Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in putting an end to the country's two-decade armed conflict with Eritrea.
Since he took office in April 2018, Abiy has strived to improve his country's relations with its neighbor and contributed to the stabilization of strife-torn East Africa.
Unrest caused by ethnic conflicts and autocratic rule has continued in Ethiopia for many years. Feyisa Lilesa, who won the silver medal in the men's marathon of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, crossed his arms above his head in the shape of an X as he strode over the finish line to protest the then Ethiopian government's oppression.
Lilesa, who had been unable to return to Ethiopia, came home after Prime Minister Abiy took office. Lilesa told Time magazine, which selected Abiy as one of the world's top 100 influential people, that he was able to return home thanks to the prime minister.
Abiy's greatest achievement is his role in Ethiopia's reconciliation with Eritrea. Approximately 100,000 people are estimated to have died during the armed conflict that raged between the two countries from 1998 to 2000, and they had subsequently been in a state of war. Abiy visited Asmara, the capital of Eritrea in July 2018, only three months after he took office, and resumed bilateral diplomatic ties.
It is notable that Abiy took advantage of this achievement to pave the way for peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. He served as a mediator between Eritrea and its rivals Somalia and Djibouti in their talks aimed at improving mutual relations.
He has also carried out reform of Ethiopia's domestic politics. He apologized for the past administrations' slaying of anti-government forces, and released numerous political prisoners.
Moreover, Abiy guaranteed freedom of the press and freedom of speech, and announced that the country would introduce a multiparty system, swiftly promoting the democratization of the country.
Abiy, 43, is the youngest political leader in Africa, a region dominated by elderly heads of state and heads of the government. Ethnic conflicts are deeply rooted in Ethiopia and Abiy himself survived an assassination attempt. The international community is paying close attention to whether the young prime minister, whose fields of learning include computer studies and business, can reform patriarchal African society.
Africa, which has long been regarded as a continent plagued by poverty and armed conflicts, has transformed itself into the "growth center of the world," and Ethiopia, which has a population of some 100 million, is enjoying rapid economic progress.
Africa's population is estimated to balloon to approximately 2.5 billion people by 2050, accounting for 25% of the global population. We hope Abiy's winning of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize will support African people's efforts to achieve stability and prosperity.

Akira Yoshino, an honorary fellow at Asahi Kasei Corp., has won a share of this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry for the development of lithium-ion batteries, alongside two scientists from universities in the United States. It is the first time in nine years for a Japanese scientist to win the chemistry prize.
Lithium-ion batteries are small and light, have a high output, and can be used repeatedly through recharging. They are used widely in mobile devices such as smartphones and computers, and are modern conveniences that support people's lives.
Battery performance depends on what materials are used at the positive and negative electrodes. In creating the first commercially viable prototype of the lithium-ion battery, Yoshino used lithium cobalt oxide developed by those including fellow laureate John Goodenough at the positive electrode, and a carbon material at the negative electrode. Thus in 1985, the technology for these safe, high-performance batteries was established.
The first product to use these batteries was a small 8mm video camera for home use sold by Sony Corp., marketed as a passport-sized device. When the IT revolution occurred from around the mid-1990s, the use of such batteries increased explosively. In recent years their application has been spreading, and they are used in electric vehicles as well as to store energy generated by solar panels.
One point of note in Yoshino's receipt of the Nobel Prize is that he is a researcher at a private firm. This puts him in the company of Koichi Tanaka, a senior fellow at Shimadzu Corp. in Kyoto in western Japan, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2002, and Shuji Nakamura, who invented the blue light-emitting diode while working for a manufacturer in Tokushima Prefecture, also in western Japan, leading to his receipt of the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics.
Commercialization is always kept in mind when a company conducts research and development. Yoshino thought of using polyacetylene, a "conductive plastic" developed by scientists including 2000 Nobel chemistry laureate Hideki Shirakawa, as a material for a battery electrode when pondering possible industrial applications. This idea turned out to be unsuccessful in the end, but instead, Yoshino hit on the idea of using carbon, which had similar electrical properties, leading to a groundbreaking invention. It is a good example of the results of basic research being utilized in applied research.
