Advisory Recommendations and Report of the Commission on Global Governance was presented to the Diet Committee for World Federalist Movement at the International Conference Hall of the Diet Members First Building in Tokyo. Please click here for the report.
Chair of the Japan Commission for Global Governance, Professor Sukehiro HASEGAWA accompanied by Mr. Masakuni TANIMOTO submitted its summary report, entitled “the role of Japan in enhancing global governance in addressing global issues and crises” which contained the recommendations made by six sub-committees concerning UN Reform, Environment, Disarmament, Parliamentary Diplomacy, Innovative Resources Mobilization, and Rule of Law.
Senior Vice Rector Taikan OKI and Advisor of Alexandria Library Professor Kazuo TAKAHASHI chaired the last session of the Committee on Environment held at the No.5 Conference Room of the Diet Members` First Building on January 16, 2020.
The second meeting of the Global Governance Commission Sub-Committee on UN Reform chaired by Professor Takahiro SHINYO was joined by three members of the Diet of Japan. They were Mr. Masaharu NAKAWAGA, former Minister of Education, Mr. Masahiko SHIBAYAMA, former Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shinzo ABE on UN peace operations and former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Mr. Akira SATO, Member of the House of Representatives and former Senior Vice Minister of Defense. The meeting was also participated by scholars and experts including Professor Yasuhiro UEKI of Sophia University who was a United Nations Spokesman and an international expert on UN reform matters, Dr, Vesselin POPOVSKI, Professor and Vice Dean, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Haryana, India. (This summary report was filed by Fujiko Amano, Maja Liechti and Amishi Agrawal)
In his opening remarks of the Global Governance Promotion Committee’s opinion exchange meeting held on September 18, 2019 at the Office Building of the Members of the House of Representatives, Mr. Masaharu Nakagawa, the Secretary-General of the World Federation of Japan’s Diet Committee and member of the House of Representatives, said he was looking for a proposal that could be pursued towards the realization of federalist ideals. He suggested the desire to further develop this Federation of Legislators as one of the mainstream options in Japan. For that purpose, he wished to harness the wisdom of top Japanese leaders and found the significance of holding consultation meetings. Climate change which is inducing the emergence of typhoons, crops damages with adverse impact on food security, changes in ocean currents, etc. must be assessed on a global scale, as well as disarmament and monetary policy that are today’s challenges He stressed the need to examine the respective issues from global perspectives. And disarmament which is the subject of today discussion, and monetary policy has to be considered for global implications. He expressed the view that the basics such as the current economic balance has collapsed. There are many urgent issues for humankind that the countries of the world must deal with in any way, but there is a sense of crisis regarding the politics running in the nationalistic direction in the countries of the world. The political parties that have advocated the middle of the road approach have lost in recent elections. In such a situation, he hoped that this Japan Commission of Global Governance would be successful so that information can be sent out from Japan with a view to the state of humankind in 20-30 years ahead. He said he would like to hear the opinions of the attendees reflecting not only their academic but also political perspectives.
Keynote Lecture was delivered by Takahiro SHINYO, Professor of Kwansei Gakuin University and Former Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York; Panel Discussants were Professor Kiyotaka KAWABATA of Fukuoka Women’s University and Ms. Chikako HIROSE, former director of the United Nations Center for Regional Development in Nagoya.
With the establishment of the Japan Commission on Global Governance, it was decided to hold meetings to hold discussions by experts on respective fields. They agreed to exchange views with members of the Parliamentary Committee members. The areas covered six areas including UN reform, rule of law, international solidarity tax, environment, disarmament, and SDGs. Group-wide recommendations would be submitted to the Parliamentary Committee in March 2020. (Masakuni Tanimoto, Executive Director)
Argentine legislator Fernando Iglesias, co-chair of the World Federation Movement International Office (WFM), proposed the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly as a concrete action to make the United Nations a more democratic organization. President Seishiro Eto, indicated that to achieve world peace the Diet of Japan created the Parliamentary Committee for World Federation on as early as December 20, 1949. Chairman of the House of Representatives Komakichi Matsuoka was appointed as Chairman and Member of the House of Councilors Kotaro Tanaka as Vice-Chairman by a group of 104 bipartisan members of the Diet. He explained that about 100 members of bipartisan members have joined the Parliamentary Committee which aims at realizing the World Federation by building democratic governance.
The Japanese Parliamentary Commission for World Federation (JPCWF), composed of bipartisan members of the Japanese Diet, was held on May 15, 2019 in the Conference Room of the House of Councilors. Mr. Seishirō ETO, the chairman of the Parliamentary Commission, gave opening remarks and briefings for the General Assembly, and Ms. Kuniko INOGUCHI, the standing member of the Parliamentary Commission, acted as a moderator. Major political parties were represented by senior members who included Mr. Bunmei IBUKI of the Liberal Democratic Party and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Tetsuro FUKUYAMA, Secretary-General of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Mr. Yuichiro TAMAKI, the Leader of the Democratic Party for the People (DPFP), Mr. Masahiko INOUE, Vice President of the Komeito, Mr. Akira SAKAI, Japanese Communist Party Policy Chairman, and Ms. Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, Social Democratic Party Policy Chairperson. Mr. Masahiko SHIBAYAMA, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology provided his comments. The Japan Commission on Global Governance (JCG) was then established, and former United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative Sukehiro Hasegawa was appointed its chairman.