How will you (Tokyo University students) behave?
- About the student approach
P2305 Rece to Zero planning project member, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Bunka Shu
The University of Tokyo has set a goal of halving the university's GHG emissions compared to 2013 by 2030. Additionally, we will cooperate with the international community by participating as an institution in the international campaign "Race to Zero," which urges action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. The Race to Zero project is currently underway at GXSN in order to get students involved in the university's goals and actions, reflect their opinions, advance discussion, and accelerate action. For example, the University of Tokyo every yearClimate action reportWe have created a website to update our goals, progress, future plans, etc. Do you know this?
In realizing these goals and plans, ``the way students at the University of Tokyo move'' will be an important variable. I think there are two axes: one is how to act as a consumer (demand-side initiatives), and the other is as a student who wants to influence society through research, technology, and professions. It's about how it works. The first point I would like to make is as an answer to the often-occurring idea that ``the emissions of just one person or one university have changed...''. To begin with, the University of Tokyo owns land spread across the country, and as a business entity it has a great influence in reducing greenhouse gases. Additionally, the fact that an institution called the University of Tokyo is taking such actions seems to have value in terms of informational ripple effects.
But above all, by starting to think and act by controlling and reducing emissions in our everyday lives, we can deepen our understanding of decarbonizing infrastructure services such as electric power systems and gas.When we think about the things we choose and consume on a daily basis, they are connected to the rest of the world through global, multi-layered supply chains, and droughts are becoming more severe in Africa due to the effects of climate change, which is affecting food production all over the world [5] ] is displayed.
In the current economic system, the supply chain is so huge and long that it is difficult to understand how your impact as a consumer will affect which actors, what effects it will have, and how it will be affected by various decisions and the effects of the natural environment. Whether it's feedback or not, it's a complex thing that can't be recognized in an easy-to-understand way. However, it is ``difficult and interesting'' to dig deeper into that framework, look at the issues in detail, think about how to solve them, and then take action. It's nothing but rewarding.
(For example, the following scientific findings show that, counterintuitively, the reduction potential of a single action, a dietary shift, is incredible.)
National Institute for Environmental Studies
Commentator: Toshihiko Masui, Director, Social Systems Area, National Institute for Environmental Studies (IPCC AR6 WG3 Chapter 4 Representative Author)
If you saw this project and felt that there is a sense of crisis in environmental issues such as climate change, but that nothing will change just by eating, or that it is just an awareness campaign, I would love to hear more about it. mosquito?
P2305 Race to Zero Planning ProjectSo, how can we understand the University of Tokyo's greenhouse gas emissions, including direct and indirect emissions, and how can we reduce Scope 3? / What can we specifically do to lead to data-driven behavior change? / Focusing on energy Projects such as holding a "Student Energy Conference" to add student discussion to the University of Tokyo's GX initiatives are underway. There is an overwhelming shortage of manpower! We'll be expecting you.
