Hokkaido University’s Collaboration Toward a Zero Carbon Society

Hokkaido University President Kiyohiro Houkin greeting the attendees.

Governor of Hokkaido Naomichi Suzuki greeting the attendees

On the occasion of the upcoming G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting, Hokkaido University organized a pre-event in collaboration with the Sapporo City Government and the Hokkaido Government.

The pre-event, titled Hokkaido University’s Collaboration Toward a Zero Carbon Society: From global warming countermeasures, through biodiversity conservation to achieving the SDGs, was held as an online event on the afternoon of March 13, 2023. The Keynote Speech was delivered by Tokuya Wada, Vice-Minister of the Environment.

The session began with greetings and remarks from Kiyohiro Houkin, President, Hokkaido University; Naomichi Suzuki, Governor of Hokkaido; and Katsuhiro Akimoto, Mayor of Sapporo. All three dignitaries emphasized the importance of attaining a Zero Carbon Society and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They also spoke how the University, Sapporo and Hokkaido were uniquely positioned to take the initiative on these issues.

Vice-Minister for the Environment Tokuya Wada delivering the keynote address.

In the keynote address, titled Carbon neutrality and nature positivity: A vision for the future of the region, Vice-Minister Wada provided a broad overview of international policy concerning the Zero Carbon target and also spoke of the Japanese government’s initiatives to bring about a carbon-neutral and nature-positive society. He highlighted a handful of decarbonisation projects throughout the country, including in Hokkaido.

The keynote address was followed by short talks detailing initiatives and projects made by different organizations and institutions to further the goals on a Zero Carbon Society. The speakers included Atsushi Yokota (Executive Vice President, Hokkaido University), Futoshi Imai (Chief Promotion Officer for Zero Carbon, Hokkaido), Tohru Yoshioka (Deputy Mayor, Sapporo City), Shinobu Yamaguchi (Director, United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability), and Juichi Yamagiwa (Director-General, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature). Taken together, these talks gave a sweeping snapshot of diverse efforts to achieve a Zero-carbon society, and demonstrated that all these efforts were inextricably linked to each other.

Organizers and Speakers at the event.

The G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting, a ministerial meeting of the G7 Hiroshima Summit, will be held in Sapporo on April 15 and 16, 2023.

Written by Sohail Keegan Pinto