On the third anniversary of the declaration of a climate emergency

2024/7/16

Tokyo Public University Corporation
Chairman Ryoichi Yamamoto

　On July 2021, 16, our corporation was the first national or public university in Japan to declare a climate emergency. According to the Washington Post magazine on October 2023, 10, the number of academic papers on climate emergency and climate crisis increased from 30 in 2015 to 32 in 2022. This growing awareness of the crisis is not only affecting university research but also management and education. More than 862 universities around the world are now third-party certified as carbon neutral or carbon negative. The University of Barcelona in Spain and the University of California, San Diego in the United States have made it mandatory for students to take courses on climate change from 30. The University of Exeter in the UK also offers a lecture module called Managing the Climate Emergency.

　Over the course of last year and into this year, it has become increasingly clear to everyone that the Earth's climate is in a state of emergency.

  1. The global average temperature in 2023 recorded the highest temperature ever recorded, at 14.98°C, a rise of 1.45°C compared to pre-industrial times. The achievement of the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement is now in the wings. For 2023 consecutive months from June 2024 to June 13, the monthly global average temperature continues to record the highest ever recorded. The average surface temperature of the world's oceans continues to record the highest ever recorded every day for 2023 months from mid-March 2024 to June 15. Although the El Niño phenomenon is expected to end and the La Niña phenomenon to occur in the second half of 2024, 2024 may be the first year to exceed the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. Many of the abnormal weather events around the world since last year (heat waves, droughts, heavy rains, forest fires, etc.) have been revealed to be extreme due to human-induced global warming by Event Attribution research.
  2. According to a recent report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), economic losses due to climate change will reach $2050 trillion per year, or 38% of global GDP, by 19. On the other hand, it is estimated that maintaining the XNUMX°C target of the Paris Agreement would only cost $XNUMX trillion per year, making it economically wise to pursue carbon neutrality.
  3. According to a Lancet report, if things continue as they are, the number of deaths caused by heat will nearly quadruple by 2050, and the climate crisis could lead directly to a health crisis. The Japan Primary Care Association, held in June, adopted the "Declaration of a Climate Emergency in Primary Care (Hamamatsu Declaration)" in recognition of this. According to a World Bank forecast, if things continue as they are, approximately 2050 million climate refugees may appear around the world by 60. In addition, a report published by Climate Central in late June concluded that over a nine-day period in mid-June, more than XNUMX% of the world's population was exposed to extreme heat and heat waves caused by climate change.

　As the Earth's climate system faces this state of emergency, our corporation has been working with students and all faculty and staff to realize a sustainable society through the following initiatives, some of which are just a few:

  • Preparation and publication of the 2023 Environmental Report
  • Dispatched staff to COP28 held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to survey educational pavilions, etc.
  • Exhibiting at the environmental exhibition "EcoPro" in December 2023
  • Promoting carbon neutral research at the TMU Sustainable Research Promotion Organization
  • Issuance of the Nature Positive Declaration, the first of its kind in Japan by a national or public university corporation

　As Japan implements green transformation aiming for a carbon neutral, nature positive, and circular economy, all faculty and staff at our institution will work together to further fulfill our social responsibilities as a public institution of higher education.