Every year, people around the global celebrate World Environment Day on June 5, as designated by the United Nations. In Japan, June 5 is Environment Day and the month of June is Environment Month, in accordance with the country’s Basic Environment Law. In June— Olympus Environment Month— we conduct activities to heighten awareness of our environment as a matter of extreme importance to global society. This year we will celebrate our 41st Olympus Environment Month.
Looking at recent events regarding the environment, the Paris Agreement was adopted at COP21 (Note 1) in Paris last year. The Paris Agreement has set the challenging global target of reducing the de facto emission of greenhouse gases to zero by the second half of this century, or more precisely, suppressing emissions from human activities to a level that can be absorbed by forests and other natural ecosystems. The signatories agreed to promote measures that combat global warming. During the conference, the participants also vigorously discussed how to regulate chemicals more strictly and use resources more effectively. As these developments indicate, the earth’s environmental needs are mounting rapidly.