Members of the China Civil Climate Action Network (CCAN) participated in the “2011 Japan-Korea-China Low-carbon East Asia Forum” (detailed programme available here: http://www.foejapan.org/energy/news/evt_110902.html) which was held in Tokyo on September 2. The Forum was jointly organized by several NGOs of the Japan-Korean-China Environment NGO Network, including CCAN member NGO EnviroFriends Institute on Environmental Science and Technology.

CCAN members who participated in the event included Dr. Yang Fuqiang from NRDC’s Beijing office, Bi Xinxin from the CCAN secretariat, Li Yan from Greenpeace Beijing office, Li Li, director of EnviroFriends, and Patrick Schroeder, CCAN’s international advisor.

The forum consisted of two special reports organized by Friends of the Earth Japan. The first featured three local citizens from the affected area in Fukushima who gave very moving first-hand accounts of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident and how local communities are trying to cope with the current situation which doesn’t look all too good.

The second special report was provided by the well-known Japanese environmentalist Dr. Masaru Tanaka who provided an excellent overview of the severe problems and shortcomings of Japan’s current energy strategy primarily based on nuclear energy. Dr. Tanaka didn’t stop here but pointed out the economic and technical opportunities for moving to a more sustainable, low-carbon energy system based on renewables.

After these special reports the NGO representatives from China, Korea and Japan gave presentations on country perspectives of various topics including energy security, renewable energy and local NGO action for low-carbon development.

The following day all participants went on a fun trip to an organic farm near the town of Ogawa in Saitama Prefecture to experience first-hand the already existing solutions for sustainable agriculture.

By the way, in 2013 the Forum will be held in China’s north-eastern province of Heilongjiang, when the three countries’ NGOs will again come together to discuss the future prospects of East Asia’s low-carbon development. Actually, participation in the Low-carbon East Asia Forum is not limited only to representatives of the three countries China, Korea and Japan. The meeting next year might be an opportunity for colleagues from Russia to participate – it’ll be just across the border.