Search

This article envisions a future in which advances in technology and urban development have transformed Japanese society by 2050, resulting in significant greenhouse gas reductions. Pathways leading Japan towards a low-carbon society are calculated using a scenario approach based on back-casting' techniques. It is possible to reach a 70% reduction in 002 emissions through a combination of demand-side and supply-side actions. On the demand side, reductions of 40-45% are possible through efficiency improvements, decreased population and the more rational use of energy despite increased energy demands arising in certain sectors. On the supply side, 002 emissions can be reduced through a combination of the appropriate choice of low-carbon energy sources (including carbon capture and storage) and improving energy efficiency. The estimated direct annual cost of technology to achieve this by 2050 is 6.7-9.8 trillion yen, approximately 1% of the estimated 2050 GDP However, this excludes costs involved in infrastructure investments with aims other than climate policy (e.g. strengthening international competitiveness, improving security, enhancing urban development, and reinforcing energy). To avoid investing in its current high-carbon-emitting infrastructure, Japan must develop long-term strategies to create the necessary technological and societal innovations and to channel the appropriate financial resources for intensive economy-wide change, such as development of land, urban areas, and buildings, improvements in industrial structures, and new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts related to planning. They include "Crowds and Leisure: Thinking Comparatively Across the 20th Century," "Time-Series Analysis of Clusters in City Size Distributions" and "The Transnational Contexts of Early Twentieth-Century American Urban Segregation."

The article presents the viewpoints from experts in response to the question about the prospects for an effective global implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. One expert says that the Protocol still places a gap between current emissions of greenhouse gases and Japan's Kyoto target. Another implies that the prospects of the Kyoto Protocol being implemented are not important. Another also states that proposing technology programs in the late stages is an insult to all involved.