In Japan, 70% of research and development costs are covered by companies and the country comes third in the world in the total amount spent after the United States and China. But Japan is starting to lose its presence in the field of electronics. We are tempted to ask whether ample funds are going toward creating an environment in which the creative buds of research can be nurtured.
We hope that the latest award will serve to encourage those involved in research and development, and will add vitality to manufacturing in Japan.

Party leaders' cross-examination of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his policy speech to start the current extraordinary Diet session has commenced. It has been a long time indeed since we have seen debate in the legislature.
The first to take the floor to question Abe was Yukio Edano, chief of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), and his line of interrogation naturally covered a broad range of essential issues, from the domestic to the diplomatic.
As usual, however, the prime minister provided naught but apathetic answers. For example, Edano pressed Abe for government comment on the recently revealed scandal at Kansai Electric Power Co., where executives were found to have accepted stupendously expensive gifts from a former official of a town hosting one of the firm's nuclear plants. Abe's responses revealed what can only be called a faithless attitude toward the Japanese public.
It hardly needs mentioning that nuclear energy policy has advanced in this country through close collusion between past administrations led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the big power companies, Kansai Electric included. The gift scandal at the company raises the specter of "nuclear money" -- the vast sums of electricity fee revenues and public funding poured into atomic power -- being redirected into the pockets of big power producers' senior leadership. In other words, the doubts arising from the Kansai Electric scandal could eat away at the very roots of public trust in government atomic energy policy.
Nevertheless, all Abe would say on the subject was, "It is natural for electricity companies to put effort into proper management." He would not even say that the Kansai Electric revelations were regrettable, and from start to finish has appeared intent on leaving the entire matter to an upcoming Kansai Electric internal probe. We wonder if the prime minister truly understands how serious this problem is.
The story was not much different for the recently revealed dustup between Japan Post Holdings Co. and public broadcaster NHK. In that incident, Japan Post pushed back hard against an NHK news feature program showing post offices using illicit tactics to sell insurance policies. The broadcaster's Board of Governors caved in to the pressure and issued a stern warning to NHK President Ryoichi Ueda. The allegations of predatory insurance sales techniques eventually proved to be on the mark.
CDP leader Edano raised questions about the status of NHK and freedom of the press in connection with the affair. Again, however, Prime Minister Abe would not engage, saying only that he was "not in a position to comment."
And then there was the decision by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to rescind subsidies for the Aichi Triennale 2019 art festival, where an exhibit on freedom of expression that included a statue representing "comfort women" had sparked a harsh backlash including threats. On this, Abe's only comment was: "That is a decision made by the culture agency." All Edano, and we, wanted to know was what the prime minister's thoughts were on the issue.
The list of perfunctory prime ministerial commentary continued, on the government's initial response to the damage inflicted by Typhoon Faxai, about the consumption tax hike from 8 % to 10%, regarding Japan-U.S. trade negotiations, and so on, resulting in zero meaningful debate. If Abe does not reconsider his attitude, he risks making the Diet a hollow institution.
We also have a question for the CDP's Edano: Why did he not make any direct mention of Abe's moves to alter the Japanese Constitution? Edano may wish to argue that this is not a top priority agenda at the moment, but then he should have said so clearly.
This is the first Diet session for the parliamentary alliance of opposition parties that emerged from the collapse of the Democratic Party of Japan. Failing to mention the constitutional amendment issue makes it appear that the alliance is dodging the subject to avoid highlighting internal cleavages on the matter.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a policy speech at the Oct. 4 outset of an extraordinary Diet session after a more than three-month recess.
