UK/Japan - Achieving a Low Carbon Society

13-15th June 2007, The Mermaid Conference and Events Centre, London

This one-day symposium and two-day workshop aimed to demonstrate and raise awareness of the necessity, feasibility and benefits of transitioning to a low-carbon society through sustainable development.

The symposium and workshop focused on how to close the gap between the business-as-usual case and low-carbon society scenarios, culminating in the agreement of policy messages and informing development of a map of low-carbon society activities.

The event - sponsored by the UK Government's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) - was hosted by Defra and the Ministry of Environment Japan (MoEJ), in collaboration with partners National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the Embassy of Japan in the UK, under the direction of the international steering committee.

 Executive Summary 

 Programme

 Biographies of steering committee members and speakers

 Attendee list

 Final Workshop Report

Presentations

 Introduction to low-carbon societies

Workshop Co-Chairs: Jim Skea, Research Director of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC); Shuzo Nishioka, Executive Director of the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)

 The latest assessment of climate change mitigation from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Bert Metz, Co-Chair IPCC Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change"

 Low-carbon societies and sustainable development

Rae Kwon Chung, Director United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

 How finance can enable a low carbon society

Jean Acquatella, Economic Affairs Officer of the Sustainable Development and Human Settlements Division, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

 Low-carbon cities

Andy Deacon, Climate, Energy and Air Quality Strategy Manager, Greater London Assembly

 The contribution of business to a low-carbon society

Graham Smith, Chairman of Low-Carbon Vehicle Partnership, Senior Vice-President Toyota Motor Europe

 The economics of achieving a low-carbon society

Su-Lin Garbett, Stern Review Team, Her Majesty's Treasury, UK

 The role of technology in a low-carbon society

Jae Edmonds, Senior Staff Scientist and Technical Leader of Economic Programs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL) Joint Global Change Research Institute at the University of Maryland, USA

 Changing energy consumption: Why it happens and how it can be made to happen 

Hal Wilhite, Senior Researcher, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, Norway

 Alignment with sustainable development goals

P.R. Shukla, Professor in Public Systems Group at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India

 Low carbon society modelling

Neil Strachan (Policy Studies Institute, UK) / Junichi Fujino (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan)

 How to link modelling and practical steps to achieve a low-carbon society

Yuzuru Matsuoka (Professor, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan)

 Transport

Yuichi Moriguchi (Director, Research Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management, NIES, Japan)

 Buildings

Rob Lowe (University College London, UK)

 Behavioural Change

Tim Jackson (RESOLVE, University of Surrey, UK)

 Involving sectors and frontrunners in the transition to a low carbon economy

Frans Vollenbroek, (Dutch Ministry for the Environment)

 Catalysing a shift in the priorities of the development plan

Jose Garibaldi, (Energeia)