Thursday, September 07, 2017, 12:00 - 14:00

"The Time for Environmental Action is Now"

Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English with simultaneous interpretation

The FCCJ is pleased to host three Blue Planet Prize laureates to give their insights into global environmental issues at a critical time – both ecologically and politically. President Trump announced America's breakaway from the 2015 Paris Agreement, as his Republican predecessor George Bush did with the Kyoto Protocol. These decisions were based on economic criteria rather than environmental evidence. Given this attitude, what hope is there for our planet? For answers, three eminent environmental scientists will speak at the FCCJ:

Robert Watson has recently worked as the Chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which was established at COP10 (Nagoya, 2010) to scientifically assess the current status of biodiversity and ecosystem services. He was formerly Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Chief Scientific Adviser for the U.K. Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;

Jane Lubchenco is a former administrator of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She has a brilliant record of academic research in marine ecology, expanding the field into new areas by combining the physical and biological sciences. As one of the most frequently quoted ecologists in the world, she has had a profound impact on the field of marine biology and environmental sciences;

Thomas E. Lovejoy is Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University. Through pioneering and creative fieldwork conducted in the Amazon rainforest, he clarified how human-caused habitat fragmentation propelled biodiversity toward crisis. He was the first scholar to publish "a projection of species extinctions.

The Asahi Glass Foundation established the Blue Planet Prize in 1992, the year of the Earth Summit. The award is presented to individuals or organizations around the world to recognize outstanding achievements in scientific research that have helped provide solutions to global environmental problem

Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website(still & TV cameras inclusive). The charge for members/members' guest is 1,750/2,700 yen; non-members eligible to attend may pay in cash by e mail reservation (front@fccj.or.jp). (Menu: grilled chicken with rock salt and lime served with sauteed young corn, andes potato, broccoli, eggplant & tomato.)

Reservations canceled less than one hour in advance for working press members, and 24 hours for all others, will be charged in full. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation. For meal service, please enter the room by 12:25.

 

Professional Activities Committee

Robert Watson                    Jane Lubchenco                Thomas E. Lovejoy