One cannot help but wonder what the prime minister is striving to achieve during his current and last tenure as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which expires in two years, after winning the July House of Councillors election and raising the consumption tax from 8% to 10% as scheduled. The public certainly hoped that he would earnestly describe his policy goals, but his speech was a disappointment.
It is understandable that Abe described countermeasures against the declining birthrate and aging population as the biggest challenge. However, he not only failed to present a blueprint for what he calls "social security that covers all generations," but also no hint about the workings of a new study panel to discuss the creation of such a system. In short, he failed to respond to the public's anxiety over the country's future.
The prime minister had not responded to deliberations in both chambers' budget panels since April. This is the first time in six months that he has provided an explanation of how the government will deal with diverse domestic and foreign policy issues.
Japan was hit by a series of natural disasters such as typhoons and torrential rains this past summer, calling into question how Japan should conduct crisis management and restore disaster-hit areas.
On the diplomatic front, observations persist within Japan that Tokyo was strong-armed into compromises by Washington during bilateral trade talks. Prime Minister Abe cannot convince the Japanese public by simply describing the agreement as a "win-win trade deal."
North Korea, which has repeatedly launched missiles in defiance of the international community, is posing a serious threat to East Asia. It is inconceivable that the prime minister expressed enthusiasm for holding Japan-North Korea summit talks without mentioning the threat.
Additionally, Japan-South Korea relations -- said to be at their worst level in history -- are casting a shadow over security cooperation among Tokyo, Washington and Seoul. Abe's description of the situation in his policy speech was altogether too brief.
The policy speech that a prime minister delivers at the outset of each Diet session offers material for discussion to both the ruling and opposition camps in the legislature, and helps the public deepen their understanding of government policy measures. Abe's latest policy speech was too superficial and cannot deepen Diet debate. The prime minister does not appear to have awareness that the Diet is a venue for the administrative branch of the government to fulfill its accountability to the public.
At the end of his address, Abe mentioned the Constitution and urged both the ruling and opposition blocs to fulfill their responsibility to the public by pressing forward with discussions at both chambers' commissions on the supreme law.
It was opportunistic for the prime minister to urge the legislature to cooperate in amending the Constitution while providing shallow explanations of outstanding policy issues.
It has long been pointed out that the Diet has hollowed out under Abe's predominance. Looking at this situation, the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Democratic Party for the People -- both splinter groups of the defunct Democratic Party of Japan which was in power from 2009 to 2012 -- has formed a parliamentary alliance to confront the Abe administration. The move is hoped to revive tensions in debate between the ruling and opposition blocs and thus to restore the authority of the Diet.

Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) President Shigeki Iwane recently held a second news conference over payoffs worth around 320 million yen that Eiji Moriyama, a late former deputy mayor of the Fukui Prefecture town of Takahama, made to 20 people including senior executives of the company. Takahama, located on the Sea of Japan coast, operates a nuclear power plant operated by KEPCO.
Iwane released an investigative report from last fall over the payoff scandal as criticism was mounting over a lack of details regarding the receipt of money and gifts during the first news conference.
The latest media conference, however, left us appalled over KEPCO's lack of a sense of responsibility as a public utility.
Assembled reporters received information on the uncanny structure of collusion between KEPCO and Moriyama through nuclear power projects. Former KEPCO deputy president Hideki Toyomatsu and managing executive officer Satoshi Suzuki each received cash, gift coupons and other items worth at least 100 million yen from Moriyama, it was revealed.

KEPCO's nuclear energy headquarters were relocated from the utility's Osaka head office to Fukui Prefecture in 2005, where Toyomatsu served as chief of headquarters and Suzuki as deputy chief. It is appalling that they received hundreds of millions of yen worth of cash and valuables when they were in a position to provide a good example to others.
It was also revealed that gold coins were found in a bag containing sweets that was given as a congratulatory gift for Iwane's appointment as president. The episode brings to mind a scene from a period drama in which a vicious local governor appears. Iwane lacked a sense of crisis over the situation, where the provision of cash and valuables to officials was nothing unusual, and the company failed to systematically respond to the payoffs.
