Climate Change Issues and Social Sciences

Through literary works such as Yoko Tawada’s “The Emissary” and historical documents, I will decipher the historical images of chrysanthemums, white chrysanthemums, and dandelions in Japan. There is a mixture of the unique narratives of minimalist communities and maximalist myths and legends. The establishment of modern society and the modern state created the illusion of a uniform nation-state narrative. The minimalist regional imagination, which is gradually being lost as a result of this, represents the ideal relationship between nature and human beings in Japan in the past. By focusing on the power of stories and narratives, studying the history of imagination over the environment, and restoring the minimalist community narratives of the past, we will have the power to remake the environment for a new age.

The emissions gap refers to the difference between the projected greenhouse gas emissions trajectory based on currently planned climate change mitigation policies and the efficient emissions path required to achieve the 1.5-degree (or 2-degree) target agreed upon in the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This disparity reflects the gap between what we intend to do for future generations (intergenerational altruism) and what we believe should be done for them (intergenerational equity). Resolving the emissions gap is crucial for achieving a carbon-neutral society. Addressing this challenge requires reinforcing intergenerational altruism and garnering significant support for the ethical foundation of intergenerational equity underlying the 1.5-degree target. Based on these concerns, this study introduces and examines various discussions in the social sciences, particularly in economics, regarding intergenerational altruism and intergenerational equity.

This chapter examines individual moral responsibility for collective harm, specifically in the context of climate change, arguing that individuals bear moral responsibility for contributing to such harm, implying that we should refrain from activities such as driving cars and consuming meat. The argument is developed in two parts: by demonstrating that the moral wrongness of actions contributing to collective harm increases in proportion to the scale and severity of that harm, and by exploring the type of responsibility we can assign to individuals in response to this wrongness. Through this exploration, I critically examine the limitations of an individual-based framework and argue that it fails to capture the interconnected nature of actions leading to collective harm. Subsequently, I emphasize the systemic interdependence of contributors, illustrating that we are part of a shared system, in which our actions collectively contribute to harm. From this perspective, I introduce the concept of non-agential shared responsibility, providing a framework for understanding individual responsibility within the broader context of collective harm such as climate change. Lastly, I argue that, to fully support and enrich this responsibility, we must revise our daily moral codes to align with the notion of global citizenship, recognizing that our interconnectedness and systemic interdependence extend beyond individual levels to a global scale, and across generations.

Urban and regional policies are key to achieving carbon neutrality as the majority of the global population is now living in urban built environments. However, progressive national agendas have been emerging, but institutional barriers often persist in constraining policymakers from guiding sustainable land use-transport coordination. This chapter argues that the research tradition of historical institutionalism (HI) offers insights into understanding and overcoming these barriers, helping explain current policies by identifying path dependence and power contestation rooted in contingent decisions over time. It considers the case of Tokyo to show that past policy choices shape recent contestations between carbon-emissive automobiles and low-carbon electrified railways. In Tokyo, the contingent absence of private automobiles owing to industrial policies until the mid-twentieth century delayed the progress of sustainable transport planning. This allowed pro-development coalitions to accelerate highway construction in the late century and led to Tokyo’s puzzling metropolitan structure today: a transit-served inner city and automobile-reliant outer suburbs. These sequential events suggest that reformers should deliberate path dependence on layered development agendas set by powerful actors to advance sustainable transport and land use planning and overcome institutional barriers toward achieving carbon neutrality.

To achieve a carbon-neutral and sustainable society, communities must be built that efficiently use local renewable energy. In this chapter, we first present a vision of the carbon-neutral energy system that we should strive for. We argue that to realize this vision, smart energy systems should be built in rural areas rich in renewable energy resources, as well as in the agriculture and forestry industries that support them. In this chapter, we will explain the Japanese government’s circular and ecological sphere concept as a method for revitalizing rural villages, followed by a methodology for transitioning to carbon-neutral rural villages based on the theoretical framework of “sustainability transition.” According to this methodology, to create a carbon-neutral society, promoters should (1) play a central role in establishing a vision for the region’s future and (2) proactively implement projects that improve the environment, society, and economy in accordance with the vision while involving various stakeholders. Furthermore, (3) the promoter must continue to expand its business by iteratively refining the concept based on feedback from the results. This chapter employs this methodological framework to assess best practice processes while clarifying future measures’ requirements. Finally, we argue that to achieve this goal, agriculture and forestry must be integrated into the economic cycle mechanism and discuss the ideal future economic structure. Specifically, we introduce an analysis method known as input–output analysis and use it to explain the new input–output structure that results from the constructing rural village using renewable energy.

