Press

This work was supported by TOUGOU, the “Integrated Research Program for Advancing Climate Models” of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (Grant Number JPMXD0717935715). This work was also partially supported by the Arctic Challenge for Sustainability II (ArCS II), Program Grant Number JPMXD1420318865, and by the Climate Change Adaptation Research Programs / Decarbonized and Sustainable Society Research Programs at the National Institute for Environmental Studies. Many researchers of Social Systems Division contribute to the Decarbonized and Sustainable Society Research Program.

Title: Feeling the heat: external pressure and Japan’s commitment to carbon neutrality

Director Yasuko Kameyama of NIES, together with Dr. Keishi Ono of National Institute for Defense Studies, traced discourses related to climate security and revealed unknown risks never discussed in Japan.

Takakura J., Fujimori S., Hanasaki N., Hasegawa T., Hirabayashi Y., Honda Y., Iizumi T., Kumano N., Park C., Shen Z., Takahashi K., Tamura M., Tanoue M., Tsuchida K., Yokoki H., Zhou Q., Oki T., and Hijioka Y. *this is link to the page of press release of this paper

A study estimates global-scale, multi-sectoral economic impacts of climate change, and suggests that a plausible range of decisions and actions by humans can determine the scale of the economic impacts, even if the uncertainty in the climate response to increased greenhouse gas concentration is considered. These actions include reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and improvement of socioeconomic conditions. This study highlights the importance of societal changes and the current generation’s responsibility for the future.