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Environmental efforts made by the Japanese paper industry

Preservation of Biodiversity | JPA’s Action guidelinesPreservation of Biodiversity | JPA’s Action guidelines

JPA’s Action guidelines

The Japan Paper Association (JPA) established the JPA’s Action Guidelines on the Preservation of Biological Diversity on June 20, 2014.

JPA’s Action Guideline for Biodiversity Conservation (Japanese)

Background of the establishment of the action guidelines

The issue of the natural environment is aggravating on a global scale, as represented by the destruction or degradation of tropical forests in Africa and South America. The concept of sustainable development was proposed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. In this context, the conference adopted the Convention on Biological Diversity, along with the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) held in Nagoya in October 2010 adopted the Nagoya Protocol and agreed on the Aichi Biodiversity Targets to “halt the loss of biodiversity in order to ensure that by 2020 ecosystems are resilient” (5 strategic goals and 20 specific targets). The Aichi Targets call for not only government policies and measures but also urge businesses to be strongly aware of the importance of biodiversity.

The international environmental standard, ISO14001 that was revised in September 2015, requires the “protection of biological diversity and ecosystems” to be included in the commitment to be declared in the environmental policy on environmental protection.

Paper industry efforts

The paper industry receives the benefits of wood, a renewable and carbon-neutral ecological service provided by the forests, the cradle of biological diversity on the earth and a major source of CO2 absorption to prevent global climate change. Out of this blessing of Nature, the paper industry produces paper, a material indispensable to human life. As such, the paper industry evidently has the social responsibility to make a positive contribution to the preservation of biodiversity.

JPA does not only establish the Action Guidelines, but also in order to ensure that the Action Guidelines is pushed through and to encourage the member companies to promote their biodiversity preservation efforts further, conducts an annual follow-up survey on their efforts with feedback to enhance the overall level.

Follow-up Survey on JPA’s Action Guideline for
Biodiversity Conservation (Japanese)