The joint Japan-UK research project, "Developing Visions for a Low Carbon Society Through Sustainable Development," was launched by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), it was announced by the Japanese Environment Minister Yuriko Koike and the British Ambassador to Japan Graham Fry at the symposium "Challenges to Achieve Low Carbon Society - 1st Anniversary of Kyoto Protocol - " held in Tokyo on February 16, 2006.

The joint research project aims to contribute to a science-based understanding of the necessity to make drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to achieve a low carbon society (LCS), while reviewing LCS scenarios for each country and sharing scenarios for such a society. It will also seek ways to shift toward a harmonious low carbon society on a global scale and determine bottlenecks and problems to be solved at an early stage. Furthermore, it will work on establishing international cooperation to achieve an LCS. The project will adopt a back-casting approach to set a vision of a low carbon society in 2050 and study measures for its achievement.

The core institutes to implement the joint project are the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in Japan and two British organizations, the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and the Tyndall Centre. As part of the project, an international workshop will be held in Tokyo for three days starting June 14, 2006, with the participation of researchers and government officials from some 20 countries as well as experts from related international organizations.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2006/060216a.htm
http://www.nies.go.jp/event/kaigi/topics/20060216/20060216-e.html

Posted: 2006/05/14 09:22:16 PM
Japanese version

TAG Global warming , Government , University/Research institute