Social innovation
Environmental risk governance, Sustainable production and consumption

Environmental systemic risk governance
Division of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering
Professor Akihiro Tokai

https://researchmap.jp/7676?lang=en

Assistant Professor Lisa Ito

https://researchmap.jp/li-ito?lang=en

Abstract
The intensive production and use of toxic chemicals have resulted in adverse impacts on human health and the ecosystem.
Understanding the drivers of chemical pollution can allow moretargeted strategies to be developed to reduce the toxicologicalfootprint (ToxF) of economies. In Japan, no comprehensive quantitative research on analyzing the main factors of ToxF has been
done previously. This study examines the period between 2001
and 2015 using production and consumption-based perspectives
at the sectoral level.

Social innovation▍ Background & Results
The global production and use of chemical substances haveincreased rapidly in recent decades. It is estimated that there are
now over 100,000 different chemicals used in everyday life. Thesechemicals have contributed to adverse environmental impacts(e.g., air, water, land) because of poor control and management,complicated transboundary properties, and complex global supplychains. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity(2010) has identified chemical pollution as one of five main pressures which adversely affects global biodiversity. Thus, in terms of
toxic chemical pollution, adequate toxic chemical control and management are necessary to protect the environment and to develop
economies sustainably. The results indicate that the overall ToxF
from the Japanese industrial sectors decreased by 49% (−154 kt)
during the period analyzed. The consumption structure and emission intensity have significantly contributed to the mitigation ofToxF, corresponding to 317 kt (−101%) and 194.5 kt (−62%), respectively. The production structure and consumption volume werethe main driving forces for the increase in ToxF contributing 344 kt(110%) and 12.4 kt (4%), respectively. However, population growth
had an insignificant effect on ToxF. These insights can be used indeveloping policies for the management of toxic materials and forestablishing less toxic supply chains. Furthermore, insights fromthis work can be utilized to further develop specific indicators formonitoring the environmental impact of toxic chemicals.

Accumulated changes in ToxF by decomposition factors (%)▍ Significance of the research and Future perspective
Contributing components include population, technology (emission intensity), production structure, consumption structure, andconsumption volume. Such a time-series analysis is helpful for
manufacturers, decision makers, and relevant partners in understanding why industrial toxic chemical releases have varied overtime. These results can be applied to determine sustainable andeffective chemical toxic mitigation strategies and management
protocols for short and long-term plans, and to define more sustainable supply chains. Concrete strategies can be given basedon the analysis of the result of each factor. More details have been
mentioned in the section on policy implication.

Contributions of driving factors to ToxF changes between 2001 and 2015 (kt)P a t e n t
Hoa Thi, Nguyen; Ito, Lisa; Tokai, Akihiro et al. Decomposition analysis of annual toxicological footprint changes : Application on Japanese industrial
sectors, 2001-2015 Journal of Cleaner production, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125681
https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/chemical_management/other/kasseika/daigakurenkei.html
UR
L https://prtr.unece.org/
https://www.oecd.org/chemicalsafety/pollutant-release-transfer-register/K e y w o r d input-output analysis, structural decomposition analysis, toxicological footprint
Tr e a t i s e