The  European  Delegation  2014

Markus Gleim, Hussam Hussein, Esther Kim, Noaman Mangera, Ronald Metschies, Leon Oberbaeumer, Serena Pozza, Julia Prommegger, Manolis Ulbricht, Luca Vanzini, Paris Verginis

Table  of  contents   Project  overview  and  purpose  ...........................................................................................  3  

Participants  ........................................................................................................................  5  

The  field  trip  to  Japan  ........................................................................................................  9  

Lessons  learned  and  outlook  ...........................................................................................  11  

Appendix  ..........................................................................................................................  13  

a.   Schedule  online  pre-­‐conference  seminar  ..............................................................  13  

b.   Schedule  Program  at  HPAIR  ...................................................................................  14  

c.   Schedule  online  post-­‐conference  seminar  ............................................................  15  

d.   Full  position  papers  ...............................................................................................  16  

1.   Corporate  Social  Responsibility  of  Law  Firms  .....................................................  16  

2.   Rediscovering  cultural  Asia  in  the  21st  Century  .................................................  20  

3.   Fukushima  and  Media  ........................................................................................  22  

4.   Abenomics  -­‐  Womenomics  .................................................................................  25  

5.   Ecosystem  Services  as  Currency  for  Environmental  Actions  ..............................  27  

6.   Human  Rights  –  Gender  Problem  in  Asia  ...........................................................  30  

Project overview and purpose   The project European Delegation was initiated in 2012 by a group of four students and young professionals who wished to create an opportunity for young Europeans to discuss global issues with a focus on the increasing importance of Asia. The initiative responded to the need for an educational program focused on Asia at a European level, paying special attention to the discussion of a desirable European foreign policy with regards to Asia.

This desire arose after discussions on Europe and the role of European youth. Europe stands at a crossroads. Whilst the potential breakup of the Eurozone is no longer a looming threat, anaemic growth and competitiveness gaps continue to strain the continent and turn our political leaders into inward looking decision makers. Europe needs its society, and especially the young generation, to become actors of change and to effectively engage with fast-growing and dynamic economies in order to ensure Europe’s future as a strong and successful player on the world stage. If we fail to do so, Europe will fall behind in this age of global competition. Asia is of growing importance for global political and economic developments. And yet, decision makers in Europe often engage too little with, and without nuanced consideration for, Asia. We – a group of students and young professionals – are determined to change that.

In 2014, the European Delegation consisted of a group of eleven students and young professionals from various disciplines and five different European countries: Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The centerpiece of the group`s program in both years was their participation in the annual Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) conference, where the group's mission was to contribute a European voice among the much more strongly represented delegates from Asia and the US. In 2014, the project was focused on “Tradition vs. Innovation – the Case of Energy and Environment” in Japan, since Tokyo is where HPAIR Asia 2014 was held. The delegates of the European Delegation were selected during a rigorous application process and participated in an online educational program in July and the Japan during the summer of 2014. The delegates met during the online pre-conference in July and in September for the online post-conference seminar to build knowledge about “Tradition vs. Innovation – the Case of Energy and Environment” in Japan, and to finish a peer project paper, respectively. The peer project paper is the tangible outcome of the group's work and presents issues related to “Tradition vs. Innovation – the Case of Energy and Environment” in Japan and thoughts on Europe's role in their solution. The participants discussed and prepared the papers during the Japan conference, partnering with a peer from a Japanese institution, and then presented their findings during the online post-conference to the other members of the delegation. The major part of the technical work was conducted during the trip of the group to Japan in August of 2014. The program in Japan was split into two parts: a self-organized delegation program and participation in the HPAIR Asia 2014 conference. These two parts happened at the

same time during the five days in Japan. During the self-organized part of the delegation, the delegation visited Tokyo and got familiar with the local culture, history, and cuisine. This was a social moment that helped in building the European Delegation team and European spirit. In this part of the program, the members were encouraged to meet up with their peer project partners, who represented young leaders from several Japanese institutions from civil society and business, most of whom active in the fields of sustainability, economics, media, and energy production. In these meetings, the members started to exchange views and discuss topics of their academic and professional interests, starting a constructive dialogue that materialized in the peer project papers. The HPAIR Asia conference offered the delegates the opportunity to participate in panels and talks around different streams of their interest, such as security, media, entrepreneurship, finance, human rights, environment and energy. Whereas the focus of the delegation program was distinctly on Europe, the HPAIR conference with 500 delegates from mostly Asia and the US added the additional perspective of reflecting on Europe's role on a global scale. HPAIR is the largest student conference in Asia, with over 100 speakers per year and a 20-year old history. The project European Delegation was supported by the BMW Foundation. In the following sections the participants of the European Delegation 2014 are introduced, the trip to Japan is recounted in more detail, and the peer project papers are presented. The report concludes with lessons learned and an outlook on the future of the project.

Participants

Markus Gleim Markus Gleim studied Economics, Politics and East Asian Studies at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, Tongji University Shanghai and National Taiwan University. During his studies, he gained work experience at Mercator Foundation, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and Analyse Asia GmbH. At present, he is reading the MPhil in Management at Judge Business School, Cambridge University. While in Cambridge, he worked with Google on a go-to-market strategy for its Chromebook division. After finishing his degree this summer, Markus will intern at Procter & Gamble London as a Summer Analyst in their finance department. He is interested in the topics of technology transfer between Europe and Asia as well as social entrepreneurship in East Asia and its impact on regional development.

Hussam Hussein Hussam Hussein is currently a postgraduate researcher at the School of International Development at the University of East Anglia, UK, working on climate change discourses and transboundary water management. After his studies in international relations and diplomacy at the University of Trieste-Gorizia (Italy), at SOAS (London), and at the College of Europe, Hussam worked for the European Parliament, the Italian Embassy in Amman, the NGO Friends of the Earth Middle East, and the London Middle East Institute. Hussam has also been working as a private sector development analyst for IFC-World Bank, in Washington DC.

Esther Kim Esther Kim is currently a trainee at Hogan Lovells International in Brussels in the Antitrust,

Competition and Economic Regulation practice. She holds a Master in European Law from the College of Europe and completed her Bachelors in European Law at Maastricht University and at the University of Rennes I, France. Previous work experience include work at the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission, the EU law practice at White & Case, the Korean Embassy and Mission to the EU in Belgium, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and C&L INT GmbH.

Noaman Mangera Noaman is currently working as an English language teacher in the province of Gangwon-do, Korea. Prior to this, he studied Management at Kingston Business School, which included academic and professional engagements abroad in Spain, at the University of Zaragoza, and in Tanzania respectively, where he worked on economic empowerment with a local NGO. Further engagements have also seen him involved in a pilot program aimed at reducing truancy levels in inner-city schools. Furthermore, Massive Open Online Courses have helped furnish his interest in Sustainable Development and it is an area he is keen on pursuing further, possibly into postgraduate study.

