Message from the Prime Minister
	June 2008 Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan

Distinguished Participants,

I am honored to offer my congratulations on the opening of the G8 University Summit in Japan, and to express my high expectations concerning the outcomes of this event.

Today global environmental issues have progressed beyond the stage of merely requiring discussion of their impact; they have become true problems that exert a major influence on our lifestyles and economic activities. Tackling these issues and building a sustainable society is an urgent task for humankind in the 21st century. The international community must join hands to address them on a global scale. G8 and other industrialized nations are called upon to play a central role in the resolution of the crisis that affects our planet, and the question of their contribution will be a key topic on the agenda of the Hokkaido Toyako Summit.

I understand that the G8 University Summit is an opportunity for universities from G8 and other nations around the world to gather ahead of the Hokkaido Toyako Summit and to search for ways to create a new society, while keeping in mind the unique economic, social, historical, and cultural conditions of each region in the world. This new society shall not only be a low-carbon, nature-friendly society; it will also be a recycling-oriented society in which water and food waste are recycled. This endeavor requires that research be promoted even further in various areas, that fields of knowledge be integrated and re-sculpted, and that new knowledge be generated for the building of a sustainable society.

At the same time, I believe “people” to be the most important element in developing a sustainable society. In order to make a sustainable future possible, we need to reform the entire socioeconomic system and encourage each and every person to change his or her understanding, values, and lifestyle. “Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)” has emerged as an important perspective that enables these kinds of changes. ESD was first proposed by Japan at the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002. Following its adoption in a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly, the concept has been promoted in countries throughout the world.

Universities are responsible for the integrated oversight of education and research. In these two areas, universities bear a very large responsibility with regard to global environmental issues, and it is highly expected to play an important role in those resolutions. In this perspective, the G8 University Summit is very timely as a first experiment in having universities that lead higher education and research in their nations gather together to discuss inter-university cooperation and partnerships on the theme of global sustainability.

In closing, I would like to express my hope that this G8 University Summit will result in fruitful discussions, and that efforts to create a sustainable society will be promoted in an even more dynamic way.