In-house investigations into the scandal, however, began only after national tax authorities inspected the power company. The utility's failure to report the facts and its investigation results to its board of directors can be regarded as a de-facto cover-up. The move constitutes a breach of trust, not to mention a lack of compliance.
Nevertheless, the punishment KEPCO officials received was far more lenient than what an ordinary company could be expected to mete out, with the most severe penalty being a 20% pay cut for two months for Toyomatsu and Chairman Makoto Yagi. Suzuki was merely handed a severe warning.
KEPCO explained the situation to reporters as if the firm was the victim of Moriyama's monetary and gift offensive, saying, "Each individual responded to the matter while exercising patience." The firm also claimed that the acceptance of the money and gifts did not violate any laws, and said the recipients only "held onto" them. Yet it was only after national tax authorities conducted an inspection that the firm returned roughly 160 million yen of the murky funds.
The sources of the money and gifts in question are believed to have come from a company that received orders for nuclear plant-related projects, where Moriyama served as an adviser. In other words, KEPCO's funds paid to the company were apparently funneled to officials at the utility. The situation represents a betrayal of consumers, and KEPCO cannot evade managerial responsibility.
KEPCO says it plans to continue investigating the scandal in a third-party committee. While the power company has admitted that it provided information related to construction orders, it has denied that doing so was in return for the acceptance of money and gifts. The flow of the shady funds and the purpose of the gift-giving have not been revealed.
Unless KEPCO can carry out a thorough probe into the issue, it is not qualified to continue to engage in the nuclear power business.

It has been 70 years since Mao Zedong, fresh from his final victory over China's Kuomintang nationalists, stood before a large crowd in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to declare the creation of a new country: the People's Republic of China (PRC). "China is a sleeping giant," Napoleon Bonaparte once remarked. "Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world."
It appears China is just as Napoleon predicted.
The PRC's extraordinary rise has befuddled the global community, its growing power stirring widespread anxiety. The ongoing trade war with the United States and the months of protests in Hong Kong are two signs of this uneasiness over Beijing's strength and intentions. Will China tear down international order? Or does it seek to exist peacefully within it?
China's GDP is now at least 170 times the size it was the day Mao made his foundation speech. The country's average lifespan is said to have gone from 35 to 77 years. Its march from being one of the poorest nations on Earth to become the "factory of the world" is surely one of the most remarkable transformations in human history.
The road there was not simple, however. From the late 1950s to the 1970s, countless Chinese people died of starvation under Mao's reckless "Great Leap Forward" policy. Yet more were killed in the chaos and terror of the Cultural Revolution.
After Mao's death in 1978, his successor atop the PRC Deng Xiaoping looked back on this litany of sorrow and decided to part ways with the socialist planned economy, opting instead for the introduction of market principles and slowly opening the country.
Amid improving ties with the U.S. and Japan, China welcomed foreign investment and successfully pivoted to an export-driven growth model, acceding to the World Trade Organization in 2001. From that year on in particular, China reaped the benefits of globalization.
But Beijing's defense policy is haunted by the ghosts of the colonial era. From the Opium War in 1840 through the first decades of the 20th century, China was subjected to repeated seizures of its territory and other humiliations at the hands of the Western empires and Japan. That history of victimization by foreign powers has compelled the Communist regime to pour enormous resources into building up China's military strength.
The vast outlays of wealth and leveraging of technology to build artificial islands in the South China Sea -- far from the Chinese mainland -- made China as a threat more palpable. We are witnessing the birth of a new sort of military power -- one very different from the model of the Soviet Union, where economic stagnation paired with unsustainable military outlays led to the collapse of the state.
