(Asia Future Conference 2014; http://www.aisf.or.jp/AFC/2014/)

Creating a Sustainable Society in Harmony with Natural Capital and Biodiversity

---in Relation to the Japanese Historical Experience toward a New Civilization

Koyu Furusawa 1

1 Professor, Department of Economics, Kokugakuin University

Abstract

After World War II , Japan has been operating while maintaining a tremendous and inherent conflict of the light

and shadow of modernization. Based on its economic success, it may be seen to have an obligation of sharing its

success with people around the world. On the other hand, the reality of Japan’s situation might be symbolized by

the environmental destruction like "Minamata disease," and the "Fukushima nuclear plant accident." The

appearance of conflict and coexistence between tradition and modernization is a common issue shared with the

developing world. Japan can be viewed as a typical "case in miniature," when viewing the modern world as the

coexisting place for diverse values (intersection of development and conservation).

Given that the modern capitalist economic system prioritizes economic growth and profit maximization, it can

hardly serve the purpose of encouraging a sustainable society. To ensure sustainability under the constraints of

limited resources, there is a great need for reconsideration of traditional cultural ecology, resource management,

socio-economic systems and hybrid development of the three sectors (private, public, and communal). Of these

three, the “communal” sector is particularly important in our modern society. It is indispensable to building a

sustainable society based on mutual harmonious relationship among people, natural capital and biodiversity.

We are called upon to create a future, with its mosaic of elements embodying advanced and sophisticated

systems of appropriate-scale production, processing, distribution and consumption which, in a sense, will

establish a society and economy that values indigenous cultural and artistic expressions. In this paper, I

review the research on Japanese experiences, while also discussing the broad perspective needed to create

sustainable, alternative socio-economic sectors for the future world.

Keywords: sustainable society, biodiversity, cultural ecology, natural capital, socio-economic sector

Introduction

Our fossil fuel-dependent civilization, which has

been built upon mass-production, consumption and

disposal, has already reached its limits. What is

required now is the creation of a society that is rich in

diversity and focused on life and natural capital.

On its path of rapid industrial development ever

since the Meiji Era, and especially since World War II,

Japan has experienced a history of environmental

destruction and pollution, as well efforts to rise above

these problems. As we now experience the aftermath

of the March 11, 2011 nuclear disaster, there might be

able to hope that Japan can develop a new type of

civilization.

Sustainable Development has been brought up as a

new concept against the former infinite development

pattern. The reason why this concept was greatly

accepted in this world was strongly related to our

unsustainable way of life in modern civilization.1

All of nature around us coexists with each other.

Probably we can say that a sustainable society would

be realized in a sense whenever there could be created

a good balance in the human-nature ecosystem.

1. Questioning Our Modern Society and Lifestyles

The grave situation that has arisen as a result of the

earthquake and nuclear accident of March 11, 2011

provides us with a warning which fundamentally calls

into question the meaning of the development path we

Koyu Furusawa,

Professor, Department of Economics, Kokugakuin

University

4-10-28, Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Tel: +81-3-5466-0330 Fax: +81-5466-2340

Email: furusawa@kokugakuin.ac.jp

2

have taken until now. The events triggered that day

can be said to have deeply shaken the confidence that

we have had concerning the approach to development

and growth taken by modern society, liberated from

the constraints of nature, through which we had

gained a certain degree of prosperity.

In the little more than one hundred years since the

Meiji Era, and in the half-century of the Post-War

Period, Japan succeeded in traveling a path of

modernization that had taken the countries of the West

several centuries. Japan experienced first-hand not

only the benefits of such modernization but also its

dark side: the tragedies of nuclear weapons, severe

pollution problems, and now the Fukushima nuclear

disaster, which embodies the contradictions and

tragedy of our modern system. Japan's experience as a

country serves as a microcosm bringing into sharp

focus both the light and the dark sides inherent in the

history of the development path that modern society

(civilization) has followed.

