels. Providing information
about green products is an indirect measure to promote environmentally
friendly technology. For example, eco-labelling provides information
to environmentally aware consumers, helping them to choose greener
products.
Technology transfer
to developing countries
While the economies of some developing countries, particularly those
in Asia, are growing rapidly, most of these countries do not have
sufficient financial resources or the technology to pursue sustainable
development. At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development
held in Johannesburg, the necessity of technology transfer, as well
as financial assistance, was re-emphasised. Since environmental
technologies are essential to attain the sustainability of a society,
developed countries, including Australia and Japan, have to seriously
consider mechanisms to effectively transfer appropriate environmental
technologies to developing countries. I wish this conference to
contribute to the development of mechanisms for technology transfer
to developing countries in Asia.
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