Subject: [cwj 23] Okinawa G8 Summit: INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NGO FORUM
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 12:30:51 -0700
Seq: 23

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NGO FORUM
Okinawa- Japan, 13-17 July 2000

The year 2000 G8 Summit Meeting is to be held in Nago-City, Okinawa, next
July.  This summit is the last summit of this century.  A consensus is
likely to be sought among participating super-powers on the direction of
the world political and economic order for the coming century.  However, we
cannot leave everything related to the destiny of mankind in their hands.
It is impossible to achieve world peace and justice through institutions
like governments and international organizations alone.  Much less through
a handful of governments, even though they may be economic super-powers.
To be more correct, it is simply unbearable to be forced to accept the G8
made concept of "justice".  We cannot open the door for a bright future if
we depend entirely on the politics of the super-powers.  The recent
achievement of NGOs in the drafting of the Anti-Personal Mines Convention,
the establishment of the International Criminal Court and the organization
of the Hague Appeal for Peace Citizen's Conference showed eloquently that
it is NGOs and global citizens who can achieve peace and justice in the
21st century.

It is therefore indispensable to counterbalance the opinions of G8 Summit
concerning world peace and justice with those of NGOs.  For this reason,
Okinawa Environmental Network, an environmental NGO located on Okinawa
Island, has decided to organize an international environmental NGO forum
just before the G8 Summit with the aim of presenting NGOs' views to G8
governments.  The Forum will be held in Naha-City, the Capital of Okinawa
Prefecture, and Nago-City, to which a US military base is planned to be
transferred in exchange for Nago-City being chosen as the venue of the G8
Summit Meeting.  

Nowadays we face various types of environmental problems that are
threatening local and global environments.  One of them is the problem of
peace and the environment, namely the environmental problem caused by
military bases.  This problem should not be neglected in the coming summit
because 75% of US military bases in Japan are located in Okinawa while the
Prefecture occupies only 0.6% of the total territory of Japan.  G8 Summit
will not discuss this problem because their interest is to maintain the
status quo by military means.  There is, therefore, no other choice but to
heighten pressure on G8 leaders by NGOs' voicing "Protect the coral sea of
Henoko, the sanctuary of dugongs, from the relocation project of Futenma US
Military Base to Henoko" and by acquiring support from people all over the
world.  It is also very important to disseminate as widely as possible the
fact that the ongoing process in Okinawa is not the downsizing of US bases
but their concentration and intensification.  In addition, it is necessary
to send out a message to the people of the Japanese main land, Asia and all
over the world that the public construction works to be carried out in
compensation for the military base relocation would aggravate even more the
environmental destruction in Okinawa through, for example, the accelerated
erosion of red soil.

Regarding global environmental problems, the responsibility of G8 member
countries is very serious because they consume the greater part of natural
resources and energy in the world.  Nevertheless G8 members headed by the
US do not change their "production first" stance and are quite reluctant to
implement the agreements of the Kyoto COP3 Meeting for the control of
global warming.  Through our daily observation, we, the members of Okinawa
Environmental Network, are painfully aware of the environmental fragility
of sub-tropical Okinawa Islands and their vulnerability to careless human
activities.  This is the reason why through this NGO Forum we intend to
amplify the voices of people who live in small islands, such as the islands
in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and
counterbalance the opinions of G8 leaders with those of NGOs.  We
especially hope to convey the messages of the people who live on the tiny
islands that stand on the brink of disappearance due to the probable rise
in sea level.  Through the Forum, we want to send islanders' messages to
the governments, industries and consumers of industrialized countries that
do not intend to change their 3M lifestyle (mass production, mass
consumption and mass wastage).

For more information, contact

Secretariat of International Environmental NGO Forum,
Okinawa Environmental Network
C/o Professor Ui, Okinawa University
555 Kokuba, Naha, Okinawa, 902-8521, Japan             
E-mail: ui@mail.okinawa-u.ac.jp
Fax?+81 98 832 2962
Attn: Kaori Sunagawa


-------------------------------------
Corporate Watch in Japanese
Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC)
P.O. Box 29344
San Francisco, CA 94129 USA
Tel: 1-415-561-6472
Fax: 1-415-561-6493
Email: cwj@corpwatch.org
URL:  http://www.corpwatch-jp.org
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