Japan's growth-oriented society peaked in 2005,

when its population began to decline; it is rapidly

becoming a highly aged society. The economy in

recent years continues to stagnate, ever since the end

of the bubble economy of the late 1980s; Japan's

experience seems to have presaged the economic

downturn seen in Western countries since the 2008

financial crisis. While the Japanese names of

"Minamata" and other places hit by pollution may

have become household names around the world,

other places in Japan have also become known as the

starting points for concrete efforts to address global

environmental problems, including as the 1997

"Kyoto Protocol" under the international climate

change convention and the 2010 "Nagoya Protocol"

and "Aichi Target" under the Convention on

Biological Diversity. 2

Twenty years have already passed since the 1992

United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (the "Rio

Earth Summit"), which in June 2012 also hosted the

UN Conference on Sustainable Development (known

as "Rio+20"). There were two main themes of this

meeting; one was the creation of a "green economy"

that could lead to sustainable development while at

the same time reducing poverty, while the other was

reviewing the framework of the international system,

including reform of the United Nations. In the

background to these discussions was the reality that a

number of international environmental agreements

had been adopted since the time of the Rio Earth

Summit, but their operations were becoming

increasingly specialized within their different fields,

without sufficient mutual coordination. The Rio+20

meeting was expected to result in consolidated

frameworks integrating such efforts.3 Given the many

difficulties facing modern society, the Rio+20

conference should have been an event of great interest,

but it received an unexpectedly low level of attention

from the international community.

2. Transitioning from a Fossil-Based Civilization to

a Life-Based Civilization -- The Significance of the

Convention on Biological Diversity

Economic development since the Industrial

Revolution has resulted in material prosperity through

the large-scale consumption of various mineral and

energy resources, especially coal and oil, which have

allowed for dramatic expansion of industrial

production, built upon the foundation of mass

production, mass consumption and mass disposal.

Production has expanded rapidly in keeping with the

increasing reach of the market, resulting in a

globalized economy that now envelops the entire

Earth, and which has led to environmental problems,

especially global warming, which are altering the

environment on a global scale. The use fossil fuels

increased more than ten-fold during the hundred years

of the Twentieth Century, while the scale of industrial

production increased by a factor of more than 20 times.

It is projected that if these trends continue, serious

problems will emerge in multiple ways, including

through the worsening of environmental problems,

declines in biodiversity (species extinctions), and the

depletion of resources.

In former times, because of limited natural

resources (boundaries), societies developed and were

sustained in various different geographical regions and

which were characterized by their sustainability and

recycling of resources. Having developed the abilities

to conduct large-scale development and use of

underground resources, modern society grew,

breaking the cycle of resource recycling and

accelerating exploitative destruction of nature,

creating the world we know today. This has led to

resource depletion and environmental destruction on a

global scale, which now requires us to move in a

different direction.

3

The two new international environmental

agreements adopted at the Rio Earth Summit (the

Framework Convention on Climate Change and the

Convention on Biological Diversity) should be seen as

twin treaties marking a key turning point in

humanity's modern civilization. While the previous

development approach had been dependent on the

large-scale consumption of fossil fuels

(non-renewable resources), the Framework

Convention on Climate Change signaled major

changes and possibly an end to the "Fossil Fuel

Civilization" (the non-cyclical, throw-away society).

At the same time, the Convention on Biological

Diversity served as a warning about the fragility of an

approach in which mankind alone is allowed to

flourish, indicating a path toward a "Life-Based

Civilization" (a society based on enduring

re-production). While the substance of the Convention

on Biological Diversity remains far from adequate, we

should turn our attention to the great untapped

potential that it holds.

This context, of the momentous transformation of

civilization that is occurring, illuminates the historic

significance of the potential contained within these

two treaties, and provides a vital perspective that

should not be lost in the ongoing and future debates

concerning the substance of these two treaties. In

particular, in light of the birth of a new Life-Based

Civilization, the Convention on Biological Diversity

can provide fresh perspectives on the opportunities

offered by agriculture and other primary industries,

which may have been seen until now as old and

out-of-date industries.

At the 2010 Conference of the Parties (COP 10)

meeting of the Convention on Biodiversity Diversity

held in Nagoya, Japan proposed the launch of the

"Satoyama Initiative." This initiative opened new

horizons for the Convention on Biological Diversity,

in keeping with a recognition of the important

opportunities offered through the conservation of

human-tended secondary natural landscapes, such as

those found in agricultural lands and in fishing

villages, not only through preserving nature in a

untouched state. Maintaining areas where people and

nature have interacted to form a stable relationship, as

exemplified by Japan's "Satoyama" (in contrast to the

Western view that sees humanity as separate from

nature), is of particular importance in the context of

the densely populated landscapes of Asia.4

The importance accorded to areas currently facing

decline and the loss of their traditional culture and

lifestyles can be enhanced through recognizing that

the cause of biodiversity can be served through

preserving traditional plant varieties and farming

practices in those areas. This recognition further leads

to an appreciation of the close interrelation between

cultural diversity and biodiversity. In this way, the

Convention on Biological Diversity holds within it the

potential to illuminate the ways in which things which

may have been seen as outmoded can actually be at

the forefront of the transition to a new civilization.

