Forward

 

One of the functions of the Center for Global Environmental Research is to provide data on the global environment to researchers and government officials in Japan and abroad. One of the most important aspects of this function is creating databases to serve as a common foundation for research on the global environment. We take the results of research on the global environment provided by the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and publish them as databases for general use.

This publication presents information on material flows, created via research on environmental resource accounting carried out by the Global Environment Research Fund, in map and table form, focusing on Japan’s imports of natural resources from the rest of the world. We are beginning to realize that the economic system of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal is the root of many of today’s global environmental issues, and there is fear about the impact that the harvesting of resources is having on the natural environment. These and other issues make it even more vital that we create a systematic understanding of the use of natural resources. This is especially true in Japan’s case; Japan is poor in such underground resources as fossil fuels and metals, and is one of the world’s biggest importers of these resources. Understanding Japan’s place in the world is the starting point for thinking about the environmental issues caused by the harvest and transport of the resources that we import. The first edition of this data book was published in 1999; the current edition contains new annual data, and also includes a CD-ROM containing maps and tables. This edition of the data book is provided in both English and Japanese, in order to facilitate its international use.

I hope that this publication will be of use to many people with an interest in issues of the global environment and trade in natural resources.

 

March 2003

 

Gen Inoue

Director

Center for Global Environmental Research

National Institute for Environmental Studies,Japan