Ronald Metschies Ronald Metschies is currently working for the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) on the promotion of green economic development in the Philippines. He holds a Master of Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance and a BA in Politics and American Studies from the University of Nottingham. Further academic engagements include his studies at Linköpings University in Sweden and the University of Tokyo. He gained work experience at the Worldcentre of Peace, Liberty and Human Rights in France, the German Ministry of Economy and the Federation of German Industries.

Leon Oberbaeumer Leon Daiske Oberbaeumer is currently studying Master of Public Policy (MPP) at Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. Before coming to Hertie for his graduate degree, he studied Politics, Economics and East Asian Studies at Ruhr University Bochum. During his studies he went a year to International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo before taking part in an Erasmus program to study at University of Lyon 3 in France. His main focus for his undergraduate as well as for his graduate program is foreign policy and diplomacy, especially in East Asia. In addition, he is also interested in current topics in conflict management and negotiation.

Serena Pozza Serena is a young professional driven by a fascination for International Affairs, Sustainable Development and Social Entrepreneurship. After earning a Master Degree in International Political Economy at the University of Warwick (UK) Serena has worked on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the Delegation of the European Commission in China and since three years she is working in the Europe Team at the Centre for Regional Strategies at the World Economic Forum in Geneva (Switzerland).

Julia Prommegger Julia studied Business Administration at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business and Food Industry Sciences at Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. At present, she is finishing her International Business Masters Degree at the University of St Andrews, where she focuses on strategic leadership in European businesses operating in China. Julia worked at the Foreign Trade Office of the Austrian Trade Commission in New York and gained further work experience in the advertising and insurance industry. Her voluntary engagements comprised

assisting at the EU UN-Procurement Seminar 2013 and social projects of the Rotaract Club.

Manolis Ulbricht Manolis studied Islamic Studies, Theology and History in Athens and Berlin. Starting in 2010 he spent two years in Damascus, Syria, in order to conduct research for his PhD thesis on Muslim-Christian polemics. He is currently writing his dissertation, working as Research Fellow at the Free University in Berlin and thanks to support from a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation. He is specifically interested in the political, social and security developments in the Arabic world, which are highly relevant for Europe’s foreign policy strategy.

Luca Vanzini Luca Vanzini studied Business & Economics at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, Italy and at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Currently, he’s finishing is M.Sc. of Finance at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, where he took the concentration in Development Finance. During his studies, he gained work experience at the FS-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance and at FSFS GmbH, an alternative asset manager. Beyond his professional interest in alternative finance (microfinance, climate finance and energy finance first), he is an avid reader interested in international environment. In his latest professional assignment, Luca worked closely with several Asian MFIs which are trying to support sustainable development in their countries.

Paris Verginis Paris currently studies Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Technical University of Athens. Apart from his studies, he is very passionate about Asian cultures and the Chinese in particular. He has been studying Mandarin for five years and passed his HSK exams with the highest scores in Greece. After finishing his degree in Greece this summer, he will move on to pursue his dream of becoming an acclaimed translator by reading Chinese and Translation Studies at Beijing Language and Culture University. His ultimate goal is to facilitate communication and collaboration between Europe and Asia through his passion for languages.

The field trip to Japan The tour to Tokyo is the centerpiece of the European Delegation project. The program of the delegation consists of two parts: a delegation program with peer students and young professionals including a tour of the city and the participation in the HPAIR Asia 2014 conference. During the delegation program we were introduced to Japanese culture, history, and traditions. The HPAIR Asia conference provided the delegation with the opportunity to reflect on Europe's global role amidst the largest Harvard conference in Asia with over 100 speakers and 500 delegates. Our first day in Japan was an introduction to Japanese capital city, with a tour to the main features and sightseeing of the city. Through visits to Meiji-jingu, Tokyo’s most impressive Shinto shrine, we were immersing in history of Japanese history and culture. Our Japanese peer partners explained us its history, and how this fits in the current modern Japanese culture. Visiting the district of Roppongi, with its high art and culture, the pulsing pedestrian traffic cross of Shibuya, the famous Akira area, famous for the films of Akira Kurosawa, and Akihabara, famous for electronics, manga, and anime, it was a unique experience. In fact, this short visit showed us how traditions and culture can co-exist and foster the modern, technological face of the Japanese culture. We were introduced to these different faces of Tokyo, and it was a perfect way to start the cultural trip of the European Delegation 2014. In the evening, Leon, one of the delegates who is familiar with Japanese culture, traditions, and language, guided us to a local traditional restaurant, and introduced us to local cuisine, Japanese etiquette, and culture. This first day, it was hectic but very useful in order to have a general picture of Japan, and current reflections on European history, culture, and modernization were made. This year, the HPAIR conference was held in the Tokyo International Forum area. As in the years before the discussions revolved around the challenges of rising Asia. Subtopics included Energy and Environment, Health Care, Law, Strategic management, Media, Security, and Entrepreneurship. The program of the conference was split into Panel sessions, Plenary sessions, and Seminar sessions. As each delegate participated at different sessions, it is hard to summarize the vast intercultural experiences and extensive discussions that have been enabled through the international conference. However, the delegation met every day to exchange views on what they experienced in the day. This meetings were very useful because they gave the opportunity to all delegates to keep updated about the discussions hold in the other panels and sessions. It was also a way to keep the interaction among the European delegation members going and the continuous reflection on the role of Europe alive. What stays with every single delegate is a feeling of shared responsibilities for the problems that mankind as a collective faces. Problems like climate change do not stop at national boundaries. They challenge Europeans as well as Asians and thus an international response is necessary. On the HPAIR conference, young individuals who are engaged and eager to contribute to society had the opportunity to discuss their vision and dreams with their peers. Coming from diverse cultural backgrounds and educational systems, they were forced to develop a common language to coordinate.

Delegates of the European Delegation 2014 at the opening ceremony We, as members of the European Delegation have felt the momentum of ascending Asia. It is critical to think about Europe's future role in Asia. What interests should Europe articulate with respect to Asia? We hope that our ideas, as they are articulated in the position paper, are able to contribute to the European project, and to enrich the discussions related to Europe and Asia with bold and fresh ideas.

