Asia & the Pacific

Japan

• © UNESCO/T.Jolly
• Hakusan National Park, Japan

The country is covered by the UNESCO Cluster Office in Beijing, China.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries of the world and takes a special interest in disaster reduction and water management.

The International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), located in Tsukuba, was established in 2005 under the auspices of UNESCO to function as the centre of excellence to assist regions, countries and localities in implementing risk management and mitigation strategies applicable to water-related disasters. The International Flood Initiative (IFI), an inter-agency mecanism that was created in 2005 to promote an integrated approach to flood management and reduce the loss of life and damage they cause, is based at ICHARM. 

The Japanese Government has provided extra-budgetary funds from 1998 onwards to renewable energy education and training projects in Asia through the Japanese Funds-in-Trust.

Below you can access the projects that are currently being implemented in the country within the framework of UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector.

Freshwater

- Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy programme (HELP) project in the Yasu Basin More

- International Flood Initiative (IFI)

- World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) case study in Japan More

- International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) established under the auspices of UNESCO in Tsukuba

People, Biodiversity and Ecology

- Biosphere Reserves (WNBRs)

- East Asian Biosphere Reserve Network (EABRN)

Oceans

- Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS)

Earth Sciences

- Triassic Time and Trans-Panthalassan Correlations (IGCP, project 467)

- GIS metallogeny of Central Asia (IGCP, Project 473)

- Deltas in the Monsoon Asia-Pacific region (DeltaMAP) (IGCP, Project 475)

- Monsoon evolution and tectonics-climate linkage in East Asia and its marginal seas during the late Cenozoic (IGCP, Project 476)

- Sustainable Use of Platinum Group Elements (IGCP, Project 479)

- Structural and Tectonic Correlation across the Central Asia Orogenic Collage: Implications for Continental Growth and Intracontinental Deformation (IGCP, Project 480)

- Geodynamics of the East African Rift System / Geophysical Characteristics and Evolution of the South-western Branch of the East African Rift System (IGCP, Project 482/489)

- The role of Holocene environmental catastrophes in human history (IGCP, Project 490)

Middle Palaeozoic vertebrate biogeography, palaeogeography and climate (IGCP, Project 491)

- Quaternary Land-Ocean Interactions (IGCP, Project 495)

- Global Comparison of Volcanic-hosted Massive Sulphide Districts (IGCP, Project 502)

- Marine and Non-marine Jurassic: Global correlation and major geological events (IGCP, Project 506)

- Palaeoproterozoic Supercontinents and Global Evolution (IGCP, Project 509)

- Global correlation of A-type granites and related rocks, their mineralization, and significance in lithospheric evolution (IGCP, Project 510)

- Submarine Mass Movements and their Consequences (IGCP, Project 511)

- Neoproterozoic Ice Ages (IGCP, Project 512)

- Karst Aquifers and Water Resources (IGCP, Project 513)

- Geological Anatomy of East and South East Asia (IGCP, Project 516)

Basic Sciences

- Regional Network for Microbiology in Southeast Asia (funded by the government of Japan) More

- The University-Industry-Science Partnership (UNISPAR) in Japan More

Science Policy and Sustainable Development

- Establishing Science and Technology Parks More

- Science and Technology Policy Asian Network (STEPAN)

Natural Disasters Reduction

- International Programme on Landslides (IPL) 

Renewable Energy

- Renewable Energies in Japan More