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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
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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
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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Studies identified as important and
further strategically prioritized (P3)
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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)
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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
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P5: Studies on global scale water cycle variabilities
- Understanding of global scale water cycle variabilities by
integrating observation and modeling
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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
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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
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User needs from various sectors including:
 Climate change research
 Public decision-making
Summary
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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