Background

The 4th IPCC report in 2007 evaluated as almost certainly adverse the impact of greenhouse gasses on global warming. Consequently, the implementation of effective early measures to mitigate global warming, and the planning of policies to stabilize CO₂ concentrations in the long-term, have become an urgent global issue. Today could well be called the age in which ultimate solutions for the problems of global warming need to be planned. In the previous COE program, we indicated a scenario to halve CO₂ emissions by 2030 as an extension of the current technologies and social systems. However, in order to solve the problem of global warming ultimately, it is necessary to make breakthroughs by promoting further research and to present scenarios that achieve zero CO₂ emission energy systems by 2100 without dependence upon fossil fuels. Further, it is also necessary to train policymakers and leading researchers who can propose policies and create technologies to implement these scenarios. They can play leading roles not only in Japan but also across the world.