Professor Masahiko Horie, Japanese Ambassador for Global Environment Affairs, gives public lecture at Curtin Sarawak

Miri – 29 August 2014 – Over 100 students and academics of Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), as well as members of the public, attended a public lecture on ‘International Negotiations on Global Environmental Issues’ by Professor Masahiko Horie, Japanese Ambassador for Global Environment Affairs, at the campus today.

In his lecture, Professor Horie spoke at length about the current international situation with regards to the environment and negotiations to address global environmental issues in different arenas under the auspices of the United Nations.

According to Professor Horie, the world is now at a crossroad and needs to take decisive action to overcome issues related to nature, environmental conservation and global warming. It needs to pursue sustainable development and formulate a new framework agreement for climate change by the year 2015.

He talked about world population growth, and how it took all of human history for the population to reach one billion, a little over a century to reach two billion, and then exploded to four billion in just 45 years. He showed how this massive population growth has caused global climate change, particularly through excessive CO2 emissions, and outlined how the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the various accords and agreements that have been adopted have sought to address this issue.

Professor Horie gave an example of how Japan has successfully regulated its industrial sector and ensured that energy consumption has more or less remained constant despite significant GDP growth over the last 34 years. As a result, Japan currently ranks among the lowest in terms of primary energy supply per GDP unit in the world, far below the world average and performing better than countries such as China, India, the United States, France, Germany and Britain.

He also talked about Japan’s commitment to supporting mitigation and adaptation programmes in developing countries through various schemes such as loans, grants, technical cooperation and private finance, towards the realisation of low carbon growth in the world.

He went on to elaborate how various countries are committing to reducing CO2 emissions by 2020, and how difficult it is to get other countries to do the same. He also said there was a gap between the level of ambition and long-term targets of countries, and a need to consolidate the efforts of various negotiation groups under the UNFCCC.

As a prominent former diplomat, including a former ambassador to Malaysia, and academic in the area of global environmental affairs, Professor Horie has held positions in various organisations around the world.

In 1973, he entered the Economic Integration Division of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1978, joined the International Treaty Bureau. In 1983, he was appointed Special Assistant to Yasushi Akashi, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations followed by a stint as the Director of the Technical Cooperation Division, and later Director of the Aid Policy Division, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1995 and 1996.

In 1998, he was appointed Minister at the Embassy of Japan in France, and in 2002, Director-General for International Affairs at the Japan Defense Agency in addition to Chairman of the Tokyo Defense Forum. His diplomatic career continued with appointments as Ambassador to the State of Qatar (2004), Ambassador to Malaysia (2007), and Ambassador of Global Environmental Affairs (2011).

His latest appointments include Special Assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of the 48th International Tropical Timber Council (2012), and Councillor, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Advisory Board Member, United Nations ‘Sustainable Energy for All’ (2013). In addition, he is a professor at three Japanese universities – Meiji University, Kyoto University and Tsukuba University.

In addition to holding Bachelor and Master degrees in Economics from Osaka University and Tulane University, and a Bachelor of Law from Osaka University, he also attended the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (EEC) in France.

Professor Horie, who was accompanied by his wife, was in Miri at the invitation of Tan Sri Peter Chin Fah Kui, the former Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water and former Member of Parliament for Miri. Chin also attended the lecture, along with Sarawak Assistant Minister of Communication and Assistant Minister of Sport, Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who is also the chair of Curtin Sarawak’s management board.

Among the university staff attending were Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski and other senior management staff and academics of the university.

Professor Horie delivering his lecture.

Tan Sri Peter Chin, seated with Datuk Lee and Professor Mienczakowski, asking a question in Q&A session.

Professor Mienczakowski presenting Professor Horie a souvenir as Tan Sri Chin, Mrs Horie and Datuk Lee look on.

Professor Horie with students who attended the lecture.