Climate change mitigation and the case of Japan

Atmospheric Tales

In this episode we will discuss climate and energy policy, governance of climate engineering, and public engagement on these topics.

• Mid term and short term solutions and mitigation efforts for achieving emission reductions
• The takeaways of the “Cross-sectoral perspectives” chapter from the AR6 IPCC report which focuses on carbon dioxide removal, food system emissions and transformation
• Carbon dioxide removal as a key approach to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions pledges, gaps in governance, and social aspects that needs to be assessed
• The current status of Japanese climate scenario and the challenges towards the energy transition

Our guest Dr. Masahiro (Masa) Sugiyama is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Future Initiatives at the University of Tokyo. He does work on scenario analysis of climate and energy policy, and governance of climate engineering from a public engagement perspective. He holds a Ph.D. in climate science and a master’s degree in technology and policy, both from MIT. Prior to joining the University of Tokyo, he was a researcher at the Socio-Economic Research Center, the Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry. He is a lead author of the Working Group III’s contribution to the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Our interviewer Lyssa Freese is a Ph.D. candidate in Atmospheric Sciences at MIT. She researches the intersection of social and earth systems, bringing together atmospheric chemistry, energy systems, climate, health and policy. She also works to incorporate community science and policy impacts into her research, based on her work prior to her PhD with the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum and the Rock Energy and Environment Institute in Beijing, China. Find her on Twitter.

Episode notes and references:

• IPCC AR6 2022 WGIII: Mitigation of Climate Change
• Ambivalent climate of opinions: Tensions and dilemmas in understanding geoengineering experimentation
• EMF 35 JMIP study for Japan’s long-term climate and energy policy: Scenario designs and key findings
• Transdisciplinary co-design of scientific research agendas: 40 research questions for socially relevant climate engineering research

Music by: Ritesh Prasanna

Podcast website: https://atmospherictales.com