China's self-awareness as a great power has grown in the years since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, expressed through greater diplomatic assertiveness that has put other countries on edge. It is perfectly natural that an increasingly strong Beijing would turn its attention to the wider world. And many nations have been more than willing to sign onto the Belt and Road Initiative, China's attempt to create a new, globe-spanning economic bloc. On the other hand, the case of Sri Lanka -- where a Chinese corporation seized ownership of a major port after the Sri Lankan government failed to keep up infrastructure loan payments to Beijing -- has sparked worries that Belt and Road is in fact a hegemonic project.
We must also question the Xi administration's understanding of the PRC's history. Deng Xiaoping spoke against the Cultural Revolution during his time in the top job, but Xi has a strong tendency to see that period as a connecting element in the 70 years of Communist rule. During the Cultural Revolution, human rights were trampled and minorities including Tibetans and Uighurs oppressed. The current administration cannot win trust as long as it ignores this part of the past.
Meanwhile, Beijing's enormous investments in the information revolution have made China a leader in 5G and artificial intelligence technology. If harnessed by the government, this technology will enable both more efficient administration and an unparalleled level of surveillance of the Chinese people. We can think of just one name for this: digital dictatorship.
Observers had long expected that economic growth would bring democratization to China. The opposite appears to be happening. Furthermore, there are said to be foreign governments eyeing the Chinese state model as a way to boost their own economies. That the United States has taken aim at the Chinese firm Huawei, a leader in 5G tech, comes down to Washington's worries that China will move to shape a new world order.
The Chinese and American economies have become intertwined in complicated ways in this globalized age. The economic "decoupling" from China favored by some figures in the U.S. is simply unrealistic. Attempting it would risk global economic chaos. At the same time, however, if Beijing does not try to allay U.S. worries about China, the confrontation between the two countries will go on for some time. China should thus make it plain that it wishes to exist peacefully within the current international framework.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other regions are keenly cognizant of Chinese pressure, and growing increasingly distrustful toward Beijing. To celebrate the PRC's 70th anniversary, the communist government mounted an enormous military parade through the capital. The Chinese government has not done enough to reassure its neighbors that this display of might is nothing more than an expression of patriotism.
There are many problems in our world that cannot be handled without China's cooperation. In the wake of the ignominious end this year to the U.S.-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces arms limitation treaty, the threat of a new arms race that could reach even into space is becoming a reality. Managing global IT behemoths, cryptocurrencies and other issues of the digital economy, tackling the climate crisis, reforming the WTO -- to deal with any of these world-spanning problems, China must be at the table. One shortcut Beijing could use to build international trust is to use its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council to take the initiative on consensus-building.
For Japan, there is no other choice but to coexist with our giant neighbor to the west. Next spring, President Xi is scheduled to make his first state visit to Japan. Tokyo's role -- and we believe it is an important one -- will be to express its concerns frankly to China, and work to reduce tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Among elementary and junior high school-age children of foreign nationality registered as residents in Japan, 21,701, or about 17%, may not be attending school, according to a survey the education ministry conducted on Japanese municipalities. The survey, the first of its kind ever, also confirmed that 1,000 foreign children are not attending school. The government should swiftly grasp the situation regarding foreign children's school attendance.
The number of immigrants from Central and South America to Japan sharply increased after the government began to grant third-generation foreign nationals of Japanese descent permanent resident status under a 1990 amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. In recent years, the number of those from Asian countries, including China and Vietnam, has been growing. Under these circumstances, problems involving foreign children not attending school have emerged as a social issue.
Some local bodies have been taking measures to help ensure that children of foreign nationality attend school. Officials of the Gifu Prefecture city of Kani in central Japan, where many foreign nationals work at local manufacturers, have for the last 16 years visited households in the city that have children of foreign nationality to get a grasp of their family situation and provided Japanese-language education.
In contrast, the survey revealed that 65% of local governments have not made any particular efforts to check if children of foreign nationality attend school. It is unreasonable that the environment for foreign children's school attendance differs from one local body to the other.
The central government, which had long left the issue of foreign children not attending school entirely up to local governments, finally began to address the matter at a study team set up within the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry this year.
