Japan News

This article is the second in a two-part series about logging in Malaysia. The first part can be seen here Two international NGOs have called out Malaysia in recent months…

This article is the first in a two-part series about logging in Malaysia. Read the second part here. A recent report by the international affairs think tank Chatham House has…

Logging in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Five major timber importers are making progress in cutting contraband wood from their markets, argues a series of reports published by…

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is suddenly looking very lively after two announcements over the weekend. The U.S. has announced an initial pledge of $3 billion to the fund, while…

This is the second part of series examining the impact of forest loss on Siberian tigers. Part I discussed overall forest loss in the region and its major drivers. The…

This is the first part of series examining the impact of forest loss on Siberian tigers. Part II discusses in more detail what their shrinking habitat and low numbers may…

The only way to save the long-suffering elephants of Africa is to close every ivory market on the planet and destroy all ivory stockpiles, according to a bold new essay…

Tiger habitat under threat Illegal logging is taking a huge toll on forests around the world. Accurate estimates are hard to come by since governments tend to underestimate volumes harvested…

Conservation groups were jubilant in response to last month's ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) banning Japan's long-standing "research" whaling practices in the Antarctic. However, the celebrations proved…

Japan has harvested thousands of whales in North Pacific and Antarctic waters since the implementation of a global ban on whaling, eliciting harsh criticism from the international community. Now, in…

Scientists have described a new species of eagle ray in the northwest Pacific Ocean, which they have named "narutobiei" (Aetobatus narutobiei) after its local name in Japan. While the new…

Taiji fisherman capturing a bottlenose dolphin. Photo courtesy of Sea Shepherd The annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan ended on Monday with dozens being slaughtered for meat and captured for…

Environmental groups have blasted draft text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) released yesterday by WikiLeaks as potentially devastating to the environment and wildlife. The massive 12-nation free trade agreement has…

Three dead minke whales photographed by Sea Shepherd's helicopter. Courtesy of Sea Shepherd Australia. Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said its fleet of ships has successfully disrupted the annual Japanese whale…

With the Australian, Japanese, and Canadian governments making an about-face on carbon-emissions reduction targets during the Warsaw climate summit, some experts are warning that the global need for solutions offsetting…

Australia, Japan and Poland blamed for sabotaging UN Climate Summit talks. Thirteen citizen groups—including Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WWF—have walked out of ongoing climate talks in Warsaw to protest what they…

In 1956, in the quiet seaside town of Minamata on the southwestern coast of Japan's Kyushu Island, cats began to behave very strangely. They convulsed, displayed excessive salivation, and gradually…

Japan's decision to weaken carbon emissions target a 'slap in the face' to poor countries. In 2009, Japan pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 25 percent based on 1990…

Global carbon dioxide emissions hit another new record of 34.5 billion tons last year, according to a new report by the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency and the European Commission's Joint…

Logging in Malaysian Borneo. The production and trade in 'sustainable' timber products in Southeast Asia is mostly 'a mirage' due to questionable forestry practices and loopholes in import regulations, alleges…

Japanese companies are failing to keep illegally logged timber from entering their supply chains, international human rights and environmental watchdog Global Witness said in a report released today. The report…

Australia is hoping to put a permanent end to Japan's annual slaughter of hundreds of whales in the Southern Ocean, in a landmark legal challenge that begins this week. Australia,…

Japan blamed environmental activists for a "record low" take during this year's whaling season in the Southern Ocean, reports Kyodo News. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the…

The scalloped hammerhead shark is one of five sharks and two manta rays that won protection today at CITES, so long as it isn't overturned. Photo by: Stacy Jupiter/WCS. Today,…

Scientists come face-to-face with giant squid. Photo of a giant squid captured in 2004. Photo by: Dr Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum in Tokyo, and Kyoichi Mori, of…

Kiyomura Co. president Kiyoshi Kimura with a 222-kg tuna caught off Oma in Aomori prefecture in northeastern Japan. Photo: Shuji Kajiyama / AP. A bluefin tuna sold for a record…

Coal-powered Castle Gate Power Plant in Ohio. Photo by: David Jolley. A new analysis finds that 21 wealthy countries spent five-times more on subsidizing fossil fuels in 2011 than they…

Eurasian otter in Britain. The Japanese river otter was a subspecies of the Eurasian. Photo by: Catherine Trigg. Japan's Ministry of the Environment today declared the Japanese river otter (Lutra…

For The GEF's Naoko Ishii, Sustainability Must be a Core Global Value The Global Environment Facility or "GEF" unites 182 government members, in partnership with multiple international institutions, nongovernmental organizations,…

Coal truck in western China. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The average person in China emitted 7.2 tons of carbon last year, according to new figures from BL Netherlands Environmental…