3. A historical perspective on Japanese agriculture

and management

From historical point of view, there was a kind of

sustainable development pattern had achieved. For

instance you can see an interesting case in the middle

age of Japan. In this case there was an example of

ecological resource management system related with

agriculture and people's life style in Japan. It is well

known that the ancient agricultural civilizations, such

as Mesopotamia and Egypt, caused environmental

destruction and desertification. On the other hand,

agriculture can be cultivated continuously and

sustainability for thousands years; for example, the

methods which were introduced in the book "Farmers

of Forty Centuries; Permanent agriculture in China,

Korea and Japan" written by F.H. King 1911. 5

As a case analyses, we would like to review a

traditional Japanese agricultural system from the

cultural-ecological aspect. Generally speaking, in an

agricultural society in the Middle Ages, many human

societies had been standing on a regional resource

circulation system for a long time. There were some

core substances such as bamboo, straw, trees and

clothes (silk, cotton, hemp) that were used in a

multi-purpose way and recyclable way.

Above all, the use of straw, sub-product of rice, was

very sophisticated and interesting. Straw was used for

food processing, housing and clothing. For instance, it

was used for straw-shoes (Waraji), straw-raincoats

(Mino), fermented soybean food processing (Nattou in

Wara-zuto), thatch, lashing, bale, pot-folder, wall

(partition) reinforcement, toys, etc. The earthen walls

of the houses were usually reinforced by straw. The

straw was twisted to produce rope, and employed for

making carpets (like Tatami mats), thick pillows, and

carriers for babies. Many articles of clothing too were

4

made from rice straw: hoods and hats, various kinds

of raincoats and gloves, sandals and snow-boots.

Various artifacts made of straw were used in life.

Some special plant straw, rice straw was partly

included, was commonly used for covering the roof in

rural areas in the past. Furthermore rice straw has

been used to make religious instruments, such as

Sime-nawa(ornament) in shrines that has been a

symbol of a spiritual life. When straw is twisted

together it emerges as a large symbol displayed in

shrines. When pieces of straw are flattened and

softened for easy use, they are transformed into the

sacred straw festoon which served as a New Year's

decoration. In Sumo wrestling, which was originally a

religious ritual, the Dohyo circle is made from rice

straw now. Rice straw had become an important part

of the Japanese culture, Fig.1.

Fig.1: Ecological culture of rice straw

In other words, rice straw was used to clothe

oneself from head to foot. People were born among

straw, brought up among straw artifacts, ate food from

rice straw utensils, worked while wrapped in straw,

slept in a straw futon, made religious offerings, related

and prayed to the gods through straw, and after dying

returned as a spirit to the ancestral home on the smoke

of burnt straw. Every area of life was deeply rooted in

the rice plant (Furusawa, 1989, 1992, 1994). 6

Not only the cultural aspect but also from an

ecological point of view, it was very important that

those materials were completely well managed in its

entirety. They made perfect material circulation and

zero-waste systems, which meant every straw was

finally burned as a fuel and also those ashes were used

for industrial raw materials, such as dyestuffs, cast

metals, etc, or ended in farmland as fertilizer. Another

important point is that those resource management

systems were deeply related to people's cultural ethics

and spiritual life.

4. Green Economy and Community Development

Based the Cycling of Nature and Life

"Sustainable Development" has now become a key

phrase on a global scale; but in order to realize

environmental sustainability, activities must be based

on the "three principles of sustainability" as offered by

those such as environmental economist Herman Daly

and the Natural Step program. In particular,

sustainability cannot be achieved without ensuring

that: (1) renewable resources are utilized at a pace that

is within their capacities for renewal; (2) we work

toward a transition from the use of exhaustible

resources to resources which are sustainable; and (3)

contaminants are released only within the limits of

what can be cleansed. 7

Not only should the unregulated use of

non-renewable resources (concentrated energy sources

formed in former geological epochs, that is, mineral

resources including coal and oil) not be allowed, but

taxation systems on their use, which give

consideration to sustainability and equity, should be

put in place. In this connection, it is significant that in

July 2012 Japan introduced a feed-in-tariff system

favoring renewable energy, which establishes prices

based on a distinction between fossil energy (stocks of

energy that have formed over geological time-scales)

and naturally renewable energy (dispersed flows

having low density).