In March, the ministry sent a directive to the country's 47 prefectural governments and 20 major cities, instructing them to promote the enrollment of foreign children at schools. The study team compiled a report in June underscoring the need to grasp the situation of foreign children's school attendance and to enhance Japanese-language education. However, the move comes too late.
School education is the starting point for foreign children registered as residents in Japan to live in the country. Unless they receive an adequate education, their job opportunities will be limited and they could even be left isolated in society.
Non-Japanese nationals are not subject to Constitution of Japan provisions for the right to receive an education and the obligation to have their children receive an education. However, the International Covenants on Human Rights, which Japan has ratified, states that "everybody has the right to an education."
Based on the outcome of the latest survey, the education ministry says it will identify challenges to promoting the enrollment of foreign children at schools and consider specific policy measures to achieve this goal while taking into consideration discussions at a panel of experts.
Japan has expanded its acceptance of foreign workers under the revised Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act that came into force this past April. If a growing number of foreigners are working in Japan, the number of children of foreign nationality living in Japan will increase accordingly.
The national government should take the initiative in promptly implementing measures to ensure all foreign children attend school. Needless to say, schools will also be required to increase their readiness to enroll children of foreign nationality such as by improving their Japanese-language education.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has described the recent bilateral trade deal reached with the United States as "something of a win-win for both countries." But the contents of the trade pact are far from a "win" for Japan.
Under the trade deal, Japan will immediately reduce tariffs on U.S. beef and pork to around the same level as seen in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact, despite the U.S. having withdrawn from the TPP under President Donald Trump. "This is a huge victory for America's farmers, ranchers, and growers," Trump said of the agreement.
However, one other focal point of the bilateral trade talks -- the elimination of tariffs on Japanese automobiles -- was shelved, though it had been promised by the U.S. under the TPP framework. The reason: to protect the American auto industry. The issue was relegated to "ongoing discussion" status, but it is believed that complete elimination of Japanese auto tariffs will be close to impossible.
The purpose of free trade is to mutually open up major markets and invigorate economies. Under the trade pact between Japan and the European Union that went into effect this year, Japan reduced tariffs on agricultural products, while the EU scaled back automobile tariffs.
In this round of trade talks with Japan, the U.S. decided to exclude automobiles -- which make up 30% of Japan's exports to the U.S. -- from tariff reductions. This limits the benefits of the trade deal for Japan.
In addition, Prime Minister Abe last month revealed a plan for Japanese corporations to important vast amounts of U.S.-made corn, separate from the trade pact, which has pleased Trump to no end. Prime Minister Abe explained the move as a measure against pest damage, but experts who say there has not been much damage to crops have raised doubts about whether that is the real reason for the move.
The reason Japan went so far to accept the U.S.'s demands was because President Trump had hinted at the possibility of levying additional high tariffs on Japanese cars -- a far cry from eliminating pre-existing ones.
President Trump's top priority is re-election in the 2020 presidential election. Farms and automobile factories are concentrated in states that tend to sway elections.
The latest trade talks reached their conclusion speedily -- it was in September 2018 that the two leaders agreed to begin negotiations. The Japanese government appeared to have wanted to finish the discussions before being confronted with any excessive demands, by letting Trump, who was in a hurry to yield results, have the stage.
The Japanese government has explained that the Japan-U.S. joint agreement signed by both Trump and Abe includes a provision that will avoid any additional tariffs. However, the phrasing only goes as far as to adhere to the joint statement that was released in September of last year. Considering how unpredictable President Trump is, it's hardly a safeguard. The risk of additional tariffs has not been completely eliminated.
The government will submit the draft trade pact at an extraordinary session of the Diet set to be convened next week. Legislators should thoroughly deliberate whether the draft pact benefits Japan.

World leaders must earnestly listen to the message delivered by 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg at the United Nations Climate Action Summit.
The Swedish high school student bitterly criticized countries for failing to take sufficient measures to address climate change.