Lessons learned and outlook The European Delegation seeks to familiarize young Europeans with the growing importance of Asia and its role in overcoming international problems; and further, hopes to contribute to the solution of specific problems that affect a region in Asia and to suggest a desirable role for European foreign policy in their solution. The two interconnected goals of the European Delegation therefore are to educate and to contribute to the solution of global problems. In this final section of the project report we would like to assess in how far those goals have been achieved. The first goal has been fully met with the European Delegation 2014, as well as in 2013 and 2012. The participants acquired a good overview of key interconnections of sustainability challenges, and the co-existence of modernity and traditions in Japan in a relatively short period of time. Most members of the group had a professional connection to sustainable development in energy and environment, as well as technology, traditions, and innovation, and were able to discuss at a fairly deep technical level issues that came up in meetings during the program, as well as with each other during the course of the project. As in 2012 and 2013, the program received very positive reviews from the participants. Also the opportunity to meet each other virtually during the Skype meeting had in July was valued very positively, as it gave an opportunity to discuss issues with our host speaker Akira, Director of the World Economic Forum in Japan, and among the participants. The fact that everyone had 5-10 minutes to introduce a topic he/she is familiar with (from academic or professional expertise) allowed people to better understand the variety of backgrounds of the other members. The HPAIR conference was viewed well, especially because of its multiculturality and high-level speakers. Participants who sought an introduction to an area of interest were mostly satisfied, however, overall some logistical aspects of the HPAIR conference were criticized. However, in the feedback session emerged a general interest to continue the project towards the HPAIR Asia 2015 edition. The second goal to contribute to the solution of global problems has been partially met. The delegates identified and conceptualized a number of pressing issues in Japan and obstacles to their solution. While there was no thematic direction in 2012, and in 2013 the topic of “sustainability” was chosen, last year it still was difficult for the delegation to write a common policy paper, given that the topic was still very broad. In fact, the topic of “sustainability” however was still relatively broad, and a position paper written by the entire, interdisciplinary delegation did not allow for deeper work in a specific area at the level of an academic or policy paper. Therefore, for the 2014 edition it was chosen to narrow further the topic of the 2013 edition, and we focused on “Tradition vs. Innovation – the Case of Energy and Environment”, which allowed for a specific focus within sustainability on energy and environment, capturing the tension between tradition and innovation at the same time. As emerged, for the 2014 edition we believed there was a need for a change in the format of the outcome. Therefore, we opted for an individual work, partnering with a peer from a Japanese university.

The process of writing the paper with a peer from the host university or from a Japanese institution was an excellent decision and experience as it allowed to inter-cultural discussions on topics of expertise of the two peers, and an opportunity for long term professional and academic collaborations. In addition, it was a good way to better get an insights in Japanese academic and professional way of seeing and solving problems, and it was mutually beneficial for the European and for the Japanese partner. Finally, reporting about the outcome of the project to the other European delegates during the online post-conference had in September it was appreciated as it allowed for spaces to further explore through questions and answers specific topics already discussed during the HPAIR conference in Japan. The current format of a peer project paper with a presentation and discussion during the post-conference resulted to be a suitable exercise to trigger discussions among the participants and to document key aspects of what they have learned, focusing on their field of expertise. In summary, the concept of the European Delegation 2014 has proven that it fulfills a need in the education of young Europeans with an interest in Asia and in European foreign policy with regards to Asia. The high number of applications and the level of interest among HPAIR participants and hosts in Tokyo in the project attest to that. The program is well-suited to convey knowledge to participants and to spark discussions with experts, fellow conference participants and the interested public about pressing global issues that touch both Europe and Asia. There is room for broader public engagement in these discussions. The capability of a relatively young, interdisciplinary group to contribute to the solution of some of the most difficult problems of our times in a matter of a few weeks should considered as a secondary measure of success, if at all.

Appendix  

a. Schedule online pre-conference seminar

19 July 201415:00 CET/ 09:00 US Eastern time

Special Guest Mr Akira Tsuchiya Executive Director, Japan World Economic Forum

Agenda: Welcome and Presentation of the European Delegation

by Serena Pozza

HPAIR history and HPAIR in Japan

by Akira Tsuchiya

HPAIR 2014: key themes and programme

by Hussam Hussein

Q&A session

Participants to provide their thoughts in relation to the themes of HPAIR 2014

ED at HPAIR2014: key outcomes expected Tour de Table and Conclusion              

b. Schedule Program at HPAIR  

 

Panel Session 213:30-15:30

Program Friday 8/22

Day 1

Saturday 8/23

Day 2

Business Plenary09:30-11:30

Welcoming Ceremony9:00-10:30

Coffee BreakCoffee Break

Case Study 210:00-12:00

Opening Ceremony19:00-20:30

Reception20:30-21:30

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

18:00

15:00

19:00

16:00

20:00

17:00

21:00

22:00

Pre-ConferenceTours

10:00-18:00

Panel 113:00-15:00

Lunch11:30-13:00 Lunch

12:00-13:30

Case Study 118:00-19:00

Dinner17:30-18:30

International Night Booth Displays18:30-19:30

Sunday 8/24

Day 3

Monday 8/25

Day 4

ScheDule2 0 1 4 A S I A C O N F E R E N C E

Registration08:00-10:00

Registration16:00-18:00

Seminar 216:00-17:30

International Night 19:30-21:00

Field Trips12:00-18:00

Entertainment Night23:00

Panel Session 313:00-15:00

Academic Plenary10:00-12:00

Coffee Break

Lunch12:00-13:00

Closing Ceremony19:30-22:00

Tuesday 8/26

Day 5

Seminar 316:00-17:30

Board Bus - 08:30

Seminar 115:30-17:00

Coffee Break

Coffee Break

Campus Tour11:00-12:00

Morning Session 29:30-10:00

Morning Session 19:30-10:00

23:00

c. Schedule online post-conference seminar   15th of September 2014, at 3 CET Agenda: 1) Feedback and impressions (a form for feedback was sent to each participant as well); 2) Feedback and comments on the HPAIR conference; 3) Outcome (peer project and report to sponsors); 4) 10 minutes each to explain main findings/highlights of peer project/paper; 5) Financial reimbursement; 6) Next year edition

d. Full position papers

Esther Kim

1. Corporate Social Responsibility of Law Firms   As the world becomes more and more globalised the need for a different model of the corporate leader in Asia is becoming apparent. Especially since there is an increasing number of Asian corporations entering the global market, corporate leaders now need to take into account transnational standards and strategies in order to stay ahead of competitors and to remain attractive and successful on the international stage. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of these considerations. In a technological era where information is accessible to all those who have access to the Internet around the world, consumers are information rich and more aware of the characteristics and qualities of the companies, products and services that they choose. What is more, there has been an increasing acceptance of the fact that CSR is related to a company’s ability to draw and retain international consumers.[1] A study has even revealed that 80% of students spend at least an hour researching the social reputation of a potential employer,[2] therefore making CSR a matter that all current corporate leaders should address. There should not be any differences in the level of expectation regarding CSR for Professional Service Firms (PSFs) compared to other product-focused companies. It is true that these two different types of businesses are different. For one, PSFs do not have to concern themselves with limiting the amount of industrial waste they produce, nor the child-labour practices of a manufacturer in their production chain. Furthermore, the employees of these firms are normally well paid and receive various benefits along with their salaries.[3]

As an example, law firms are a type of firm that falls into this category of PSFs. Nevertheless due to the fact that law firms often have huge multinational corporations as clients, ones which are so powerful and influential that they have more financial and political authority in certain matters than governments,[4] they should also endeavour to encourage their clients to be socially responsible by paying more attention to how their actions might impact the rest of the society- whether it be economically, socially or politically. At the moment, there seems to be only a few firms that are doing this,[5] as issues regarding clients can be very controversial. On the one hand it does seem legitimate to pinpoint that the main priority for law firms is, and should be, to provide the best legal services as opposed to focusing on socially responsible activities. On the other hand, there does seem to be some questions of ethics that are raised seeing that firms often advise and assist clients on how to pay less in taxes.[6] However, what is indeed true is that more and more corporations are also concerned as to whether the law firms’ CSR record is adequate before becoming a client,[7] making it more of a reason to take such matters into account in order to remain competitive on a global stage. Regardless, it must be pointed out that there are plenty of policies and practices through which law firms can address issues in order to promote CSR in their daily business. The main example in law firms is Pro-Bono work, where lawyers volunteer to work on a case without receiving any remuneration, a practice that started as early as the 9th Century in Great Britain.[8] Students at

law schools are also provided with the opportunity to carry out pro-bono work, which shows the value which it has: pro-bono increases firm morale and promotes business development for the firm as well as retain more productive lawyers.[9] Thus, it is beneficial for law firms to consider pro-bono work if it is to remain competitive on the global market.