Into the future, humanity is being called upon to

create a society that is based on sustainability, and

renewable energy must therefore become the basis of

our energy supply. This can also bring about

fundamental realignments to support the creation of

industries that support society and economy.

5

Until now, the path of economic development has

been based on growth and development through a

transition away from the primary industries that are

closely related to nature (industries dependent on

natural capital) toward secondary industries

(industries dependent on man-made capital and fossil

resources) and tertiary industries (commerce and

service industries). The so-called "Petty-Clark's Law"

sees economic development as a path from primary to

secondary to tertiary industries.

The following figure, Fig.2 depicts these as forming

a pyramid; we can clearly see how this view of the

development of human society is in contrast with the

"ecosystem pyramid" of nature, which forms an

inverted pyramid. The formation of this inverted

pyramid can be attributed to the large-scale

consumption of fossil fuels and other forms of

concentrated energy. What society needs to do now is

to correct this unreasonable state of affairs.

Humanity's socio-economic system has developed

as if it existed with no connection to the limits of the

natural environment and ecological systems. But as

the current situation of today demonstrates, the

expansion of human production capacity has exceeded

environmental limits and has reached the point where

our interrelationships with natural ecosystems (the

web of nature's cycles) have broken down.

Our challenge is to now reorganize our systems of

production that have mushroomed in size into

something that will exist in harmony with natural

ecosystems. I think we must therefore achieve a green

economy, one based not on artificial industrial capital

but rather on the preservation of natural ecosystems;

this will foster industries and a socioeconomic system

that is based on natural capital.8

A simple conceptual diagram that could be drawn to

illustrate this change would depict something like

what is shown in the Fig.2 labeled "De-growth and a

Society in Harmony with Nature," which fixes the

inverted triangle. The constraints of the pre-modern

structure of society and industry (with productivity

being dependent on nature) were overcome through

the utilization of resource deposits such as fossil fuels

(that is, energy sources which were accumulated and

concentrated through time), which allowed for the

large-scale production of the industrial revolution; the

market economy, with its formation of networks for

the division of labor, further spurred on large-scale

development; as a result, the industrial society of the

Twentieth Century gave birth to mass production,

mass consumption and mass disposal.

In the case of Japan, a pre-modern farming-centered

society (in which the majority of the population had

been engaged in primary industry) experienced a

period of high-level economic growth as a result of

modernization and industrialization (with the rise of

secondary and tertiary industries); Japan's current

post-industrial society is centered on the information

and service sectors (primary industry accounts for

only a few percent, with under 30% engaged in

secondary industry, and about 70% engaged in tertiary

industry).

Fig.2 Development of Human Society and Economy

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been seen

as a useful economic indicator of a country's

production capacity, but GDP is ultimately

problematic for the society of the future in that it does

not account for the special role played by the energy

and resource-recycling processes that form the very

foundation upon which economic activity depends. If

we are to operate in accordance with the principles of

sustainable development, we must create economic

incentives which reduce consumption activities that

deplete exhaustible resources (legacy stocks from the

past) or that adversely affect ecosystems; instead, we

should incentivize activities which increase reliance

on natural resources that can be used in perpetuity

(renewing flows such as found in renewable energy

and biomass) as well as the cycling of ecosystems.

Applying this to the development of industrial

structure as explained above, we will need to

reconfigure the industrial structure which has

6

prevailed until now and as depicted in the

inverted-pyramid, creating instead a system that

adapts its structure from the ecosystem pyramid. Such

an approach would have some overlap with the

"six-level industrialization" approach to agriculture

(the notion of fostering synergies among primary,

secondary and tertiary industries) that has recently

entered the mainstream, but will require developments

to be based on the cycling within ecosystems not just

some formalities.

