Ichiro KANAZAWA
President,
Science Council of Japan
The world faces a variety of serious challenges today. Climate change is occurring on a global scale and is thought to be caused in large part by the accumulation of greenhouse gases produced by human activities. Earthquakes, typhoons, tsunami, and other massive natural disasters are wreaking serious damage on major cities in particular. It is feared that there will be a shortage of water and fossil fuels in the near future. Social and economic mechanisms that used to function well are showing signs of systemic fatigue and dysfunction. Under these circumstances, the greatest issue that the globalized world of the 21st century must work together to address is the question of how humankind can discover a pathway forward so that it can continue to develop in a way that is sustainable and fair to diverse regions as well as to various generations. Needless to say, the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences will work together in a complementary fashion to play a role of utmost importance in conceiving resolutions for these issues.
The Science Council of Japan studies how science can contribute to system design and implementation and the envisioning of policy support for sustainable development. The results of some of our activities are summarized in Japan Perspective (September 2002) and Japan Vision 2050 （September 2005).
As part of its efforts, the Science Council of Japan plans and organizes the International Conference on Science and Technology for Sustainability. This international conference has been held annually since 2003 for a total of four times to date. Each year, we invite many Japanese and foreign specialists to discuss systems and policies to achieve a sustainable society. Past conferences have focused on energy, Asian megacities, dynamism in Asia, and the Global Innovation Ecosystem. This year’s conference concerns the theme of international cooperation for development and features three sessions in addition to keynote speeches. We aim to discover strategies and tools to address today’s global-scale challenges by having eminent scholars explore concrete issues and consider what kind of contribution science can make to their resolution.
