COP12 and COP/MOP2 side event

Global Challenges
toward Low-Carbon Society (LCS)
through Sustainable Development (SD)
11:15-12:45, November 8, 2006
Acacia in World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF)
United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON)

National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)
The Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MoEJ)The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)Organizer: National Institute for Environmental Studies
NIES was established in 1974 at Tsukuba Science City. It has been playing a majorrole of environmental studies in natural, social and human sciences. NIES, incollaboration with institutes in China, India, Korea, and Thailand, has developed alarge-scale computer simulation model called AIM (Asia-Pacific Integrated Model) toassess climate policy options. The model has been widely used for policy studies and its
results have been presented in various environmental assessments such as IPCC,
UNEP/GEO, ECO-Asia, EMF, and Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Website: http://www.nies.go.jp
Contact: Mikiko Kainuma,
Head, Climate Policy Assessment Research Section,
Center for Global Environmental Research (CGER)
National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES),
16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506 Japan.
Tel&Fax: +81-29-850-2422
E-mail: mikiko@nies.go.jp

Japan – UK Joint Research Project “Developing Visions fora Low-Carbon Society through Sustainable Development”
The Ministry of the Environment of Japan (MoEJ) and the Department for Environment, Food andRural Affairs in the UK (DEFRA) are jointly promoting a scientific research project: Developing
visions for a Low-Carbon Society through sustainable development. They will promote studies
toward achieving a Low-Carbon Society (LCS) by 2050 in collaboration, encourage other countries
to engage in LCS studies, and jointly hold series of international workshops. The first workshop
was held in 2006 in Tokyo (http://2050.nies.go.jp/200606workshop/index.html). The joint research
project will use a top-down or “back-casting” approach to identify what is required over the longterm to realize stabilization of global temperatures. The vision of a Low-Carbon Society will bedescribed along with the scale of cuts required in GHG emissions compared to current levels. The
project intends to identify what can be done now and in the future by summing up concrete actions
and innovations needed, in terms of legal/social systems, technologies, and life-styles. It is intended
to cover studies on the requirements of people living in the 2050 world, as well as studies on
various aspects of LCS including energy supply, structure of industry, structure of cities andcountryside, and transportation systems.

Co-Organizers:
The Ministry of the Environment of JapanThe UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Programme
11:15-12:45, November 8, 2006
Acacia in World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF),
United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON)
11:15-11:20

Opening Remarks
Mr. Ryutaro Yatsu (Ministry of the Environment, Japan)

Key-note speech
11:20-11:30
Aligning climate change and sustainable policies
Prof PR. Shukla (Indian Institute of Management, India)
11:30-11:40
Modeling LCS to identify trend-breaking options
Dr. Junichi Fujino (NIES, Japan)
11:40-11:50
National and global cooperation to achieve LCS thourgh SD
Mr. David Warrilow (Defra, UK)
Panel discussion
11:50-11:55
Objectives of LCS through SD
Dr. Shuzo Nishioka (NIES, Japan), Coordinator
11:55-12:00
SD-PAMs
Mr. Stanford Mwakasonda (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
12:00-12:05
Renewable energy
Mr. Martin Weiss (Federal Environmental Agency, Germany)
12:05-12:10
Technology RD&D
Dr. Jiang Kejun (Energy Research Institute, China)
12:10-12:45
Panel discussion
Lunch-box will be set up and served.
Key messages:
1) Aligning climate change & sustainable development actions can reduce the burden
and facilitate transition to stabilization of climate change.
2) A variety of tools and methods (eg backcasting methodologies) are required toexplore pathways including policy scenarios and options toward LCSs.
3) Cooperation for LCS involves a long policy horizon framework, a wider range ofdomestic and international actors, and issues and a comprehensive range oftechnologies and policy measures. There is a need for stronger political leadership andpolicy signals, both at domestic and international levels.