Prioritized New Research Initiative on Climate Change in Japan under a new phase of the Science and Technology Basic Plan

Prioritized New Research Initiative on Climate Change in Japan - under a new phase of the Science and Technology Basic Plan – Hiroki Kondo Special Advisor to the Minister of the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan

The 3rd phase (FY2006-FY2010) of the Science and Technology Basic Plan

• 3rd phase has just been launched (in April) by the Cabinet

• The same 4 fields prioritized again as important promotion fields besides basic sciences:

• life science;

• information &communications;

• environment; and

• nanotechnology:

• National Core Technology studies/projects have also been identified for overarching or cross-cutting important themes

• Prioritization has been made in every broken down stage from a selection-and-concentration strategy standpoint for efficient resource allocation

Promotional Strategies in Prioritized Fields

• Formulated by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP)*

• *established within the Cabinet Office in 2001, chaired by the Prime Minister,

• with members of 6 Ministers concerned and 8 Experts

• - Further prioritization in Each of 4 fields including environment:

• - Areas prioritized in environment:

• Climate change research,

• Climate change mitigation technology,

• Chemical substance risk and security management research,

• Water/material cycle and watershed, ecosystem management research,

• 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle) technology research,

• Biomass usage and utilization research

• - In each area including climate change research, important studies have been identified and then some of them have been further strategically prioritized

6 Categorized Programs for Climate Change Research: to attain reliable climate change projection and impact assessment through addressing global Earth observation

• P1: Comprehensive monitoring studies on global warming

• P2: Climate change process studies

• P3: Future projection of global warming and data base

• construction from global warming research outcomes

• P4: Studies on global warming impact, risk assessment,

• and adaptation measures

• P5: Studies on global scale water cycle variabilities

• P6: Studies on global warming mitigation policies

Studies identified as important and further strategically prioritized (P1, P2)

• P1: Comprehensive monitoring studies on global warming

• - Observation on global and regional scale CO2 budget

• (balance of emission and absorption)

• - Observation on atmospheric changes in the troposphere due to

• 　　trace greenhouse gases

• - Monitoring studies of greenhouse gases and the Earth surface layer by satellites

• P2: Climate change process studies

• - Process study on the climate change due to clouds and aerosols

• - Process study on response of lands and oceans to climate change

Studies identified as important and further strategically prioritized (P3)

• P3: Future projection of global warming and data base

• construction from global warming research outcomes

• - Projection of weather and climate change in the 21st century by

• climate modeling

• Further reliable climate change projection in the 21st century,
• in particular, with a specific focus on extreme events such as heat waves, severe storms, tropical cyclones, storm surges, etc. in the near future (about 25 years from now )
• Projection to be regionally detail enough for relevantly applicable to impact assessment and adaptation studies.

• - Study on long-term climate change projection based on scenarios

• - Construction of integrated data base from observation, projection, impact studies and adaptation measures

Studies identified as important and further strategically prioritized ( P4, P5 & P6)

• P4: Studies on global warming impacts, risk assessment, and adaptation measures

• - Comprehensive monitoring of global warming impacts in vulnerable regions

• - Projection of climate change impacts in 25 years ahead and responding adaptation measures in Japan and Asia

• P5: Studies on global scale water cycle variabilities

• - Understanding of global scale water cycle variabilities by integrating observation and modeling

• P6: Studies on global warming mitigation policies

• 　　- Study on long-term emission scenarios for climate change mitigation

• - Projection and management of climate change risk, and

• study on the design of society exiting from global warming

A National Core Technology project related to climate change research has been initiated

• Prioritized as an important linkage between research and systematic observation in addition to other linkages

• A data integration and analysis system

• To collect, assimilate and integrate data from satellite and ocean/land observations
• To distribute the processed data in response of user needs

• User needs from various sectors including:

• Climate change research
• Public decision-making

Summary

• Japan has just launched the 3rd phase of Science and Technology Basic Plan (FY2006-FY2010)

• Environment is again prioritized besides 3 other fields

• Climate Change research is further prioritized under environment

• Among study subjects identified as important under global warming research, 3 subjects have been further strategically prioritized

• An integration and analysis system project has also been initiated as a National Core Technology project, playing as a linkage of research and systematic observation