Environment and Society
The environmental problems of today were brought about by the rapid expansion of human and industrial activities. In order to solve them, it is necessary for us to change our socio-economic systems. NIES conducts research about the interactions between human activities and natural phenomena, analyzes the relationships between socio-economic systems and environmental problems from a variety of perspectives, studies the ideal policies for environmental conservation, and develops a variety of techniques to turn them into reality.
Environmental Problems and Life Cycles
The phrase "environment-friendly" is popular today. However, the question of whether or not a certain product or activity is truly "friendly" for the environment should be answered from a broad perspective. Our attention should not be distracted by focusing on only one aspect of the problem. For any given product, a life cycle assessment (LCA) provides a yardstick of material circulation and energy consumption, backed up by science. LCAs evaluate the environmental impacts of products, taking into account their whole life, from the extraction of the raw materials to final disposal-in other words, "from the cradle to the grave." NIES researchers cover a broad range of activities, from development of analytical methodologies to their applications and more.
Roles of Various Players (Consumers, Industry, Local Governments, etc.)
Humanity must deal with a broad range of environmental issues, from problems close to us to those global in scale. Moreover, many problems cannot be solved by experts alone; they require the cooperation of all players in society to do their part, including consumers.
For example, the priority that different people attach to an environmental issue will be affected by their values. From this perspective, NIES is not limited to the perspective of scientists or specialists, but is also studies the value judgements that consumers and industry make about environmental policies, and, for example, the way people view landscape scenery. In addition, at the implementation stage of environmental policies, it is not only the central governments but also local governments that have an important role to play. NIES cooperates with a number of local governments to learn more about the nature of ideal environmental policies.
Analysis of Economic Impacts of Measures
While the introduction of carbon taxes and emissions trading would decrease
the consumption of fossil fuels by raising their prices and reducing carbon
dioxide emissions, this could also cause a drop in gross domestic product
(GDP). The effects on the economy are greatly affected by how the carbon
tax revenues are used. NIES has developed a model that links the environment
and economy to analyze the economic impacts of different uses of carbon
taxes in the event such taxes were introduced to limit carbon dioxide
emissions. This analysis showed that if the tax revenues were applied
to purposes such as reducing the government deficit, the economic impacts
could be kept small. In addition, the promotion of environment-related
investments and growth of the environmental industries would have positive
long-term effects on the economy. In order to clarify effects such as
these, NIES is developing a new type of economic model which integrates
the economy with material flows.
Changes in real GDP depending on how carbon tax revenues are used (compared
to the baseline case).
When used to reduce the government's deficit, real GDP increases.
Analysis of Decision-making Processes in International Negotiations
Climate change threatens to cause enormous negative impacts on a global scale. Discussions about responsibility and burden-sharing for reductions of carbon dioxide emissions have led to heated debates, and solutions still appear to be out of reach. What kind of international consensus would be desirable in order to start specific and effective actions at the earliest possible time? In addition, what are the useful features of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, which to a certain extent represent actual international consensus? What about the actions of each country under the Convention and the Protocol? And what factors would change those actions? What are the roles of the various actors in each country (government, industry, environmental groups, etc.)? By efforts to find answers to such questions, NIES strives to provide constructive suggestions to Japan and the international community.
COP-7 climate conference
(November 2001, Morocco)
