Kanagawa, Japan—To commemorate the International Day of Peace 2019, UPF-Japan, in partnership with the Youth and Students for Peace (YSP)-Japan, an affiliated organization, co-organized a cleanup at the Wada Nahama Beach along the Miura peninsula in Kanagawa prefecture, on September 15, 2019. Participating in the activity, which began at 8 a.m., were about 20 Ambassadors for Peace, members of the YSP and members of several local volunteer groups.
The volunteers picked up litter, from empty cans and plastic bottles to cigarette butts, that was strewn on the beach. Several “Peace Rangers,” the YSP-Japan’s mascot for cleaning projects, also participated in the activity to encourage families who were at the beach to join the cleanup.
The cleanup concluded with remarks by Mr. Kazunori Arase, vice secretary general of UPF-Japan, who spoke on the theme for this year’s Day, “Climate Action for Peace.” He emphasized the need to continue organizing local activities that promote environmental sustainability, and said: “Climate change is a serious challenge causing threats to peace and security. Housing damage caused by natural disasters is approximately three times as large as that caused by conflicts. Furthermore, food security is being endangered by the salinization* of water and crops. Under these circumstances, tensions are rising globally over resources.”
The United Nations has called on member states not to throw out plastic waste into the sea in support of the G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter, which was launched at the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth, held in Nagano prefecture, ahead of G20 Summit in Osaka, from June 28 to 29, 2019.
(*) The accumulation of salts in soil caused by the evaporation of water. It occurs in arid and semi-arid regions, and is one of the major causes of desertification.