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onnIn 2006, the Governments of Japan and the UK established an innovative joint
research project with participation from a diverse group of some 20 countries. The
project created visions of low-carbon societies and identified the concrete steps
required to achieve the necessary transitions. The project took as its starting point
the need to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would avoid
dangerous climate change.
The features of this project were:
••
•

•

•

consensus on a definition of a low-carbon society that embraced thecircumstances of both developing and developed countries;
a long-term perspective focusing on the need for urgent action to at least halve
global greenhouse gas emissions through to 2050;
a broad approach addressing human behaviour, social change and links tosustainable development as well as the specific roles of the private sector andpublic policy;
an evidence-based approach that established the feasibility of the low-carbon
society through scenarios, modelling and case studies at the country, sectoraland city level; andthe engagement of experts and stakeholders from government, business andcivil society who provided insights into the practical steps that could make thelow-carbon society a reality.

The project consisted of a series of three workshops and symposia that
progressively addressed: the need for, and feasibility of, low-carbon societies; theconcrete steps needed to enable the transition; and key findings and policy
recommendations. Each workshop disseminated findings and tested conclusions
with a wider group of stakeholders. In a parallel process, leading energy modellers
from a range of countries elaborated a set of consistent scenarios exploring
pathways to a low-carbon society.

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ksshhooppThe third and final workshop and symposium took place in Tokyo on 13-15 February3

2008. Participants identified several themes and key findings including:••••that there is a pressing need to establish a global long-term goal in greenhousegas emissions reductions;that it is important to build trust between countries and between stakeholders
through enhancement of communications and through mutually supportive
action programmes based on partnership delivery;
that developing countries need a sustainable development model focusing
equally on poverty eradication and climate change co-benefits – and further thattechnology transfer, funding, investment switching and capacity building will
enable developing countries to reach for low-carbon and low-poverty society;andthat the delivery of low-carbon societies will require significant changes inlifestyles and practices in both developed and developing countries. To
encourage these changes, raising awareness of the impact of our actions on all
aspects of the global environment in governments, business, individuals andorganisations is vital.

The key findings from the four parallel breakout groups were:

1. Behaviour change and its impact on delivering low-carbon societies••

Consumers have the power to drive significant emissions reductions through the goods
and services they purchase, but need information and expert advice and audit
programmes to inform their choices.
The potential impact of informed consumer choice can only be enabled through strong
government leadership and a supportive policy framework. This should:
o ensure that low-carbon options are widely available in all economic sectors, andthat these are competitively attractive through pricing signals or otherside-benefits;o promote education and the raising of awareness in individuals, business andorganisations to inform and support the rapid and widespread adoption of goodpractice low-carbon living and working;o stimulate low-carbon markets for exemplar technologies, buildings, products andservices through private and public sector procurement and consumerpurchasing; ando deliver low-carbon enabling policy frameworks, based on long-term targets,regulation and fiscal incentives;

2. Delivering low-carbon societies through sustainable development•

Making the link between sustainable development and the transition to low-carbon
societies is vital, and must be done in a mutually supportive manner. Low-carbon
society pathways should not hamper economic growth and should ensure that poverty
eradication occurs whilst delivering significant climate change co-benefits, including
increased adaptation capacity.

4•
•

•

Low-carbon society and sustainable development actions are required in bothdeveloped and developing countries.
Strategies for promoting a low-carbon society should:
o be clear on societal and environmental benefits;o take into account immediate development needs;
o offer a suite of options of individual policies, tools, and means (includinginternational actions), phased approaches and steps;
o address the challenge of policy implementation;o take into account the interplay with other policies notably in the fiscal domain;o be supported by the necessary scale of investment, technologies and capacity
building; ando recognise that there may be ways of developing in a more sustainable mannerusing best available and near commercialised technologies which avoid lock-in
to high carbon-intensive infrastructure.
Sharing expertise and good practice, alongside enhanced international collaboration,
will be needed to ensure the timely delivery of low-carbon societies through sustainabledevelopment.

3. Enabling low-carbon societies through investment
•••

•

•

Achieving low-carbon societies is fundamentally a question of re-directing investment toincrease energy efficiency and encourage a shift towards low-carbon technologies,techniques and infrastructure. Missed investment opportunities will lock-in high carbon
intensity for decades.
There is a need to act with urgency, because delaying the implementation of actions on
a domestic and global perspective will have serious cost and social implications in termsof climate change impacts, the disruption to human societies the world over and theefficacy of subsequent mitigation and adaptation measures.
Investment pathways must increase overall investment in the research, development,demonstration and deployment (RDD&D) of new low-carbon technologies andtechniques. We must recognise the urgency and the scale of change required, andmove beyond inadequate incremental improvements.
Long-term and robust carbon pricing can deliver certainty to business and raiseawareness of the environmental costs of production. New policies and measures arealso required to enable the necessary scale of investment to facilitate the transition tolow-carbon societies.
Emission reduction opportunities are frequently less expensive in the developing world.
Financial frameworks to finance low-carbon investments, both at International FinancialInstitutions (IFI’s) and at private banks, and enhanced international cooperation toextract these, can significantly increases global benefits.

4. Barriers and Opportunities: approaches to sensitive low-carbon sectors•

Moving to a low-carbon society has implications for carbon intensive industries such asiron and steel that are exposed to significant international competition. Sectoral
approaches at the international level can start to address competitiveness issues.

5•••••

Sectoral approaches can also facilitate investment and technology transfer to firms
within these industries in developing countries.
Such sectoral approaches must be transparent, to the general public as well as toindustry. The establishment of clear and internationally agreed methods for measuring
carbon emissions is necessary, and would aid the process of levelling the international
playing field.
Disclosure of carbon emissions per sector or product across all countries is necessary inorder for a sectoral approach to be feasible;
Low-carbon society pathways provide opportunities for a new type of development forsensitive sectors, through recycling and the production of environment friendly
technologies which could underpin future economic development. By using theseopportunities, countries could increase their national competitiveness.
Some carbon-intensive sectors may require radical technologies to be developed if they
are to form part of a low-carbon society. Governments must support early stage R&D
within these sectors, and aid promising technologies with further demonstration anddeployment funding.

EEsssseenorrk
kssh
nttiiaall aaccttiio
hoopponnss ffrroomm tth
hee tthhiirrd
dwwo
The third low-carbon society workshop identified the following actions which governments
are urged to consider:
••
•

•

•

•

The establishment of a long-term goal for global greenhouse gas emissions reductionsof at least 50% of 2000 levels by 2050;
A rapid enhancement of cooperation and sharing of expertise and best practise onachieving low-carbon societies at city-, national- and regional-levels;
The creation of appropriate incentives for business using long-term policy signals tostrengthen carbon pricing e.g. through taxation and enhanced international emissions
trading;
The need to shift the focus of development investment in developing countries towards
lower-carbon approaches, and towards a significant expansion in the deployment ofexisting low-carbon technologies in both developed and developing countries;
A significant increase in funding for research and development for advanced
technologies, and greater investment in the demonstration and deployment ofnear-market technologies and, in particular, the rapid deployment of carbon capture andstorage technology at scale; andThe implementation of policies and frameworks which enable and promote a change inhuman behaviour and lifestyle, through providing consumers with necessary informationand the opportunity to benefit from low-carbon approaches and in the removal of highcarbon-intensive choices.

International Steering Committee
Tokyo, Japan
February, 20086