International Activities
Along with conducting international collaborative research such as field surveys and joint observation in every region of the globe, NIES actively hosts and participates in international conferences and workshops.
Moreover, with a particular focus on ties in Asia, we actively promote international research agreements and host foreign researchers at our institution.
NIES International Advisors
In order to evaluate the activities of the institute from an international viewpoint in a dynamic, efficient and effective manner, the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) is currently inviting international experts, in the diverse fields of environmental research with which NIES is engaged, to visit the institute, in order to benefit from their comments and suggestions on NIES’ activities of importance.
·NIES International Advisors
Tripartite Presidents Meeting (TPM)
In order to further promote research collaboration in the Asian region, NIES, the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and the National Institute for Environmental Research (NIER – South Korea) have regularly met since 2004. The three Presidents, and representatives of these institutions, which all play a leading role in environmental research in their respective countries, have exchanged views on priority fields for collaboration at the annual meeting.
·Overview of TPM
Participation in UNFCCC-COP
In 2004 NIES was admitted as an NGO observer organization, for participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Conference of Parties) of that year. In December of the same year it participated as an observing NGO and hosted a booth as part of the side-event of COP by means of which it was able to positively convey its successes in the environmental research field.
Contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The IPCC has had great successes in assembling scientific knowledge in relation to climate change, and is foundational in the intergovernmental study and assessment of its influence and policy. Many of the researchers at NIES collaborate as authors of the report which the IPCC produce. The IPCC Report as a means to summarize scientific knowledge in relation to global warming, is the most influential in the world at present, and contributes to policy formation of governments in every country throughout the world.
AsiaFlux
We established an international observation network for the Asian region in 1999, in order to systematically observe the exchange of carbon dioxide (carbon flux) between terrestrial ecosystems (forests and arable land, etc.) and the atmosphere.
Many research organs both in Japan and abroad are members of this network. NIES contributes to this network not only with its observation activities but also by acting as an administrative office for the operations of the network.