In the coming age, which should be based on nature

and life-based industries, the fundamental place of

primary industry will be restored within the economy;

and through creating qualitatively valuable systems

that are built on renewable energy and pursue organic

production placing a value on natural materials, we

can realize a society and economic system that will

support the flowering of regional diversity.

This, in other words, is the achievement of a human

society which finds expression much as we see with

the diversity of nature--what we might call "a world

woven together through the complex, kaleidoscopic

workings of ecosystems." We are thus called upon to

create a future, with its mosaic of elements embodying

advanced and sophisticated systems of

appropriate-scale production, processing, distribution

and consumption (including the greening of the

information and service sectors), which will, in a

sense, build a society and economy that value

indigenous cultural and artistic expressions.

5. Comprehensive perspective for a sustainability

There are two holistic perspectives to change the

current situation. One is the macroscopic perspective,

which is a classifying approach based on from a micro

level to macro level. The other is a strategic

perspective, which is another classifying approach

related to policy-making and social innovative

analysis.

The comprehensive classifying approach from

micro to macro, is as follows'.

(1) Products and production process level: We need

more detail environmental analysis and evaluation

about products and production process; such as LCA

approach, eco-labeling evaluation, eco-design

approach, etc.

(2) Person and family level: We need to create an

ecological life-style, environmental balance sheet on

housekeeping, Green Consumerism (consumer action

for the environment), etc.

(3) Individual enterprise and business level: We need

to promote environmental management, accounting

and auditing system for enterprises and local

governments, socially responsible investment and

Eco-fund (environmentally harmonious investment),

Green Business (business activities taking care of the

environment), etc.

(4) Industrial organization and relation level: We need

to create industrial complexes and business

compounds designed with ecological concept and

zero-emission (no waste) idea originally planned by

UN University, etc.

(5) Regional planning and national level: We need

environmental assessment for regional planning and

development based on ecological design such as

Eco-city, Sustainable Community, Bio-regionalism

(ecological concept and practice on regional

management, especially related to watershed area),

and also to create strong environmental law and

regulation system, SEEA; System of Integrated

Environmental and Economic Accounting (green GDP

as a nickname), etc.

(6) International level: We need to promote

international treaty, agreement, organizational

activities (from NGO level to UN level), international

cooperation and aid (ODA), etc.

From holistic and comprehensive point of view, it is

very important to analyze the connection and

dependence among them in each level and inter-level.

Some of them are partly inter-related or overlapping.

To the next step it is significant to integrate and unify

them; for example, integration of management,

accounting and auditing system from micro level to

macro level.

The latter, a political classifying approach, which is

the other strategic categorization for sustainability, is

as follows’.

(A)Technological innovation: Technological pollution

control, ecological design and planning of industrial

product and processes, recycling technology,

eco-efficient technology, mitigation technology,

environmental management technique; such as LCA,

environmental accounting and audit, etc.

(B)Legal regulation: Environmental law and

regulation such as prohibition, permission, penalty,

restrictive control, etc.

(C)Economic method of control: Economical

incentive and disincentive; such as subsidy, charge

7

and eco-labeling, environmental tax, usage of market

mechanism; such as emission trading system and

environment swap, etc.

(D)Socio-cultural adaptation: Environmental ethics

and custom, cultural value system, life-style,

education, religion, media and advertisement, etc.

It is important to integrate these categories each

other. (A) is easily understand and acceptable for

everyone. However, it is not so easy to develop

independently and automatically. Judicial framework

(B) is very important, but too strict a law control is

inclined to lead to a rigid society. At this point

economic method (C) is complimentary and

supportable to soften the strictness of legal control. On

the other hand, legal and economic regulation (B)(C)

have to have some costs to manage it. In this content,

socio-cultural framework (D) is very flexible, smooth

and cost-free to work when it is well formed and

created.

Consequently, it is important to make a balance

among those approaches and to create them with an

appropriate way. All these holistic perspectives, which

are mentioned above, would be helpful in

understanding and analyzing our current situation and

could give us the next step to achieve a sustainable

society. These are not easily and automatically

achieved but there have to be buildup a

socio-economic condition on a background.

6. Socio-economic sector and sustainable society

Finally let’s review what kind of socio-economic

platform needed. The traditional picture of modern

society is about to change. Socialism is no longer in

opposition to capitalism as it has been throughout the

20th century. The social system from the level of the

family to the nation seems to have lost its traditional

bearings and certainty of the direction it should take.

