FY2020 ALPS International Symposium was held in Tokyo, also via online, with about 500 participants from public offices, universities, research institutes, companies, and other organizations.

It was the year of great changes in 2020. The global spread of COVID-19 left the severe economic damages with its countermeasures such as lockdown. CO2 emissions in 2020 fell by about 7% from the previous year due to the reduction of economic activity; however, it might be just temporal aspect and would increase after the economic recovery. Under these circumstances, the relationship between the economic recovery and the global warming countermeasure tied so closely in the world, and became the important role for future initiatives. In Japan, Mr. Suga, Prime Minister of Japan, declared that we would go carbon neutral, a decarbonized society, by 2050 at his first policy speech on last October, and the discussions on specific issues are undergoing now. Furthermore, rejoining to the Paris Agreement and implementing a green recovery policy of the US made the movement toward a carbon neutral society accelerated significantly with the new president.

RITE has been conducting a research project, shortly named as ALPS (ALternative Pathways toward Sustainable development and climate stabilization), as a subsidy project/entrusted project sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan. This research project aims at contribution to planning of the international framework and strategy for green growth, and also is investigating long-term responses to climate change risks. Additionally, our comprehensive research includes analyses of future low energy demand scenarios with potential social changes to be induced by recent development of IoT and sharing economy, which may reduce energy demand. Moreover, we analyze the contribution about the entire system of Direct Air Capture of CO2 from ambient air (DAC), which could promote Japan's Roadmap to "Beyond-Zero." The research is being conducted in cooperation with globally distinguished research institutes in the field of global warming including IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis) in Austria, RFF (Resources for the Future) in the U.S. and IEA (International Energy Agency).

In line with current global trends towards carbon neutral society, FY2021 ALPS International Symposium is held to focus on "Future Strategy towards 2050 Carbon Neutral Society" and also disseminate the research achievements of the ALPS project. In this symposium, eminent specialists in this field from abroad will present their lectures about scenario analysis and strategy of major countries and regions, and also several speakers are invited from companies engaging in global warming mitigation, will introduce their activities and visions towards decarbonization. We sincerely hope many people from various areas to take this opportunity to consider by themselves aiming at carbon neutral and sustainable society.

Overview

Date/Time

March 9th, 2021/10:00-17:30

Venue

Iino Hall and Live Internet streaming

Organizer

Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth(RITE)

Co-organizer

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry(METI)

Language(s)

Japanese/English (Simultaneous translation)

Program

Contact