United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)
- Overview and Evaluation -

June 24, 2012
(Japanese)

1. Schedule and Participating Countries

(1) The Conference was held from June 20 to 22 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).A total of approximately 30,000 people including 97 leaders and a number of ministerial level figures (including 78 ministers as representatives of their governments) from 188 United Nations member countries and 3 observers (the EU, Palestine, and Vatican), as well as government officials, lawmakers, local administrations, international organizations, enterprises, and citizens participated in the Conference.

(2) From the Government of Japan, a delegation which consisted of 130 members including Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hiroyuki Nagahama, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, and officials from relevant ministries (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) as well as government advisors (representatives of civil society) participated in the Conference.

(3) Minister Gemba, who participated in the Conference as the representative of the Government of Japan, made a speech on behalf of the Government (on June 20) and served as acting Chairperson of the plenary meeting (on June 21). Minister Gemba also attended the "Japan Evening" on June 20 and an official side event hosted by the Government of Japan on June 21.Minister Gemba held bilateral meetings with Mr. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Minister for External Relations of Brazil, the host nation, and with Ms. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa. Mr. Nagahama, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, attended the high-level round table meeting and an official side event hosted by the Government of Japan on June 21 and exchanged views with government advisors on June 22.

2. Overview of the Conference

(1) Speech by the representative of the Government of Japan (the three specific initiatives toward creating a "Green Future")
On June 20, the first day of the Conference, Minister Gemba, made a speech as the representative of the Government of Japan. In his speech, Minister Gemba stated that Japan, which suffered an unprecedented earthquake, would like to find out an answer to the question of "What is a sustainable society?" together with other countries and for this purpose, all the stakeholders must be united in their common interests.
Minister Gemba announced that the Government of Japan will exercise the "Green Future" Initiatives based on the principle of "human security", in which he announced a contribution plan consisting of three pillars which are the spreading of an environmentally friendly future city to the world, a shift of the global economy toward a green economy, and forming a resilient society. Specifically, Minister Gemba announced that 1) to provide help in the nation-building of other countries, Japan will transmit successful examples of "Future City Initiative" based on the long experience of energy-saving and recycling in Japan, 2) Japan will form the 10,000-person-scale Green Cooperation Volunteers and provide support of 3 billion US dollars in the next 3 years in order to cooperate with the development of human resources in developing nations, for the purpose of supporting a shift to a green economy in other countries by utilizing Japan's superior renewable energy technologies, and 3) Japan will host the "World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku" in July and provide support 3 billion US dollars in the next 3 years in order to raise awareness in disaster prevention around the world and to establish a resilient society.

(2) Outcome Document ("The Future We Want")
After the preparatory negotiations at the working level, the Outcome Document "The Future We Want" (including 283 paragraphs and 49 pages) was substantially agreed in the afternoon of June 19 and adopted on the night of June 22 after 3-day discussions by the heads of states and governments and ministers.
The Document mainly includes the following:
1) A green economy is an important tool for achieving sustainable development and therefore is to be recognized as a common undertaking among countries which pursue sustainable development; 2) Establishment of a high level political forum on sustainable development; 3) Agreement on 26 thematic areas including sustainable cities, disaster risk reduction, etc.; 4)Establishing of inter governmental process on sustainable development goals (SDGs); and 5)Preparation of a report on Sustainable Development Financing Strategy.

(3) The (Rio+20) Japan Pavilion
To showcase Japan's advanced environment and energy-saving technologies and benefit from agriculture and fishery through sustainable utilization of natural resources, as well as to transmit Japan's contribution to the establishment of resilient society against natural disasters as a country which suffered the Great East Japan Earthquake, government and private sectors jointly established the pavilion (visited by 18,127 in total from June 13 to 24) where exhibitions and seminars were held by government and private enterprises. June 20, was named "Japan Day"(PDF), and a seminar was held under the theme of "Reconstruction of Sustainable Societies after the Great East Japan Earthquake" to show the restoration of the Tohoku region and the multifaceted appeal of Japan. On the night of the same day, "Japan Evening - Tohoku Forward" was held, in which Foreign Minister Gemba delivered an address and representatives from Tohoku made speeches, while tasting of food and Japanese sake, including the local cuisine of the Tohoku region and Japanese sake brewed in the Tohoku region, and an exhibition of Japanese culture and entertainment was performed.

(4) Official side event held by the Government of Japan entitled "Future Cities We Want"
In the morning of June 21, an official side event entitled "Future Cities We Want" was held by the Government of Japan. A number of participants included the Vice-President of Myanmar, Minister of Environmental Protection of Kazakhstan, and Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Management of Malawi. In the event, Japan's efforts concerning the "Future City" Initiative was introduced and a presentation was made by co-organizers which are also promoting building of sustainable cities. At the beginning, Minister Gemba stated that Japan regards building of sustainable cities as an important issue and would share energy-saving and disaster risk reduction technologies with the international community. To wrap-up the Conference, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Nagahama announced that Japan will host an international conference on future cities in Japan next year.

3. Evaluation

(1) At the Conference, initiatives such as A) promotion of initiatives towards a green economy, B) systematic framework for promotion of sustainable development, and C) disaster risk reduction and future city construction, all of which Japan is highly interested in, were discussed, and important results for development of international initiatives in the future were obtained.
Particularly, it was important outcomes that developing countries deepened their understanding of a transit to a green economy and the entire international community sent a proactive message to take initiatives for a green economy. In terms of the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development, the participants agreed on the establishment of a high level political forum and the strengthening of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), while sharing a view that the SDGs must be integrated into the post Millennium Development Goals. In this way, the Conference paved the way for future development. On the other hand, in terms of the green economy and institutional framework, there are still many gaps among participating countries and further discussion will be required.

(2) The Government of Japan announced the "Green Future Initiatives" comprising three pillars of 1) the advancing of "Future City" to the world, 2) a transition of the global economy towards a green economy, and 3) cooperation to reduce risk from catastrophic natural disasters. This was appreciated by a number of participating countries as a specific contribution in line with the priority issues of the Conference.
The Government of Japan consistently appealed its "Future City" Initiative. This initiative attracted the interest of participants as a unique contribution from Japan, which had experienced restoration of the Tohoku region.
With many visitors to the Japan Pavilion, we were able to showcase Japan's superior environment and energy-saving technologies and at the same time to show the restoration and attraction of the Tohoku region. Visitors highly appreciated the pavilion, and this is considered a result of joint preparation by government and private sectors.