• September 26, 2007

The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) is pleased to host the commemorative lectures by winners of the 2007 Blue Planet Award on October 19, 2007. This award recognizes scientific contributions to environmental issues. Winners are invited to NIES every year to address the researchers at NIES and other members of the Tsukuba community.

• Date: Friday, October 19, 2007
• Time: 1pm to 2:30pm
• Place: Conference Room (Climate Change Research Hall, 1st Floor) at the National Institute for Environmental Studies (16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba)
• Language: Both lectures will be given in English. There will be no simultaneous interpretation.
• Cost: This event is free but requires pre-registration.

Please send an email to b-planet@nies.go.jp by October 12 if you would like to attend.

---

The National Institute of Environmental Studies is located on Nishi Odori, just north of the intersection of Nishi Odori and Route 354. (The intersection is named "Inarimae".) From Tsukuba Center, drive south on Nishi Odori, past Minami Odori and Doho Park (which will be on your left). Continue south past the west campus of the National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST West) on your right and the Meteorological Research Institute on your left. At the following intersection, turn right (you will see a Coco's restaurant on your left). If you reach Route 354, you have gone too far.

Map:http://www.nies.go.jp/gaiyo/kotu/index-e.html

The Climate Change Research Hall is located inside the NIES Campus. Immediately after you enter the main gate, turn right. Follow the road north. The first building you encounter will be the Climate Change Research Hall. The lectures will be held on the first floor of that building.

2007 Winners: Professor Joseph L. Sax (U.S.A.) and Dr. Amory B. Lovins (U. S.A.)

See: http://www.af-info.or.jp/eng/honor/hot/enr2007.html

This year marks the 16th awarding of the Blue Planet Prize, the international environmental award sponsored by the Asahi Glass Foundation, chaired by Hiromichi Seya. Two Blue Planet Prizes are awarded to individuals or organizations each year that make outstanding achievements in scientific research and its application, and in so doing help to solve global environmental problems. The Board of Directors and Councillors select the recipients each year. Both recipients are awarded a certificate of merit, a commemorative trophy and a supplementary award of 50 million yen.

Professor Joseph L. Sax (U.S.A.)
Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
Professor Sax has been and still is the leading environmental law scholar in the United States and the world, and is a pioneer of various environmental laws in the U.S. such as the law on water rights, the development of citizens-right litigation strategies, and environmental impact assessment laws. In particular, he is famous for the Michigan Environment Protection Act, popularly known as the "Sax Act," the world’s first modern environmental law drafted on the basis of public trust doctrine. And not only in the United States, but also internationally, he has supported many governments and multi-national organizations such as the United Nations, has been influential in the development of theory on environmental protection for international law and has articulated many ideas on issues in international environmental law. Recently, he has been serving important roles in and making active contributions to not only the protection of the environment but also of cultural properties, arguing the need for the implementation of public trust doctrine in the protection of cultural treasures and historical and archaeological resources.

Dr. Amory B. Lovins (U.S.A.)
Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute
For the last 40 years and through his work in more than 50 countries, Dr. Lovins has contributed to the efficient use of energy and the transition to renewable energy sources in order to protect the global environment. Since the 1970s, when he first advocated the concept of the “soft energy path” that forms the basis of these objectives, he has consistently advocated and implemented pioneering ideas in energy and other fields. Among his achievements is the invention of the ultralight, ultra-energy-efficient Hypercar devised for significant reduction of the burden on the natural environment and the design of buildings with little or no net use of energy. In co-authored works Factor Four: Doubling Wealth?Halving Resource Use (1997) and Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (1999) showed how to double wealth and halve resource use by quadrupling resource productivity (production of goods and services per unit of resource input), and the importance of natural resources and the ecosystem. The broad reach of his activities shows the way towards resolving today’s intricately intertwined issues of energy, environment, resources, development, and security.