IPCC Weeks 2019 roundtable: President Yamagiwa and early-career researchers discuss sustainability at Kyoto International Conference Center (11 May 2019)

On 11 May 2019, the International Strategy Office (iSO-KU) and the Kyoto University Research Administration Office (KURA) hosted a roundtable on sustainability featuring President Juichi Yamagiwa and the University's early-career researchers. The discussion was part of a symposium organized by the Kyoto municipal government to coincide with the 49th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was held from 8 to 12 May at the Kyoto International Conference Center (ICC Kyoto). The roundtable was also part of the Kyoto University IPCC Weeks 2019, a series of activities planned by iSO-KU and KURA, taking place from 13 April to 27 June to introduce the University's environmental initiatives to the local community.

IPCC was established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), as an intergovernmental body tasked with providing comprehensive reports on human-induced climate change, covering the potential impacts of the phenomenon as well as possible strategies for adapting to and mitigating them. Its 49th meeting brought together scientists and government officials from around 500 international organizations and more than 100 countries, to discuss efforts related to the Paris Agreement, which aims to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of this century. The main topic was the methodology used by each country to estimate its greenhouse-gas emissions and removals, a topic that proved to be of considerable interest to scientists, government officials, industry representatives, journalists, and citizens alike the world over.

The roundtable at the 11 May symposium, held at ICC Kyoto's annex hall, was themed "Dialogue with President Juichi Yamagiwa: How we, as young researchers, want to achieve sustainable development”. Fourteen early-career scholars from varied academic backgrounds sat down with President Yamagiwa to discuss their research and share their ideas for contributing to a sustainable future. The session was enriched by comments from: Associate Professor Masashi Taketani of the University's Institute of Economic Research; Mr Takeshi Shimotsuma, supervising director of global environment and energy at Kyoto City's Environment Policy Bureau; and Professor Yasuyuki Kono, Director of iSO-KU, Vice-President for International Strategy, and researcher of environmental coexistence at KyotoU's Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS).

The University also hosted a booth at the symposium venue to showcase its research and other contributions toward a sustainable environment.

Kyoto University would like to take this opportunity to express its profound gratitude to the municipal government of Kyoto for its support in the organization of this event, and in the promotion of dialogue between its early-career researchers and the symposium audience.

Related link

• Kyoto University IPCC Weeks 2019
  https://sites.google.com/kura.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ku-ipccweek/home