It once seemed that the universal ideal had been

seeking and pursuing in the 20th century with the

overcoming of ethnic hatreds, which had painted the

history of the world in blood. Now, however we are

again witnessing ethnic conflicts and civil wars in

some regions of the world. It is as if we had turned

back the hands of the historical clock. Coming after

socialism and communism idea, we have come to

encounter contradiction of capitalism.

Although it was considered a sublime ideal in the

20th century, in actuality capitalism has changed our

economic activities into the unlimited pursuit of profit

and surplus based on free competition. Believe it or

not, the world economy has now entered an age of

severe global competition.

How can we explain the chaos in the modern

world? It cannot be denied that the world paradigm

has begun to undergo a dramatic change. In other

words, the socio-economic system as a whole is about

to change. We must analyze the future of our society

from a very different perspective; we no longer

witness a conflict between capitalism and socialism.

The mixed and interdependent development among

the three socio-economic sectors will be superseded.

Those three are the private-corporate sector, the public

sector and the communal-community sector.

The private-corporate sector is based on the market

mechanism of freedom and competition which seems

business and company model, the public sector is

based on planning mechanism which seems the

governmental control model and the communal

community sector is based on the voluntary action

mechanism which maintained by cooperative and

collective work which seems self-governance and

participatory reciprocity model, Fig3.

Fig.3 Three Socio-economic Sectors

These are tactical divisions and in reality they often

overlap with each other. About the three sectors, the

private and public are perhaps easy to understand. But

it seems to require some explanations of the

communal-community sector. When you look at

history, you can cite as examples the maintenance and

management of common assets and infrastructures

owned by village communities, such as cleaning roads,

waterworks and other common areas by mutual help.

8

They have also existed in the urban lifestyle in

nowadays. For example, you can note the existence of

various civic organizations that conduct volunteer

work and generate social movements, NGOs, NPOs.

Some others perform economic activities such as the

organization of joint purchasing groups and

cooperatives including organic agricultural movement.

There are many non-profit communities and social

enterprises, as well as services offered in a wide range

of areas. Those are very related with NPO sector,

which has been studied by Salamon’s group in Johns

Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies (Salamon, et

al., 1999).9

The interrelation of these sectors should be

analyzed in depth to understand how modern society

works. Interacting against a background of diverse

histories, societies, and cultures, those three sectors

are forming a dynamic relationship by permeating and

even opposing one another. This new transition is

closely related to the historical change in our values

that must deal with the sustainable development. A

market economy seeking for benefits or governmental

authoritarian control would not be sufficient for

realizing the sustainable development.

A community, communal and cooperative society

based on participation and self-governance is essential

to achieve it. You can find many examples such as

control of common property and social activities from

the community level to the international one; such as

education, social welfare services, management of

common assets (public goods), city-building, urban

planning, regional planning, waste management as

well as human rights and peace issues. There is a limit

to resolve these problems by top-down regulation and

business based on market economy. Only through the

active involvement of citizens based on the

partnership, and through active involvement of people

in voluntary and cooperative actions in many areas of

society, can we resolve these problems smoothly and

effectively.

7. Conclusion

A sustainable society is sure to be achieved by these

numerous efforts spanning the micro and macro

economic spheres, if people of all walks of life take

voluntary action, and if various measures are executed

through mutual cooperation and co-existence

interaction. In the future, our values will shift from the

pursuit of materialistic satisfaction to more profound

concern with matters of the human spirit.

Metaphorically speaking, the quality of art is

enhanced by a full, enriched spirit rather than by an

increase in energy and resources. Japan has condensed

many kinds of lessons that world should consider now

on. With a view the future civilization will further

dematerialization, Japan has a potential of latent

cultural power, although national power in a sense of

material civilization may be declined.10

We are living through a transition period. We have

to decide how to deal with the volatile global

economic situation. Human development will not

continue unless we abandon our fetish with

materialism and egoistic economy. On the contrary it

will promise us a sustainable enriched civilization and

a symbiotic society when we will be emancipated

from a materialistic and egocentric way of living and

create common sharing society in harmony with the

every human being and nature on the Earth.

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session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCBD in Nagoya,

Japan, 2010; http://www.cbd.int/ 3 The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

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