How to fix climate change smartly

Seminar Description

Since the Paris Agreement (2015) and the Glasgow Climate Accord (2021), developed countries such as the U.S., EU, and Japan have set 2050 carbon neutrality goals for achieving a 1.5 degrees climate target and are calling for emerging and developing countries, including China and India to take similar actions. However, since the war in Ukraine, energy security has become a top priority for each country, and rising geopolitical tensions have become an obstacle to progress in international cooperation on climate mitigation. While the parties agreed to a global stocktake, including “transition away from fossil fuels,” in order to keep the 1.5°C target within reach at COP28 in December 2023, there is a large gap between the agreed document and reality. In such countries as the Netherlands, France and Germany, the general public is increasingly opposed to high energy prices, and right-wing parties skeptical of climate action are expected to gain power in the forthcoming election of the European Parliament in June this year. If Donald Trump’s administration takes office in the U.S., it is certain that the U.S. will again withdraw from the Paris Agreement. India is expected to build more coal-fired power plants to meet future electricity demand growth. Priorities for the various SDGs differ among developed countries and developing countries, and even within developing countries. Under these circumstances, what is the most realistic approach to promote global warming prevention in a politically and economically sustainable manner? Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, who emphasizes the importance of cost-benefit analysis in the implementation of climate and other policies under the concept of the “Copenhagen Consensus,” will speak from a different perspective than the UN or the media.

Seminar program

Time	Program
14:00-14:05	Opening remarks: Jun Arima, Project Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), UTokyo
14:05-15:00	Presentation: Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, President, Copenhagen Consensus Centre
15:00-15:10	Comment: Mr. Kazuhiko Hombu, Special Advisor at GraSPP, and former director-general for energy and environmental policy at the Japanese Agency for Natural Resources and Energy
15:10-16:00	Moderated discussion and Q&A

Language

English (English-Japanese simultaneous interpretation will be provided)

About the speaker

Dr. Bjorn Lomborg

Dr. Bjorn Lomborg researches the smartest ways to do good. With his think tank, the Copenhagen Consensus, he has worked with hundreds of the world’s top economists and seven Nobel Laureates to find and promote the most effective solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, from disease and hunger to climate and education.
For his work, Lomborg was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. He is a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and is a frequent commentator in print and broadcast media, for outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, CNN, FOX, and the BBC. His monthly column is published in many languages by dozens of influential newspapers across all continents.
He is a best-selling author, whose books include “False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet”, “The Skeptical Environmentalist”, “Cool It”, “How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place”, “The Nobel Laureates’ Guide to the Smartest Targets for the World 2016-2030” and “Prioritizing Development: A Cost Benefit Analysis of the UN’s SDGs”.