Publications Search

This pamphlet introduces the latest activities of Kitakyushu Urban Centre.

This paper examines the governance of agrivoltaics (AV) in the context of Japan’s rapid rural depopulation and farmland abandonment. While AV is traditionally framed as a solution to land-use competition, this study argues that in shrinking regions, the primary challenge is not land scarcity but a shortage of human capacity to manage...

In October 2025, an extraordinary session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee was held. Negotiations took place on a draft amendment to the Convention aimed at achieving the international target of ‘GHG emissions from international shipping by around 2050’. Japan has been co-sponsoring the proposal alongside Europe and leading the...

Methane is a potent, short-lived climate pollutant responsible for nearly 0.5°C of global temperature rise. Though it remains in the atmosphere for about 12 years, its climate impact is 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide over 20 years, making methane mitigation one of the most effective strategies for tackling climate change. The waste sector...

In Japan, almost all Climate Citizens’ Assemblies (CCAs) to date have been held at the municipal level. Although considerable efforts have been made to produce valuable recommendations—those that go beyond existing local climate policies-, the usefulness of CCAs in Japan continues to be questioned. This case study examines two contrasting...

Asia Pacific Roundtable for SCP (APRSCP), IGES, Thai SCP Net, and Viet Nam's Institute for Circular Economy Development co-organized a special session on "Promoting SCP model and beyond for the decarbonized and circular economy" at the 3RINCs 2026 held in Bangkok on March 9-11, 2026. The session was organized to Showcase National SCP-CE Models...

From 24 to 27 February 2026, the UNDP held a training course in Yokohama for 40 ASEAN officials on the link between measures to tackle marine plastic pollution and the tourism sector. Mr. Hiroshi Ono, Executive Director of IGES, shared Japan’s experience on Circular Economy and waste management policy development, helping the participants to gain...

Accelerating urban population concentration across the world has both positive and negative social-ecological consequences. Countries facing serious negative consequences like Japan need to explore enhanced deurbanization pathways, e.g., highlighting high quality of life in rural areas, to achieve a more desirable urban-rural population balance...

The presentation provides an overview of the progress of corporate biodiversity actions based on the survey conducted by the Keidanren Nature Conservation Council.

As more cities adopt resilient net-zero policies, local-level assessments of the current and future health impacts of warmer temperatures are becoming increasingly important. These assessments may be even more useful if they demonstrate how health impacts of different predicted temperatures vary across acclimatized/non-acclimatized groups. This...