"How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight," she said, tearfully. "You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that, because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil."
Greta began to protest against climate change by herself in August last year. Calling for more action from the Swedish government, she began sit-ins in front of the country's parliament on Fridays, calling for strengthened measures from the Swedish government. Young people began to join in, and school strikes started around the world. On Sept. 20, shortly before the summit took place, at least 4 million people across the world are said to have taken part.
Behind this wide support is the fact that the effects of climate change have reached a level that cannot be ignored. Greta herself was prompted to take action by a record heat wave that hit Northern Europe. In approaching the issue, she is said to have referred to the methods used by young people in the United States calling for gun control measures.
During her speech at the Climate Action Summit, Greta criticized world leaders as focusing solely on "money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth." She pointed out that people had to live with the consequences of failed measures to combat climate change. Young people today have a far greater sense of crisis than adult generations who will not witness the catastrophic effects of climate change.
Global temperatures are increasing. The Paris Agreement, an international framework to counter climate change, calls for efforts to limit the increase in global average temperatures by the end of this century to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial revolution levels by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve this, participating countries must reduce emissions by five times what their current targets are.
Across the world, however, countries are not aligned on the issue. U.S. President Donald Trump, for example has expressed skepticism about climate change itself and announced his country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
Ahead of the summit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries to come up with concrete action, not just speeches.
Can Japan share in such sentiment? It has been criticized by countries across the world for relying on coal-fired power plants to supply its energy. Around 70 world leaders attended the Climate Action Summit, but Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was not one of them.
No one objects to passing on a healthy world to future generations. But to achieve this, the question of what action is being taken arises. Adults have a responsibility to respond to the petitions of young people.

The Consumer Affairs Agency has decided not to mandate the labeling of genome-edited food products when the editing process has entailed only modification of a given organism's existing genetic code.
The decision is based on the notion that such limited editing is basically the same as improvements through conventional breeding techniques. However, consumers are perplexed at the move, as genome-editing is a new and unfamiliar technology to them.
In fact, in a survey conducted last year by the University of Tokyo and other entities, more than 40% of respondents said they would not want to eat agricultural products developed with genome-editing technology.
Even if it is impossible to tell the difference between genome-edited products and those developed using conventional breed improvement, the government should create a system giving consumers the choice to put genome-edited products on the family table or not.
For such a system to work, it is necessary to mandate producers to report genome-edited products and distributors to label them as such. The scheme would also be of help to swiftly respond to unexpected risks.
Up until now, genetically engineered crops have mostly been developed by adding outside genes. Such products are required to undergo safety screenings and be labeled as genetically modified foods.
In genome-editing, meanwhile, specific genes in an existing DNA strand can be clipped out to stem their functions. It is also possible to open a space on a DNA strand to insert an outside gene.
Genome-edited food products mainly employ the former method, as seen in the development of tomatoes laden with substances that reduce blood pressure, red sea bream with increased muscle mass, and high-yield rice -- all for research purposes.
The government's latest decision excludes food products developed using this method from labeling regulations, while retaining the existing rules for produce grown by inserting foreign genes.
The government has made the labeling of genome-edited foodstuffs voluntary as gene disruptions giving rise to new breeds take place even in nature, and because it is impossible to verify the difference between edited and non-edited foodstuffs by analyzing their genomes. Therefore, producers will be encouraged but not required to report information on such edits.
However, Japan's policy is not entirely in step with the rest of the world. While the United States has similar rules, the European Court of Justice ruled that genome-edited foods -- even those without any inserted foreign genes -- are subject to the same regulations as genetically modified products.
Some experts in Japan also advocate making reporting on genome-edited items mandatory in order to clarify liability, as such products are "designed" according to makers' own aims.
Reporting of genome-edited foods will start in Japan next month. While observing how the filing of reports and the labeling of the products go, it is essential to keep considering rules that can best respect the consumers' right to make their own choices about eating edited foodstuffs.