Drug Use Leading to "Silent Ecocide"
Cocaine Linked to Deforestation, Loss of Biodiversity
Photo: Bosque de Niebla, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Kindly provided by Jenni Contreras.
2008.10.28 • The production of one gram of cocaine requires the destruction of four square metres of forest, Colombian vice president Francisco Santos said at UNU today, and creates an estimated 625 grams of waste and 200 millilitres of contaminated water which are dumped straight into the environment.
Vice President Francisco Santos speaking at UNU. Photo: Curtis Christophersen/UNU.
In an astonishing lecture that reframed the dangers of cocaine in stark terms, Santos demonstrated the devastating effects that cocaine production has on the environment of Colombia, the second most biologically diverse country in the world after Brazil. Colombia, he said, was only a trafficking route prior to 1990 when production, following market forces, then moved up the route to be closer to consumers. He warned that equatorial Africa, which has become a major route into European markets (Britain and Spain now have prevalence rates of usage as high or higher than the US) could suffer the same fate as Colombia and become a centre of production.
In addition to the "silent ecocide" caused by cocaine, Santos also called its production a major threat to democracy in the region.
The vice president was speaking on the concept of Shared Responsibility, an internationally recognised principle that calls for all parties affected by the global problem of illicit drugs to joint action. The event was organised by the Inter-American Development Bank, the Embassy of Colombia, and United Nations University.
Watch the lecture on UNU's video portal:
Download the vice president's presentation:
Shared Resonsibility presentation (1.6 MB PDF)
Visit the Shared Responsibility website:
Learn More:
Shared Responsibility: Colombia’s proposal against illicit drugs (512 KB PDF)
The world drug problem seen through a green lens (224 KB PDF)
World Drug Report 2008
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Climate Change: What We Can Do
UN Day is October 24
Rector Konrad Osterwalder:
What price an environment bailout?
Japan Times, October 24 2008
All must innovate in this time of climate change
Asahi Shimbun, July 4 2008
UNU and Climate Change
A new section of the site launched on UN Day 2008 which will provide access to UNU activities on climate change.
Despite an unseasonal driving rain that kept the outdoor events undercover at UNU Headquarters, almost 500 people attended this year's UN Day celebrations in Tokyo. Coincidentally or not, the theme of UN Day was "Climate Change: What We Can Do" and the weather only helped to underscore the topic.
Climate change, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is the defining challenge of our time. This year's UN Day seminar, which featured representatives from UNHCR, WHO, UNDP, UNU, and the World Bank, was intended to help the public better understand the range of activities by which the UN and its agencies is addressing the many problems of climate change.
In a video address to seminar attendees, Mr. Ban called for leadership to respond to the challenge. UNU rector, Konrad Osterwalder, wrote in a Japan Times article published to coincide with UN Day that "we must not let the current economic troubles distract us from the larger problems and responsibilities facing us," and asked, in light of the financial crisis, "why should we accept even greater failures of leadership when it comes to climate change, where the stakes are so much higher?"
As the world prepares for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań in December (1–12 December 2008) and we move from discussion to negotiation mode, such questions are by no means merely rhetorical.
Cool Biz of the Year 2008
UNU Rector Accepts Cool Biz Award for UN
UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder accepts a Cool Biz of the Year 2008 award from Hiroko Koshino. At right is actor Tetsuya Bessho who also received an award. Photo: Jeremy Hedley/UNU.
2008.10.07 • UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder accepted a Cool Biz of the Year 2008 award today on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the United Nations' "Cool UN" initiative.
The award was given to the UN for its role in serving as a model for Cool Biz outside Japan. During the month of August the thermostat in parts of the UN Headquarters building was raised nearly 3 degrees celsius to 25°, reducing the building's carbon emmissions by an estimated 300 tons and saving $100,000 in electricity costs.
It was the first time for UN Headquarters to experiment with the Cool Biz concept, which was initiated in Japan by then-Minister of the Environment Yuriko Koike in 2005. Ms. Koike participated in the awards ceremony as representative of the Cool Biz Promotion Council.
