October 8, 2020
ICEF 2020 Statement from the Steering Committee
0. Tokyo Beyond Zero Week
We are aware that it is necessary to call for a holistic and systemic approach to tackle challenges of energy and climatechange, inviting collaboration among all relevant stakeholders. Sharing global leading experiences or exchanging opinions
through conferences, as ICEF does, would help people to realize and identify our current position and possible future
options. To this end, we welcome the "Tokyo Beyond Zero Week" organized by the Japanese Government, that seeks toenhance international discussion in this policy area, incorporating 6 conferences to consider all possible pathways toaccelerate a virtuous cycle of environment and growth; technological and societal innovation aspect (ICEF), finance(TCFD) and international collaborations of R&D institutions (RD20), as well as special focus on a hydrogen based society(Hydrogen Energy Ministerial Meeting), on the development and deployment of carbon recycling technology (InternationalConference on CR) and on decarbonized use of LNG (LNG Producer Consumer Conference).
1. Preamble
The seventh annual meeting of the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum ICEF 2020 was held online on October 7 and 8 withpreceding sessions from September 28 to October 2. More than 1,300 people from government, international organizations,industry, and academia, from 80 countries and regions, registered and participated in this first-ever online event. The themeof this year’s forum was “Action toward “Beyond Zero” emission society in light of COVID-19, with a focus on genderequality.”
The world is currently facing an unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This global threat underscores
the risks of the global threat posed by climate change. We welcome the increased concern expressed by young people.
Along with governments’ initiatives to restore their economies, a virtuous cycle of environment and growth should beexpeditiously put into place, while taking note of IEA’s Sustainable Recovery Plan. The economic recovery funds pledgedby the governments in response to COVID-19 crisis could be used to build a sustainable future and achieve net-zeroemissions instead to rebuild the unsustainable past. To this end, we issue the following statement addressing whatapproaches are needed and how they should be implemented:
2. Society changing significantly through the unprecedented situation
Due to COVID-19, global CO2 emissions are projected to be reduced by 8% on a year-on-year basis in 2020. This annual
reduction rate is almost equivalent to the rate necessary for the emission pathway with 1.5 ℃ global warming. As such,
COVID-19 has made us aware of how daunting this 1.5 ℃ pathway is, since obviously we cannot continue to withstand theeconomic slow-down and inconvenience in our daily life as experienced now. In this context, we should once again clearlyrecognize and underline the utmost importance of innovation in addressing climate change.
Recently, the Japanese government formulated the “Environment Innovation Strategy” in order to create, commercialize,
and spread progressive innovations in the energy and environmental fields through international cooperation. It is essential
to make a transition for the world including emerging countries, to establish a low-carbon society for tackling climatechange, and it requires robust relationships across countries, various public and private sectors, and academia. The value ofthe strategy is summarized in the following sentence: the Environment Innovation Strategy aims to establish innovativetechnologies that enable the reduction of global GHG emissions toward carbon neutral and further reduction of theaccumulated atmospheric CO2 level, “Beyond Zero” by 2050.
In addition, there is no doubt that women’s participation will play a huge role in the promotion of innovations. As COVID19 accelerates a wider use of IT equipment, which is changing our working style dramatically, it could further empower
female participation. Empirical studies also suggest that climate change is not gender neutral, showing that the higher theratio of female participation, the greater the performance in addressing climate change. It is of great interest to see how
women’s participation will support endeavors to tackle climate change. We should commit to the development of mentoring
networks suitable for women’s skills and the promotion of education for women in developing countries.
Finance for innovations matters. All available opportunities, including stimulus packages, should be used for fund raisingmeasures such as public/private investment, funding from partner companies and motivation for self-investment throughinternal carbon pricing. We are pleased to see the increasing support of business communities for climate-related financial
disclosure based on the TCFD’s recommendation. Enhanced transparency is expected to lead to effective communication
between business and financial sectors, and thereby to improve the market and investment environment. We strongly
encourage use of green equity toward sustainable infrastructure. And as for COVID-19 recovery, it is necessary to promote
investment for sustainable structural transformation in the energy system and other transformative infrastructure.
Bearing in mind the possible synergy between gender and climate change, it would be worth considering an idea of bridging
gender investment and climate change investment, in order to support further effective actions and decisions by companies
towards a lower GHG emission society.

3. Discussions and findings from the concurrent sessions
During ICEF 2020, we invited participants to discuss these topics in the three plenary sessions as well as 10 concurrent
sessions, which were set up in line with the "Environment Innovation Strategy."(1). Energy transformation- Hydrogen is an indispensable energy carrier to decarbonize or lower carbon emission in energy consumption.