However, there are other ways in which law firms can contribute to the community. One such way is through supplemental community service activities. As an example, the Tokyo office of Morrison and Foerster has an in-kind donation team that supports families in Tohoku, Japan and the lawyers and staff have set out on a number of volunteer trips there to work on different community projects. Moreover, implementing environmentally friendly initiatives is another way in which law firms can be more socially responsible. Energy conservation is one simple way to not only support a sustainable future but also to reduce costs for the firm.[10] Programming electronic devices to switch to standby-mode after a designated amount of time or installing motion sensor lights are all ways to save energy. However, there are numerous other schemes that can be implemented at the office such as recycling and water conservation initiatives that will prove to be economical and appeal both to clients and employees.

Promoting women in the workplace is always an issue that law firms can assist in addressing. At the Davos World Economic Forum meeting this year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe identified Japan’s female workforce as the country’s most underused resource.[11] This is not only relevant to Japan but across the world, and also specifically for law firms: it has been shown that law firms normally recruit a high percentage of female associates, but those in partnership remain at around 15% (whilst the number of top corporate women and board members is frequently lower).[12] With studies revealing that men perform better when working with women, not only would the formation of women support networks be appealing to prospective employees and clients, but it would also be in the interest of high performance for the law firms themselves.

A more recent phenomenon in the legal sector that likens PSFs to other product-focused companies is outsourcing. Legal Process Outsourcing is the practice of law firms obtaining legal support services from external companies. For instance, Cobra Legal Solutions in India provides cost efficient services for law firms based elsewhere such as in the UK or the US.[13] Therefore, just like production or manufacturing chains, law firms can implement CSR through making sure that the companies to which they are outsourcing are also compliant with the standards that the law firms themselves advocate. This could concern matters such as client confidentiality and ensuring that those carrying out the work are bound by the necessary legal standards since this would be an area of concern for the final consumers in the chain - the clients.[14]

Another interesting matter that has come up more recently concerns the ethical duty of lawyers and law firms to protect the data of clients. With the convenience of technology and increased mobility comes the risk associated with the data that it stores and transfers.[15] Preserving clients’ records and files and protecting confidential information has given an extra dimension to due diligence. Furthermore, due to cyber-attacks against law firms on the rise[16] lawyers now have an ethical obligation to be more cautious.

With regards to the situation in Asia, firms are not so active concerning CSR (although Japan is an exception in the region, having fared better by implementing various policies in firms, there is always room for improvement). This is true even for the US where there seems to be less CSR activity compared to the UK.[17] Therefore, how can this situation be improved in the future and how could this issue be best tackled?

On one side of the spectrum efforts have been made by national governments through the enactment of regulations and government policies: “Womenomics” aims to promote women in the workplace in Japan and the Companies Act 2006 in the UK can require quoted companies to report on CSR related issues. Despite this, there seems to be a lack of incentive for national governments to put in any real and effective legislation due to the fact that the ultimate goal for the legislating politicians is to earn votes and win elections. Furthermore, it is important to point out that national laws are increasingly becoming insufficient to promote CSR as the impact that the actions of companies have are stretching beyond the scope and reach of national borders due to globalisation.[18] Thus, one can call this a territory “beyond law.”[19]

Further along the spectrum we have private bodies that work with public institutions, an example being the World Economic Forum, which is “an international institution committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation.”[20] In the area of CSR, the Founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, published an article on working with governments and civil society in order to “help businesses better coordinate their approaches and improve performance.”[21]

Finally, global non-governmental bodies may be able to more readily address the matters which national governments have not been able to effectively tackle in this area. An example of such a body is the American Chamber of Commerce. In Japan, the ACCJ is active in sharing best practices and global standards, and thus they can be seen as taking a softer approach in contrast to governments imposing concrete legislation. Pragmatic recommendations seem to be more advocated rather than enacting laws especially with the legal industry. This is because they are slow to change due to it being a profession that has not done anything differently over the last hundred years and is the only industry that is proud of that. Therefore it seems that they would not be so receptive to any immediate and radical changes.[22] In this reflection paper we have seen that in order to embrace the new model of the corporate leader, global strategies need to be adopted, CSR policies being one of them. The fact that PSFs, such as law firms, should not be exempt from implementing such policies was addressed although traditionally it would have been more product-focused companies that implement CSR. Nonetheless, due to the changing attitudes of prospective employees and current graduates, the increasingly difficult task for many law firms of attracting and retaining the best staff[23] and the many benefits of implementing such policies, it seems desirable that law firms all over the world take on CSR more seriously. There are plenty of ways in which this can be achieved, as addressed above, such as introducing green initiatives, and pro-bono activities, which lead to more productive employees and loyal and content clients.

Despite these benefits not all law firms have been able to be socially responsible. This paper looked at three possible actors that could aid in this process: national governments by themselves, Public-Private cooperation and finally, global non-governmental bodies. For the moment there seems to be limits on what the national governments can do on their own.

Although cooperation with the government is desirable, since a more gradual approach is what law firms would adhere to, bodies such as the ACCJ that are non-governmental, more global, and more pragmatic, seem to be the preferred actors that can push things forward and allow corporate leaders of law firms, even as part of the sector for PSFs, to be more socially responsible in a globalising world.

