Meeting Between Mr. Yoshiro Mori, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Japan, and Dr. Srgjan Kerim, President of the 62nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly
(Overview)

September 25, 2007

Mr. Yoshiro Mori, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister, exchanged views with Dr. Srgjan Kerim, President of the 62nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly for approximately 15 minutes from 5:00 p.m. on September 24 in New York (from 6:00 a.m. on September 25, JPT). An overview of this meeting follows.

1. Environmental Issues

(1) At the outset, Special Envoy Mori explained recent developments in the Japanese political scene. He also noted that the "Cool Earth 50" initiative proposed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in fact, developed from the recognition that it is necessary to clean up the earth in order to see beautiful stars - recognition that was shared by then Prime Minister Mori and then Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe when they visited Africa together.

(2) In response, President Kerim stated that Japan is not just a country that pays a high level of assessed contributions to the United Nations, but moreover, an important member of the United Nations in the political arena. And he mentioned that he hoped to see Japan display leadership as the Chair of the G8 next year, and that he expected new synergies and concrete results to be achieved. The President also noted that he believed all of the Member States of the United Nations strongly recognized the importance of environmental issues, and that he would like to maintain this momentum and to connect it to actual negotiations at the United Nations. Dr. Kerim also stated that as the President of the 62nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly he intended to maintain the political momentum focused on these issues and to create impact and to bring about results. Moreover, President Kerim stated that the High Level Event on Climate Change took place under the initiative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and that he intended to hold a special meeting at the outset of next year in order to further enhance the political momentum.

2. Reform of the United Nations Security Council

President Kerim brought up the topic of the reform of the United Nations Security Council and expressed his view that although differences in opinion among Member States had been focused at the end of the 61st Session of the General Assembly, the active efforts of the Japanese Ambassador made it possible to continue dialogue. For his part, Special Envoy Mori stated that reform of the United Nations is important not only because Japan has paid high levels of assessed contributions but also because it is necessary to review the current structure of the Security Council, on which only the victorious nations of World War II hold permanent membership. He also stated that Japan would like to fulfill its role in addressing the various issues, such as terrorism, that are becoming more and more global. In response, President Kerim stated that he understood the situation well. The meeting ended with a request from Special Envoy Mori for President Kerim's even better understanding of Japan's position and for his further cooperation.