G20 Summit was held in Osaka, Japan. (Image via Japan Times)

G-20 Summit: Stop Blaming Japan

Toska Dhia Andana
Politics & Economic
Politics
Jul 01, 2019
2493
Fingers are pointed at Japan during this year’s G-20 summit. It is because Japan is a part of Group of Seven. G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and USA. Being the only Asian country that is included in G7, other countries are protesting regarding how Japan handles the trash problem. Asian countries are currently facing hardships over trash, especially Southeast Asia countries.

Previously, Japan revealed that they want to become Southeast Asia’s trash manager. Japan stated they will provide personal training, waste disposal systems, and recycling for Southeast Asia countries. Many Southeast Asia countries do not have advanced recycling and waste management industries, which is why Japan offered those services.

That is not Japan’s only problem, though. China currently created a ban on further imports of plastic trash shipments. With Japan being a part of G-7, they had to contend with the ban—joining developed nations in the west. The consequence is that it will damage Japan’s relation with China.

However, the trash problem is definitely not Japan’s only problem—in fact, it’s a global problem that needs to be solved together. It is reported that U.S. is number one in creating plastic waste, followed by Japan on the second rank. Therefore, an agreement of reducing plastic waste needs to be discussed by countries around the world. Without having agreement about plastic waste, it would be hard to eliminate the excessive usage of plastics.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robkaplan/2019/06/29/stop-trashing-japan-at-the-g-20-for-our-ocean-trash-problem/#487d367889b5

Japan , G20Summit , G20 , G7 , Abe , Plastic