Work by Mitsubishi Corporation and the Chinese Academy of Sciences could help reverse desertification. Mitsubishi Corporation isworking with Chinese authorities to prevent the encroachment of deserts into agricultural land, forests and other valuable property. Desertification is a problem around the world, but it especially is the bane of developing nations.    The typical culprits in desertification include uncontrolled cutting of forests, over-grazing, poor crop management and urban sprawl. Those and other trends deplete soil’s natural capacity for self-regeneration. Land that formerly supported thriving woods and grassy pastures turns alkalic and barren.    China is the biggest victim of desertification in the world. Fully one-third of the nation's land area already is desert or is at risk of becoming desert. Mitsubishi Corporation and Chinese Academy of Sciences have begun field-testing countermeasures for desertification at a site 350 kilometers north of Beijing. They are using phosphoric gypsum to improve the condition of the soil there. The Japanese company has mobilized leading Japanese experts to take part in the effort. After an initial two-year study, the participants will propose ways to tackle the problem widely.
Mitsubishi Research Institute, an independent think tank, and Natsource Japan, a broker and advisor in the emerging market for carbon emissions reduction credits, conducted a two-week simulation of measures for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in autumn 2002. Rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases aggravate global warming by causing the atmosphere to retain heat, like a greenhouse. Japan ratified the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in June 2002, and government and industry in Japan are working out concrete measures for reducing carbon dioxide emissions 6% from their 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012.    The simulation, JEMS II, enabled participating companies to gain a deeper understanding of measures for preventing global warming. It simulated various scenarios for strategic emissions reduction and thereby furnished a basis for refining corporate decision-making in regard to measures for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. JEMS II introduced credits established by nations under the Marrakech Accord, including assigned amount units, certified emission reductions, emission reduction units and removal units. Tradable credits for reducing carbon emissions are a promising means of motivating industry to curb output of greenhouse gases. The JEMS II partners presented their interim report in Delhi at the COP8 meeting on climate change in October.    Natsource Japan is a join venture headed by Mitsubishi Corporation, Tokyo Tanshi and Natsource LLC, headquartered in New York. Its other shareholders include companies in the energy, trading and financial sectors.