Throughout its entire supply-chain, we should drive technological development as well as policy-making concerning
production, storage, transportation and utilization. We should also make substantial progress in international
cooperation for deployment of hydrogen infrastructures on a global scale through concerted efforts of both public andprivate sectors. When countries plan sustainable recovery packages for COVID-19, they should focus on research,development, demonstration and deployment (RDD&D) of hydrogen infrastructure including storage and transport inrelation to the deployment of CCS/CCUS, and its use especially in high temperature, such as by steel making
applications.
- Demand and deployment of renewable energy is growing year by year, thanks to its significantly reduced cost as well as
the strong appeal to investors and corporate image improvement. Some emerging countries are also assessing andinvesting in power transmission systems suitable for the utilization of renewable energy. Governments and powercompanies will need to adapt flexibly to new environments by adopting digital technology and infrastructuredevelopment, in particular in energy end use where user behavior and demand trends are also essential.
- With regard to nuclear power generation, companies from various countries including ventures are making steadyprogress in research and development on advanced reactor technologies including small modular nuclear reactors(SMRs) as well as flexible nuclear system. Governments should establish long-term policies/R&D guidelines andprovide support to companies including ventures for accelerated development while ensuring safety.
(2). Transportation- Demand for transportation in urban areas has plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as work from home and web
conferences have become more popular. People are increasingly driving cars or using bicycles to avoid public
transportation. Demand for freight transport has declined with the economic downturn yet increased with e-commerce.
These changes in consumer behavior give birth to new services and require the development of new technologies tocurb emissions in the supply chains.
- All these changes represent a concern for sustainable transport development. Measures should be in place to restore
passengers’ confidence in public transport through (1) providing information/data to passengers on the operation ofpublic transport, and (2) encouraging strategies for peak shaving in order to satisfy the rules for social distancing. It is
important to align short-term stimulus measures for public transport infrastructure development with the long-term
decarbonization goal.
(3). Industry- Carbon recycling is an umbrella concept that describes many different processes and products. Some of these processes
and products have the potential to contribute to achieving net zero emissions by displacing fossil fuels or storing carbon
dioxide for the long-term. Life cycle analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with any product made fromrecycled carbon is especially important. Much more R&D and policy support is needed to fully develop the potential ofcarbon recycling.
- We need to enhance circular economy implementation to realize sustainable consumption trends/lifestyles, and to utilizea life cycle assessment to grasp the environmental impact of the entire life cycle. To this end, the model of circular
economy shall be established, and the barriers of different sectors need to be transcended so that people will favor
switching to reparable or reusable products.
(4). Cross-sectoral- The ocean has enormous potential to mitigate environmental issues and grow our economy through ocean renewableenergy, aqua-culture, coastal tourism, ocean mineral resources, and so on. The off-shore wind market in particular has
been growing rapidly. For further acceleration, market competition, public-private-cooperation, and international
cooperation will be key.
- Climate change is a global issue requiring countermeasures which meet the needs of emerging countries. In this regard,
it is essential to advance international dialogues to promote innovations based on the local situation, and also strengthen
relationships between both private and public sectors, and academia, as well as strengthen and create for a knowledge
sharing. Promotion of private finance, especially green equity, will be also key to achieve sustainable economic
development in emerging countries.
(5). Agriculture, forestry and fisheries/Carbon Sinks- Agriculture in emerging economies requires leapfrog technologies to tackle the challenges of ensuring food andnutrition security for a growing population. The availability of renewable energy and investment therein will also becrucial for supporting those technological developments. Meanwhile, in developed countries, not only do we needfurther implementation of advanced agriculture technologies to effectively enhance food productivity, but we also need-to change our lifestyles, including reducing wastage and food loss. The selection of production methods using low
emission technologies will be essential in achieving sustainable agriculture.
Technological development relating to carbon sequestration in cropland, CO2 absorption by forest, and blue carbon as
well as GHG emission reduction in agriculture, forestry and fisheries also need to be advanced.
Technologies to capture CO2 released into the air (such as DAC) and either use or fixate that CO2 are attracting
attention. Commercializing these technologies will require new investment in science, technology, and projects - allwould benefit from a long-term roadmap, shared internationally and funded effectively.

4. Action for Beyond Zero and expectations for women’s participation
A virtuous cycle of environment and growth is essential when we tackle climate change. This remains the case even under
the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Environment Innovation Strategy is a comprehensiveaction plan for this concept. The question is how we should implement it and make advances towards “Beyond Zero.”
Industry, government, academia, and investors must come together to facilitate research, development and investment, withlessons learnt from this annual meeting, noting that women’s participation will further accelerate our efforts.