UK & Japan in ‘low carbon’ collaboration

Defra has announced details of a new research project in collaboration with Japan’s Environment Ministry to look at how to achieve a low carbon society by 2050. Among the issues under discussion will be technological and ‘behavioural’ solutions required to fulfil the goal.

“I am delighted that the UK and Japan have agreed to collaborate on this research project, which will help shape the further work to be carried out under the Dialogue by the partner countries and international and regional institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Energy Agency,” said UK Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett. “It is vital that we get across the message that we must all dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and find realistic solutions so that people living in 2050 will have a sustainable energy supply and a low-carbon lifestyle.”

The initiative will involve two international workshops, the results of which will be used as part of the Gleneagles Dialogue, which vowed in 2005 to stimulate the development of clean technologies.

Japanese Environment Minister Yuriko Koike commented; ”Japan and the UK today start an important collaboration to explore pathways to achieve a low carbon society that is sustainable both environmentally and economically. I expect that this joint project will provide a reliable compass for the long voyage towards a low carbon society.”

The project is supported by the Energy Research Centre (UKERC) and the Tyndall Centre in the UK and the National Institute of Environmental Science (NIES) in Japan.