I will be the first
one to admit that
my home country Norway is not perfect. Still,
it is a relatively pleasant place in a lot
of ways, especially when it comes to the
major issues here at the CBD and the parallel
REDD meetings taking place here in Nagoya.
I wanted to tell everyone
out there not just about the important political
discussions at the CBD, though. I wanted
to share about something much more fundamental
for a change-maker organization like Greenpeace
– at international meetings as well as on
the homefront - is how the authorities view
the role of NGOs in society and how this
affects environmental policy.
Last weekend Greenpeace
Japan´s Programme Director Junichi
Sato, Head of the Greenpeace CBD Delegation
Nathalie Rey and I met with the Norwegian
Secretary of State Heidi Sørensen
and her top officials here in Nagoya. We
covered the expected political issues but
also briefed Heidi on the realities facing
Greenpeace in Japan, including the completely
disproportionate raid of our office and
staffmembers home in the Tokyo Two case.
Norway is a small country
and NGOs play a large role in Norwegian
society. One example: Heidi came to Nagoya
in the morning and the first thing she did
– even before sitting down extensively with
the Norwegian delegation – was to meet with
Greenpeace. It is this kind of attitude
that enables NGOs to play a vital role in
contributing to change and in part explains
why Norway - relatively speaking - has such
strong environmental policies.
The status of NGOs in
Japan – or not for profit organisations
as they are called here – is very different.
As NGO staff, you would not meet jet lagged
political leaders in Japan. In fact, you
do not get to meet them at all. In order
to understand why you have consider that
Japan experienced 300 years of control by
the shogunate and imperial reign in the
Meiji Era. Thorough hierarchical rule and
bureaucratic control were the rules, not
the exceptions. Unfortunately, the Japanese
expression - the nail that sticks out gets
hammered down – is still very much true.
That coupled with the reality that Japan
is a great country in which to be a bureaucrat
or a company executive, poses serious threats
to a democracy.
Of course, Japan is
not the only country where authorities clamp
down on non-governmental organisations.
Indonesia is another example. But Japan,
as a very rich and highly developed nation,
should accommodate for and not try to shut
down dissenting voices. Japan is very much
a constitutional democracy but a true democracy
should encourage more than free elections.
Frode Pleym, originally
from Norway, is currently a Senior Advisor
in Greenpeace Japan’s Tokyo office. Prior
to living in Tokyo, he spent nearly 10 years
working at Greenpeace Nordic.
+ More
The UK postpones decision
on new nuclear weapons
Blogpost by Justin -
October 27, 2010 at 12:40 PM Add comment
In the UK this week, the coalition government’s
Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR)
gave us the welcome news that plans to replace
the country’s Trident nuclear weapon system
have been put on hold and reductions will
be made to the existing nuclear arsenal.
Replacing Trident would
cost £97 billion. When the planet
is facing catastrophic climate change, how
is that justifiable? That money should be
being spent on saving the planet not on
more sophisticated and horrific ways of
destroying it. Just think of the massive
renewable energy and energy efficiency programmes
like the ones in Greenpeace’s Energy Revolution
you could establish with £97 billion.
Ensuring a safe, clean and sustainable supply
of energy would make the UK (along with
the other nuclear armed states) far more
secure while nuclear bombs in our backyard
would make us definitely less secure.
Over on Greenpeace UK’s
website, Louise Edge looks at what the UK
government’s decision means. It’s through
Louise’s and her colleagues’ hard work that
the ludicrous cost of Trident has been kept
in the public eye.