Noaman Mangera

2. Rediscovering cultural Asia in the 21st Century Some argue that American cultural dominance, symbolised by the global reach of its media and the influence of brands like McDonalds and Coca-Cola, has promoted the American way of life as a role model for everyone. Realising the Asian Century will have profound implications for future generations, none more so than world culture being increasingly influenced by brands, products and pop cultural production of Asian origins. Unlike the past however, no singular culture will come to dominate. Rather world culture will likely come to reflect the diversity that typifies Asia, similar to the notion of a multipolar world as advocated by Noam Chomsky, Joseph Nye and others. Flux in cultural attraction is demonstrated by the fact there was a moment in history when China “held a power so strong that neighbours converted themselves”, comments William Kirby of Harvard University. This compares with reformers of the late 19th Century, who came to view traditional Chinese culture as problematic to development and so, many believed they would have to destroy themselves culturally to save themselves as a nation. The failure to promote contemporary Chinese culture abroad by party officials is a testament to both the growing threat to American cultural dominance, and to the limits of social engineering –at least in the realm of commercial culture—in what is principally the undertaking of non-state actors. Party officials have spent billions of dollars trying to replicate the success of global media giants like CNN and the New York Times. Despite this, contemporary Chinese culture has little global appeal with its music faring especially poorly—its own youth prefer musicians from abroad. As Joseph Nye sees it, this failure can be partly attributed to the deficiency in “universal values” more commonly associated with democracies. South Korean artist PSY—who was not part of national strategy—and his hit “Gangnam Style”, a YouTube phenomenon that became the first video to be viewed two billion times, owes much of its success to the blend of universal values with distinctive culture. Last year, South Korea generated $5 billion in pop cultural exports and aims to double this by 2017, marking a turnaround in government policy, which, only 15 years prior, saw pop culture as embarrassing. The Korean wave, aptly coined Hallyu by Beijing media, sweeping through Asia and much of the rest of the world has turned the once uncool culture into a tastemaker and a model for many, including the Japanese, who have launched their own Cool Japan initiative in response. It was in 1909, when a member of the priestly class, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, ventured to Germany to learn about motion picture technology. Much has transpired in the world’s largest democracy since, including the birth of Bollywood into an industry that now rivals Hollywood. Though its worldwide revenues are paltry in comparison, Bollywood directors are increasingly catering to the non-resident market with contemporary Bollywood epitomising this trend—use of Hindi is rapidly losing ground to English. India also boasts significant potential in the field of sports. Its crown jewel, the Indian Premier League, is estimated to be worth over $4 billion and is the fastest growing sports contest in the world, having begun 7 years ago. This commercial success has served as a catalyst for the creation of the Pro Kabaddi League and the Indian

Super League—both of which, may rival the NFL and the NBA in revenue and viewership someday. Lastly, Indian gastronomy could go the farthest in leaving a delicate impression on global dinners, if only, it could shred the stereotype of Indian cuisine as lacking in finesse. Doing so, would propel it to the levels of popularity reserved for French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Thai cuisine. Outsider challengers to American cultural primacy include Brazil, Taiwan and Japan—who all share one thing in common, expanding cultural ambitions. Finally, Thailand will continue to exploit cultural niches with its established cultural profile. Alas, even if India were to realise its cultural potential, it is unlikely the world will come to be proselytized into Indianisation (or any other country) in much the same Americanisation has come to be felt. More likely, a fragmented world culture will emerge in the race for soft power. Expedited by globalisation, this fragmentation of culture reflects changing dynamics in the political and economic spheres—from unipolarity to multipolarity—and the ‘rise of the rest’.

Leon Daiske Oberbaeumer

3. Fukushima and Media Martin Fackler is the chief of the International New York Times in Tokyo. When talking about media’s role in Japan, he sounded frustrated. In his seminar he criticized the role of media in Japan moreover, he spoke about how media is not functioning as the controlling mechanism of the government or other influential stakeholders. This essay is going to point out the weakness of the media in Japan, how they are losing their influence and their power while influential political or economic stakeholders control the media- consequently manipulating people’s mind. The example of Fukushima underlines the weakness of the system of the media in Japan. What happened in Fukushima: When the Great Tohoku Earthquake and the following disaster of Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis happened on the 11.03 2011 there was the phenomena of media sending completely different information to the people. There were Japanese media on the one hand and there were foreign media on the other hand analyzing the Fukushima power plant explosion and disaster from two different perspectives. Comparing the Japanese media with the foreign media one could have the feeling these media are reporting two different incidents- so much difference was there. According to Fackler, Japanese press was put under pressure by the government not to spread information that could lead the Japanese people in panic. It is understandable that the government always attempts to prevent any kind of a panic in a situation such like the Fukushima disaster. Fackler, however, was convinced that he and his team had to tell the truth to the people. From the beginning on he wrote about the great scale of the spread of radioactivity. Since he belonged to the foreign press the Japanese government did not have the power to put him under such a pressure not to write about his findings. Even months and years later, Japanese press has to be very careful when reporting about Fukushima post disaster consequences. This statement can be underlined with the current happening. Few days ago, the boss of the centre-left newspaper Asahi press had to apologize in front of the publicity for providing the people with wrong information about the Fukushima disaster. Asahi press is one of the big newspapers that have critical opinion on government’s behavior and statement. Generally spoken, Asahi Newspaper, Mainichi Newspaper and the Tokyo Newspaper are the three big Newspapers in Japan who have critical view on the government, especially related to Fukushima disaster. Not wanting to go too much into the details but what happened was that Asahi press had reported that about 90% of the Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Cooperation) workers left the working place Fukushima Daiichi while the disaster was going on, apparently against the Director’s instruction and his order. The so called “Yoshida (the director of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant) diary” that in the beginning the government was strongly opposing to be published is now partly published. Apparently it was neither 90% of the workers who escaped from Daiichi nor was an order of the director to stay there. (But I assume it was about “80% of the worker” and there was an “instruction” made by Yoshida to absolutely free- the point here is that it is one sided since only the government is the one who interprets and judges whether something is endangering the state or not. In this sense it can be said that the

media lost any kind of a controlling power- it is on the contrary the media is fully controlled by the state. As far as I know this kind of a law does not exist on other leading liberal countries in Europe or elsewhere. There were some voices of protest but there was no chance for the media to oppose and to prevent this law to become enforced. As I said before, most of the media are pro-government gaining a lot of advantages to defeat the competition- Asahi press is done. It will probably not become bankrupt but the damage of the scandal is probably unimaginable high that it will need some time to destabilize. In fact Fackler sounded depressed when he spoke few words about the protection of national secret law. Even for the foreign papers the law is threatening. Furthermore Fackler criticized the system of Press club that exists in Japan. In Japan it is true that most of the newspapers decide together what they will write in the newspapers. There is surely a small difference in the papers such as the view on the nuclear energy etc. but they do meet frequently to check mutually what the other press is going to publish that news do not differ too much. Facker said that International New York Times reported about the results of the scientist proving that radioactivity damages butterflies’ DNA in Fukushima region. This finding was ignored completely by all of the Japanese press. This was even in the time before the protection of national secret law became enforced- Japan needs stronger media that can function as a controlling mechanism- once again.keep working). Normally, if a newspaper makes such a mistake it will just apologize in the following paper to the readers- but not so this time. There was a sharp “Asahi Newspaper-Bashing” organized by Tepco, government and government supporting Newspapers such as Yomiuri and Sankei Newspapers. Asahi press was seen as the “enemy” by the government. I will now explant why it can be analyzed in this way. To understand this particular situation one has to know the deep connection between the industries, in this case Tepco and the government in Japan. Not only the industry and the government but also other influential stakeholders are more or less tightly connected with each other. In the 1970th and the 1980th Japanese firms and producers were called “Japan Cooperation” referring to the fact that Japanese firms were backed up by the government. With the “Iron Triangle-model”, there was a strict connection between the LDP politicians the bureaucrats and the industry. Those actors provided each other with information and moreover supported each other creating a win-win situation. When the bubble burst in the end of the 1980th this model of iron triangle was regarded as one of the reasons why Japanese people got in to this crisis not being able to find the solution for two or three decades. From the model of success, the same model was seen as the reason for the crisis. The model of iron triangle is regarded to be destroyed after the bubble but even today the strict tie between political elite and the industry is not to be ignored. The strong connection still exists. Tepco for example is the shiny example for this. Tepco was strongly supported by the government. Now after the disaster it became bankrupt and it is a state-owned company. And that is exactly the reason why it is so dangerous to criticize Tepco since this act is the same as criticizing the government. The government and the bureaucrats tolerated Tepco’s action for decades. Again and again Tepco was hiding small accidents and incidents to the public. There was a clear give and take situation between Tepco and the state since the state was always pushing the nuclear energy. Besides, “Amakudari” took place (ex-elite bureaucrats getting a good position in Tepco after they got retired, Politicians became sponsored by Tepco etc.) additionally, Tepco had Japanese press such as Yomiuri Newspaper or Sankei Newspaper on their side making commercials for Tepco.

