International Symposium: Cities and Carbon Management: Towards Enhancing Science-Policy Linkages
November 16, 2009
Tokyo, Japan
Co-Organizers
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| Global Carbon Project National Institute for Environmental Studies | Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science |
Venue: Tokyo International Forum (Hall D7)
Address: 3-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo Japan
Language: English and Japanese (Simultaneous interpretation will be provided)
Access details here.
Background
How successfully do cities respond to the carbon mitigation needs will determine the success of the global carbon mitigation. IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2008 estimates cities’ global energy and energy-related CO2 emission contributions to 67% and 71% respectively. We already know a lot about cities, carbon flows in cities and their management despite that the understanding at multiple system boundaries and agglomeration is weaker. Many city governments have already started to act to mitigate carbon.
From research viewpoints, urban area or city is an open and complex system; therefore urban carbon management is bound to be complex. Methods, knowledge-base and data for urban/city carbon accounting and carbon management remain hindrances in many cities but progresses are being made. At one hand, urban researchers wish that cities are not unnecessarily blamed for large emissions and, on other hand they may recognize that cities’ current management approaches are narrower. They need to tackle activities beyond their physical boundaries (such as consumption and others) and optimize urban system as a whole. In addition, scientists/researchers are unaware of what kind of science and how science can help decision makers to make right decisions.
City decision makers often do not know if their actions are enough and correct for long term climate stabilization goals. City governments seek to know the limitations of alternative ways of inventorying carbon and other greenhouse gases and the impacts and effectiveness of their policy approaches. They like to see a standard way of emission reporting system (agreed protocol) for cities as well as to confirm the boundaries of activities that they should/could made influence, among others. Decision makers often want researchers to clarify key scientific and methodological questions and bridge the knowledge gaps for them to make right decisions.
However, science and policies are not completely detached. A close linkage exists in many cases which require to be strengthened at multiple scales. In addition, a number of organizations are assisting for better science policy linkages. Therefore, this event is aimed to serve as a forum to discuss science-policy linkages and how such linkages can be enhanced. It brings together the well-established scientists/researchers, the city decision makers that are actively pursuing carbon management and the facilitators that are helping for science-policy bridging. The ultimate aim of the symposium is to promote a better science policy dialogue that all three communities can benefit from.
Symposium Agenda
This agenda is not final and subject to change. Please re-visit this page to find the newest version.
| 8:30 – 9:30 | Registration (6th Floor Lobby) |
| Moderator: | Prof. Keisuke Hanaki, University of Tokyo, Member of Scientific Steering Committee of GCP |
| Opening session | |
| 9:30- 9:50 | Welcome from organizers Prof. Keisuke Hanaki, University of Tokyo, Member of Scientific Steering Committee of GCP Prof. Shinichiro Ohgaki, President, National Institute for Environmental Studies
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| 9:50 – 10:10 | Aims, objectives and outlines of the symposium Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal, Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project
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| 10:10 – 11:00 | Keynote speech: "Exploring Desirable Urban Futures: fostering emergent understanding of urban sustainability" Prof. John Robinson, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia
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| 11:00 - 11:20 | Coffee Break |
| 11:20 – 12:30 | Round table 1: Science reaching out to the decision makers |
| Chair: Dr. Shuzo Nishioka, Senior Visiting Advisor, National Institute for Environmental Studies | |
| Carbon cycle and cities Dr. Galina Churkina, Group Leader, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research
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| Spatially explicit emission scenario and implications to city carbon management Dr. Yoshiki Yamagata, Special Senior Researcher, National Institute for Environmental Studies
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| Saturday Night Fever, Murder on the Dance Floor, Climate Change, Cities and Collaboration Dr. Sebastian Carney, Research Fellow, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester
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| Life-Cycle Input-Output Analysis of Resources and Energy for the Planning of Low-Carbon Cities Prof. Hidefumi Imura, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University
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| 12:30 - 13:30 | Lunch break |
| 13:30 – 14:20 | Roundtable 2: Science reaching out to the decision makers |
| Chair: Professor John Robinson, Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia | |
| Transboundary Contributions to City-Scale Carbon Footprints and Policy Implications Prof. Anuradha Ramaswami, School of Civil Engineering, University of Colorado Denver
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| Dilemma of Making Right Choice of Policy Instruments for City Carbon Mitigation Dr. Stephen Hammer, Director, Urban Energy Program, Columbia University
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| Challenges and Opportunities for Urban Carbon Governance Prof. JoAnn Carmin, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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| 14:20-15:40 | Roundtable 3: Decisions makers reaching out to the science |
| Chair: Mr. Marcus Lee, Environmental Economist, Cities and Climate Change, the World Bank | |
| Experiences of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Ms. Yuko Nishida, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
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| Planning for climate change in London Mr. David Hutchinson, Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Governance Studies, Meiji University (formerly with the Greater London Authority)
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| The Chicago Climate Action Plan: Municipal Action Grounded In and Propelled by Research Ms. Joyce Coffee, Director of Project Development, Department of Environment, City of Chicago
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| Jakarta Toward Low Carbon Society Ms. Aisa Tobing, Governor Expert Staff, Jakarta Capital City Government
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| Confronting Climate Change – Towards Carbon Neutral Indian Cites Dr. B.C.Sabata, Senior Scientific Officer of Department of Environment, Government of Delhi
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| 15:40 - 16:00 | Coffee Break |
| 16:00 – 17:20 | Roundtable 4: How facilitators can assist for better science-policy linkages |
| Chair: Ms. Mika Ohbayashi, Director, Office Ecologist | |
| Promoting Global Change Research in the Asia-Pacific for Better Science-Policy Linkages Mr. Tetsuro Fujitsuka, Director, Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research
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| Bringing Science to Bear on Local Decision-Making: Some Lessons from Scientific Assessment Processes Mr. Marcus Lee, Environmental Economist, Cities and Climate Change, the World Bank
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| Promotion of Good Practices Through Inter-City Networks Mr. Hideyuki Mori, Vice President, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
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| Development of ICLEI Tools ＆ Strategy for Local Climate Initiatives Ms. Michie Kishigami, Director, International Council for Local Environmental Initiative - Japan
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| Energy security and low carbon development for Asian and Pacific cities: Challenges and opportunities Mr. Kyungkoo (Philip) Kang, Economic Affairs Officer, Energy Security Section, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
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| 17:20 – 17:30 | Summary and closing: Prof. Keisuke Hanaki and Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal |
Leaflet
For the map of the symposium venue please download the leaflet in English (3.5 MB) or in Japanese (3.7 MB).
Contact
For substantive information, please contact Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal, Global Carbon Project.
Symposium Secretariat
Ms. Yukako Ojima, Global Carbon Project,
NIES, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Japan 305 8506,
Tel: +81 29 850 2672, Fax: +81 29 850 2960, 
Last Update: November 26, 2009