Accepting the award from renowned fashion designer Hiroko Koshino, whose designs have embraced the Cool Biz concept since the inception of the campaign, Rector Osterwalder read a statement from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon which urged nations to put aside their country positions and face a global collective responsibility to our children and the generations of the future.
In Tokyo, where the summers can be particularly hot and humid, UNU Headquarters has been practicing Cool Biz since the beginning of the campaign 3 years ago, setting the building thermostat to 28° in the summer. Energy costs are likewise saved in the winter by keeping the thermostat low.
Climate change poses ‘defining challenge’ of our time, Ban says (UN.org)
Cool United Nations (OurWorld 2.0)
Cool Biz Campaign (Wikipedia)
Ageing into the 21st Century
The Wisdom Years
Master weaver Yasujiro Yamaguchi, 103 years old, works at his loom in this scene from The Wisdom Years.
2008.10.02 • The UNU is delighted to announce the launch of a new website devoted the topic of ageing in Japan. Produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization Centre for Health Development, the Wisdom Years project includes a video documentary and online case study that examines how scientific breakthroughs and a high quality of life are working to improve health and prolong the lives of our elders.
On 12 September, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published a report today indicating that the number of Japanese aged 100 and over has increased to 36,276 in 2008. That is 3,981 more than last year. Also, as of March 2008, the number of people over the age of 65 has reached 21.6% of the population. This places Japan at the forefront of a global ageing trend. How Japan copes with this social transformation will have important lessons for countries across the globe.
The first public screening of the documentary in Tokyo took place at the UNU Peace and Creativity Salon on 26th September 2008.
Global University Network for Innovation
GUNI Interview with Konrad Osterwalder
2008.09.26 • Earlier in the year UNU rector Konrad Osterwalder participated in the 4th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education on "new challenges and emerging roles for human and social development" held at the Technical University of Catalonia.
Rector Osterwalder was interviewed by GUNI about the new approaches of UNU to strengthen developed and developing countries’ higher education and research and how to address issues such as globalisation and mass higher education, and a video of the interview has been posted.
Interview with Konrad Osterwalder
New from UNU Press
Making Choices about Hydrogen: Transport Issues for Developing Countries
Edited by Lynn K. Mytelka and Grant Boyle
As a disruptive technology, dominant designs for the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen have not yet been established. Nor have performance characteristics been achieved that would make hydrogen proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells competitive with the existing combustion engine. Yet, costs are coming down and the efficiency and durability of hydrogen fuel cells are improving. How to deal with competing arguments that push the hydrogen economy into the longer term (2050) and those that place its advent in a shorter-term perspective (2020) is one key issue for developing countries today as they explore their options for the design of national energy, environment and transport policies.
Download the UNU Press 2007-2008 catalogue
(1.8 MB PDF)
Global Seminar Series
UNU Global Seminars are held annually in Japan and abroad in an effort to increase awareness and enhance understanding of contemporary global issues and the role of the United Nations. This aim is achieved through close interaction of students and young professionals with scholars and experts working in the UNU's global networks.
International Courses
The UNU International Courses (UNU/IC) are organized annually for a select group of postgraduate students and professionals in various occupations in Japan and abroad who wish to pursue careers in international fields in public-service or private organizations
U Thant Lectures
The U Thant Distinguished Lecture Series is a forum through which eminent thinkers and world leaders speak on the role of the United Nations in addressing the challenges facing the world's peoples and nations in the twenty-first century.
UNU Library
The UNU Library plays a vital role in support of dissemination of the knowledge gained in UNU activities and assists learning and research through information resources.
UNU Video Portal
Tune in to UNU events as they happen, and on-demand. Recent additions to the UNU Video Portal:
- 15th U Thant Lecture by Abdoulaye Wade
- UNU G8 Sympsoium: Innovation in the Time of Climate Change
- G8 Dialogue with David Runnals: Climate Change and World Trade
Financial Assistance
The UNU Financial Assistance Programme is implemented by UNU with the generous assistance of the Government of Japan and JBIC which provides reimbursable funds to self-financed students from developing countries studying at junior colleges and universities in Japan.
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Page last modified 2008.10.30.
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