Those media manipulated people’s mind with wrong facts claiming that nuclear energy was safe and there no possibility of an accident. The Fukushima disaster shows how that was wrong. The Asahi press was one of the few Japanese press that kept criticizing the government’s behavior- not only in relation with the Fukushima incident but also in some other fields. Now Asahi press will be weakened through this scandal and there will be only two other Newspapers that are government-critical but frightened to be next being attacked and become destroyed by the government. In that sense Japanese media and the principle of free speech is facing a dark time with the Abe administration trying to strengthen the government changing the laws and furthermore attempting to change the Japanese constitution. The protection of national security law that came into force in the beginning of the year is in fact a law that takes away any power from the government-critical media. The law forbids spreading out information that could endanger the state. The consequence of this law is immense. Technically, no newspaper could write about the Fukushima situation too government-critical since this information could “endanger the state”. In fact quite many things can endanger a country. Interpretation can be made

Julia Prommegger

4. Abenomics - Womenomics Given the present context of globalisation it seems inevitable for countries and their governments all over the world to become or stay an attractive target for foreign investments. Arguably, it seems as if industrialized countries increasingly fall behind their developing counterparts – albeit their growth rates or economic progress. Japan, which used to be the Asian advanced culture for decades, seems to be one of those economies, which are affected immensely by the rapid growth of developing countries. Especially, the geographic closeness to rising economies such as China and Indonesia, make their economic ‘decline’ even more apparent. Facing this, a national debt of 250% of GDP as well as a greying and shrinking labour force, Japan needs to find ways how to escape the current deflationary economic development and to stimulate economic growth. Japans answer to these problems is minister president Shinzo Abe’s extensive reflationary programme entitled ‘Abenomics’. In fact, with this programme Japans government takes, amongst others, expedient measures to increase potential growth (see Figure 1). One key feature of the Abenomics programme is Womenomics – efforts taken to improve Japan’s female labour participation. For the purpose of this paper, an interview with a young female Japanese working for the Japan subsidiary of a German based company and a short interview with Jesper Koll, Managing Director of J.P. Morgan Japan, were held. Furthermore, information and examples provided by lecturers during the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations, especially given by Katy Mitsui, as well as facts provided in the Goldman Sachs portfolio entitled ‘Womenomics 4.0: Time to Walk the Talk’ were used for this article.

Figure 1: Areas of Abenomics

Womenomics – working women as a signature feature of Japan’s growth strategy – should help Japan to overcome challenging economic times. The country is challenged by an ageing population with currently one out of four citizens being older that 60 years old rising to one out of three being over 60 years old by the Olympic games in Japan in 2020. This development will result in an acute labour shortage and a further declining economy within the next decade if no measures are taken by the government. Besides the fact that women could fill this widening gap, Goldman Sachs estimated that improving female employment rates could boost Japan’s GDP by up to 13%. In fact, incentive systems can be created by deregulating and subsidizing the children day care sector, changing current tax systems which discourage married women from participating in the workplace, creating flexible work environments, setting diversity targets and encouraging gender equality at home within the Japanese society. It is widely held that especially the latter of the above mentioned measures might cause difficulties to the realization of Abe’s change programme. To further clarify this, masculinity is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, with women receiving less respect and status within the society than their male counterparts. Although women are well educated - a multitude of them hold higher education degrees - most of the married women stay at home as soon as they get married. However, boosting female employment no longer seems to be an option, but rather needs to be viewed as an imperative. Contrary to industrialized countries around the world, which try to create gender diversity in the workplace to improve productivity and to enable women’s’ self-fulfilment, the incentive for Japan to improve female labour participation rates is even more urgent. Similarly, Goldman Sachs’ report stresses that “Japan can no longer afford not to leverage half its population”. It can be argued that Japans need for women in workforce sheds a completely new light on gender diversity in business. In fact, the society needs women – and is dependent on their support. In general, Japans strategies tackling problems related to the demographic change seems to be of general interest all over the world, as most developed countries will face similar issues within the next decades. Industrialized countries, including European countries, will be confronted with retirement booms, which will affect economies and businesses immensely. As Japan seems to be the first country facing and solving these problems it might be argued that developed countries all over the world glance across at Japan. For a multitude of governments Japan may be a potential role model if it finds effective solutions to overcome the multitude of problems arising from increasingly ageing populations. For Japan in general and its Womenomics feature in specific, it is to be hoped that this new leverage position may boost women’s position and reputation within the society. However, critics argue that the Japanese society might not change that fast, which may be a potential cause of failure of minister president Abe’s Womenomics strategy.

Luca Vanzini, written with Tatsuya Nobori

5. Ecosystem Services as Currency for Environmental Actions Ecosystem services are a relatively new concept which tries to quantify in economic terms the impact the environment has on human life and societies. In particular, it is possible to extend them as a new theoretical tool to the realm of international relations to have an unambiguous measure of environmental efforts. This brief article will thus explore the possibility to use ecosystem services as a global tool for regulating environmental intervention and will propose their usage in relation to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. The analysis will start with a description of the concept of ecosystem services, then argue how this can be used as global currency and finally present the case for Japan. Ecosystem Services As mentioned above, ecosystem services are a relatively young concept. Their birth can indeed be traced to the seminal 2005 “Millennium Ecosystem Assessment”, but the idea behind, that humankind depends on the ecosystem, has been implicitly discussed for decades, if not centuries. As a matter of fact, it is not difficult to identify the four categories in which ecosystem services are grouped: provisioning (i.e.: water), regulating (i.e.: prevention of erosion), supporting (i.e.: crop pollination) and cultural (i.e.: eco-tourism). Nevertheless, today’s debate has made a significant intellectual breakthrough by translating the biological aspects of ecosystems in economic terms, especially through the categories of externalities and social return. It is thus possible to attach a monetary value to all the ecosystem services, based on avoided costs, hedonic value and enhancement of income among the others. Although still controversial, this approach is extremely useful for policy-makers, who act on behalf of the whole society and can internalise all externalities, while private investors care only about their own return. Namely, through this tool they can value the impact of projects in order to maximise the return on the investments to rehabilitate, preserve and enhance ecosystem services. Even more important, they can also assess the trade-off between ecosystem services and rival development projects which damage the environment. Indeed, in a world with limited capital, different projects become mutually exclusive as they all consume capital. Therefore, while traditionally the investment decision by Governments would have been done through a holistic approach or through a political process, ecosystem services allow comparing projects along a single dimension, their net present value, which is calculated through market mechanisms. Maximising the total net present value in turn makes possible to unambiguously maximise societal utility based on the revealed preferences of the society itself. A tool for international relations Having seen how the use of ecosystem services allows a better allocation of funds among environmental projects, it would be an unnecessary restriction to limit investments within a narrow geographical area. On the contrary, the larger this is, the more efficient is the capital allocation because capital can choose among more projects. Bringing this to the limit and ceteribus paribus, the maximum efficiency is reached when the portfolio of available projects is on the global scale and includes all possible projects. Nevertheless, policy-makers care only about their own constituencies because their mandate is limited to them and because their approval, and confirmation in power, is based on the benefits they bring to them. Logically, policy-makers aim at maximising the utility of their own

constituency and are indifferent to the others. It hence appears that incentives are not properly aligned for an efficient distribution of resources because of this geographical constraint. It is thus necessary to remove it. To achieve this, it is possible to borrow some concepts from the carbon emission trading schemes. Namely, these allow the single firms to trade at market prices their emissions, or better their avoided emissions. Each firm can thus freely choose how to organise its production processes based on what is more profitable: to abate emissions or to do business as usual. The overall effect is a higher efficiency in resource allocation through price mechanisms. The same reasoning can then be applied with ecosystem services as well. The different constituencies can indeed be seen as the different firms which have to decide between abatement and emissions. This means, they can be seen as firms abating emissions either with internal investments or through investments in other companies. Similarly, policy-makers can decide to invest in ecosystem services in their own constituency or abroad, but the current incentive scheme does not reward the second option. It is therefore useful to take a second tool for carbon trading, meaning the concept of scarcity. Indeed, an initial amount of emission permits is allocated by the Government and others are generated de facto by abatement investments. They are thus a limited resource which firms have an incentive to hold, since the Government requires so. This triple combination, incentives, authority and a limited resource, creates the scarcity and makes emission permits a de facto currency for a specific market which has then an equally specific exchange rate with the legal tender (i.e.: Euros). Since in this case the agents trading are Governments themselves, it is necessary to have the incentives imposed by a superior authority, which could be a UN convention. On the other side, ecosystem services are already a limited resource which is expensive to produce. Leaving aside the precise choice of the superior authority, it remains to understand how this can impose the scarcity, meaning which incentive scheme can be used. The imposition of predefined quantities of ecosystem services to be generated, like in emission trading, should be ruled out since societies choose this quantity based on their revealed preferences. However, a better solution is to create a global bank account under the superior authority denominated in a universal currency (i.e.: IFC drawing rights). Every time policy-makers in a country reduce value of ecosystem services the superior authority will tax that country in equal amount and deposit the money in this bank account. Against this money, the authority will then print its own notes. Consequently, whenever a country increases the value of ecosystem services in any part of the world the authority will reward it in equal amount with its own notes. Clearly, for these notes to have value the authority must impose that they are considered outside money, like gold, and redeemable at par. With this scheme, policy-makers will look for investments affecting ecosystem services in any part of the world as a direct cost or revenue for their country. A Practical Example with the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster Having explained the theoretical framework, it is useful to see how this could be deployed in practice. It has thus been chosen to present briefly a hypothetical case involving the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. This indeed allows seeing both the destruction and the recreation of ecosystem services, namely both legs of the scheme.

On the first hand, the Disaster reduced considerably the value of ecosystem services in a large area. Because this is a scheme at Government level, Japan as a country would have to pay to the superior authority an amount equal to the services that have been destroyed. In turn then, Japan could finance this amount in several ways, like taxing TEPCO, which operated the plant, but this is beyond the current goal. The authority would then deposit the amount in its account and issue notes against it. At this point, a European country, for example France, could realise having the competencies to restore those ecosystem services either in its public or private sectors. It could thus ask the authority to make a preliminary assessment of the value of an intervention, meaning the value of the restored ecosystem services and the size of the financial reward. If then the reward delivers an acceptable profit, France could go on with the project, assemble a consortium and finally increase the value of ecosystem services. The authority would then pay the French Government for the value of restored services with the new notes. These would then be deposited as outside money at the European Central Bank in this case which would give back Euros to the French Government. After paying all the costs for the project, France would still end up with a profit which can be invested to increase France utility. Conclusion This short article showed how ecosystem services can be used as a tool in international relation. After defining them, it has been seen how this valuation method makes explicit the value of environment for societies and can guide policy-makers in their investment decisions. It has then be described an international settlement system which rewards and punishes countries as they improve or destroy ecosystem services. Finally the Fukushima Daiichi case showed how this could work in practice. In conclusion, ecosystem service can become a useful tool to improve and regulate investments for the environment.

Paraskevas  Verginis,  European  Delegation Daisuke  Kato,  Japan

6. Human Rights – Gender Problem in Asia At the last day of the HPAIR Asia Conference 2014, on August 26th, delegates had the opportunity to attend an extremely enlightening seminar regarding the human rights in Asia, and more particularly the gender problems that still continue to plague the continent with detrimental effects on women and young girls. Ms. Kaoru Nemoto, the Director of United Nations Information Center (UNIC Tokyo), was the speaker of the seminar and gave us some insights into the vast discriminations that women in the Asian continent still continue to suffer from but are rarely mentioned or tackled. The purpose of this report is, thus, to outline the most important facts mentioned in this seminar, which were the violence and discrimination against women in terms of education, marriage and childbirth, politics, and professional life. Moreover, solutions for the alleviation of the problems are proposed, according to the suggestions of the delegates who attended the seminar. EDUCATION During almost a decade from 2000 to 2011, the percentage of girls’ enrolment in primary education in developing regions in Asia increased from 79 to 89 per cent and from 67 to 79 per cent for lower secondary education. However, these countries are far from achieving universal enrolment for girls and especially at higher grades of education, such as higher secondary or tertiary education. The main reasons are the poverty, the deeply established beliefs that the women should remain at home raising a family from a young age, the absence of safety measures for girls who want to continue their education into higher grades and the compulsive marriages they face from their families and societies. One tragic example illustrating the difficulties that women in these regions have to overcome in order to get educated is that of Malala Yousafzai, a young girl from Pakistan, who was shot in the head by the Taliban, just because she fought for her right to education. MARRIAGE AND CHILDBIRTH In the developing countries of the Asian continent, marriage continues to be an obligation for women from a very young age (around 12 to 15 years old), under the guidance of their families and without the slightest ability for girls to express their opinion about that. Moreover, after marriage they are most of the times forced to live isolated at home raising their children and taking care of the household. To make things even worse, 30 per cent of the women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from their partners. In a survey conducted at the countries of Asia, 1 out of 10 men admitted that they have raped at least one woman in their lifetime, and most of the times when they were only teenagers. Even more men admitted that they have used violence against their wife or partner and the reason for this was their strong beliefs that men are permitted to use violence as a demonstration of their toughness or their beliefs that they are responsible for their women’s lives and bodies. As long as childbirth is concerned, even though child mortality due to poverty in these regions has significantly

decreased, girls’ mortality is still higher than that of boys’, implying the existence of discriminatory practices related to son preference. POLITICS Despite the significant progress towards the gender equality in politics and the equal representation of both men and women in the political life of the Asian countries, only 1 in 5 parliamentarians was a woman in 2013. Women still continue to be denied access into the decision-making of their countries and lives in general. That discrimination expands even at the purview of their families, where decisions still continue to be made in the vast majority by the men. Unfortunately, that unfair treatment towards women can also be seen in Japan, one of the most developed and strongest countries in the world, where the female representatives in both national and local administration are considerably less than those of their male colleagues. PROFESSIONAL LIFE Due to the combination of low education, pressures from their society and their families and unfair treatment in professional fields, millions of women in Asia still continue to face an exclusion from professional life or a racist treatment. The low education of women in many regions, which is only limited to primary school in most cases, doesn’t leave many opportunities for those women who wish to take an active role and have a job. Furthermore, the absence of childcare facilities and the strong beliefs that the roles of a woman in a society are restricted to those of a mother and a housewife, make the situation even worse. Even in cases that women have succeeded in finding a job and/or climbing up the ladder and getting prominent positions in companies, their salary may continue to be smaller than those of their equal male colleagues. Again in Japan, many women are forced, either willingly or not, to quit their job after the birth of their first child because of the absence of adequate childcare facilities and the common beliefs about their obligation to raise their families instead of working. There were also many cases of women who were very willing to return to their job after a few months from their childbirth, but they faced the refusal and the absence of support into doing it from their former workplace. SOLUTIONS After the presentation of all these facts, delegates were asked to be divided into groups of five people each and discuss about potential solutions to the problem. The increase of women’s education was the fundamental solution proposed by all the groups. The ways of achieving this goal is through campaigns sponsored by both governments and NGOs, the increase of safety measures for girls attending school so as to protect them from racist attacks against them, and the increase of facilities and motives given to girls by their governments so as to study. In terms of professional life, the presentation of economical patterns (such as that of the Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Shinzo Abe) that clearly state that women’s participation in the production line of a country can result to this country’s economic and productivity growth, will facilitate the promotion of women’s labor. What’s more, the construction of efficient childcare facilities, as well as the increase on women’s and mothers’ subsidies, will increase the motive of young women to pursue a career, even though they have families. Finally, the proper school education of both boys and girls towards gender equality and sharing of responsibilities and duties in a family will prove of vital importance in combating the traditional beliefs and practices against women.

CONCLUSION On the 21st century, Asia has still many challenges to overcome regarding the equal treatment of both women and men. Despite the considerable improvements during the last decades, millions of women in Asia still continue to face racism daily in every aspect of their lives. Therefore, only by having the active participation and commitment of everyone towards eliminating discriminatory practices, will the future generations of women in Asia be able to cherish equal rights like those of men and have a better life for themselves and their families. [1] FIAS, Corporate Social Responsibility in China’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sector, July 12, 2007, available at: http://www.eiccoalition.org/media/docs/publications/CSRinChinasICTSectorEnglish.pdf, p. 7. [2] Lisa Kellar Gianakos, “Being Green” in Practice Innovations, July 2009, available at: https://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/signup/newsletters/practice-innovations/default.aspx [3] The Lawyer, Why Firms Should Embrace CSR, 4 December 2006, available at: http://www.thelawyer.com/why-firms-should-embrace-csr/123341.article [4] David Crowther and Lez Rayman-Bacchus, Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Aldershot, 2004, p. 6. [5] Managing Partner, Is CSR a double-edged sword for law firms?, 24 January 2013, available at: http://www.managingpartner.com/blog/csr-double-edged-sword-law-firms [6] Lisa Kellar Gianakos, “Corporate Social Responsibility in Law Firms” in Legal Solutions, January 2011, available at: https://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/signup/newsletters/practice-innovations/2011-jan/article4.aspx [7] See supra note 5. [8] Deborah L. Rhode, Pro Bono in Principle and in Practice: Public Service and the Professions, page 4. [9] Robert A. Katzman, The Law Firm and the Public Good, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1995, page 72. [10] See supra note 2. [11] World Economic Forum, Changing Corporate Culture Key to Closing Japan’s Gender Gap, available at: http://www.weforum.org/news/changing-corporate-culture-key-closing-japan-s-gender-gap [12] Elaine M. Egan, “A New Approach to Leadship: How Women are Influencing Leadership Values” in Legal Solutions, October 2011, available at: https://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/signup/newsletters/practice-innovations/2011-oct/article3.aspx

[13] Cobra Legal Solutions, available at: http://www.cobralegalsolutions.com/index.php/about-us [14] Time, Call My Lawyer ... in India, 3rd April 2008, available at: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1727726,00.html?imw=Y [15]Lynn Watson, “At the Crossroads of Lawyering and Technology: Ethics” in Legal solutions, January 2013, available at: https://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/signup/newsletters/practice-innovations/2013-jan/article6.aspx [16] Mike Mintz, Cyberattacks on Law Firms-a Growing Threat, 19th March 2012, available at: http://blog.martindale.com/cyberattacks-on-law-firms-a-growing-threat [17] See supra note 6. [18] Tineke Lambooy, Corporate Law and CSR: Will There Be a Constitution for Multinational Companies in 2030?, in: Sam Muller et al. (Eds.), The Law of the Future and the Future of Law, Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, Oslo, 2011, p. 276. [19] Jan Eijsbouts,Corporate Responsibility- Beyond Voluntarism, Regulatory Options to Reinforce the License to Operate, Inaugural Lecture- Maastricht University, Maastricht, 20th October 2011, p. 24. [20] World Economic Forum, available at: http://www.weforum.org/ [21] World Economic Forum, Corporate Global Citizenship, available at: http://www.weforum.org/issues/corporate-global-citizenship [22] See supra note 6. [23] The Lawyer, Why firms should embrace CSR, 4 December 2006, available at: http://www.thelawyer.com/why-firms-should-embrace-csr/123341.article