This chapter shows that renewable energy penetration is necessary toward a low-carbon society and explores the justice issues arising from the renewables penetration. It highlights the negative impacts on local environments, which often lead to Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) movements, but also points out that renewable energy is an important local resource to be utilized by local people. Zoning renewables promotion zones would mitigate the conflicts between renewables facilities and residents. This chapter also addresses the challenges of expanding nuclear energy post-Fukushima. The policies and schemes that prompt renewables such as feed-in tariff are analyzed. They benefit rich households but leave poor households struggle in expensive electricity bills. This structure leads to the energy justice problem.

This chapter focuses on the nuclear damage compensation system and discusses the creation of an important yet often forgotten mechanism for facilitating the transition to carbon neutrality in the nuclear sector. The key mechanism of this compensation system enables those exposed to a shared risk to contribute money in the event of an accident. This chapter discusses the importance of this mechanism through three examples: the Brussels Supplementary Convention, the Retrospective Rating Plan in the United States, and the general contribution mechanism created in Japan after the Fukushima accident. This chapter asserts that a mechanism to collect money among nuclear operators who are exposed to the shared risk of a nuclear accident should be created. In Japan, a mechanism to collect money from nuclear operators who are exposed to a common risk (burden sharing) was created after the Fukushima nuclear accident. This resulted in a lack of understanding of the structure of the system and raised doubts. The Japanese case is a useful precedent for managing nuclear power generation in a carbon-neutral society.

This chapter will empirically elucidate the current state of environmental orientation among contemporary Japanese voters to anticipate a transition to a carbon-neutral society. Previous studies have asserted that environmental orientation among Japanese citizens is declining and has become increasingly associated with ideological and political conflicts. To explore which individuals exhibit higher levels of environmental orientation, this study will investigate the relationship between media consumption patterns and the intensity of environmental orientation in Japan, where environmental issues tend to receive limited media coverage. This chapter demonstrates that individuals who have obtained information from Internet-based media tend to exhibit a lower degree of environmental orientation compared to those who rely on traditional media sources, such as newspapers and television. Given the limited media coverage of environmental issues and the high level of environmental orientation among traditional media consumers, the low level of environmental orientation among web media consumers can be attributed to insufficient exposure to environmentally related information. To enhance the environmental orientation of voters and guide them toward a carbon-neutral society, it is imperative that the media coverage of climate change be improved.

After the amendment of the Cabinet Office Ordinance on the Disclosure of Corporate Affairs in Japan, “sustainability-related policy and initiatives” have been added to the annual securities report as a disclosure item. Under this item, the disclosure of “governance,” “strategy,” “risk management,” and “metrics and targets” is required. These are widely used both domestically and internationally as core elements in climate-related financial disclosures based on TCFD Recommendations. This chapter first reviews the content and characteristics of this amended Ordinance, focusing on climate-related disclosure, and then explains the method of description, treatment of forward-looking information, criteria for materiality, and the materiality adopted by the amended Ordinance. Trends in sustainability disclosure standards have also been discussed. After confirming the status of the amended Ordinance in comparison with the UK Companies Act and its guidance, the chapter concludes with a brief outlook on the future. The statutory requirement to disclose listed companies’ sustainability-related information is not simply a demand to disclose the current status of the companies. However, it is positioned to encourage them to generate business profits and avoid losses by creating a sustainable business environment for them. This is expected to contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society.

This chapter presents the major findings of prior studies on the effects of corporate governance, top executives, and top corporate decision-makers on firm sustainability performance. While there is a view that firms’ primary responsibility is to serve shareholder interests, there is a growing awareness that firms should also make contributions in tackling societal problems, including environmental sustainability and carbon neutral society. This is especially true given that some firm activities negatively affect the environment and that firms have the resources to make contributions to address such challenges. Based on our review of previous studies, specific corporate governance practices and top executive attributes are associated with sustainability performance. Research also shows that specific ownership structures such as institutional ownership relate to firm sustainability performance. However, prior studies reveal that such effects are rather complex; some factors, such as executive compensation and board CSR committees, work together. This suggests the importance of examining the effects of corporate governance practices as a “bundle” and thus, firms must design their corporate governance system by choosing multiple practices that reinforce each other when they aim to improve their sustainability performance and contributions to achieve a carbon neutral society.

The distribution and marketing sectors urgently need to implement green logistics in trucking to achieve carbon neutrality. This is because the transportation sector accounts for about 20% of Japan’s total CO₂ emissions, with trucks contributing around 40% of these emissions. The rise of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Rakuten has significantly increased truck usage, which has the potential to elevate CO₂ emissions in Japanese logistics. Regarding CO₂ emissions, the logistics industry in Japan is currently facing a trade-off between extreme weather conditions and global warming and the increase in truck transportation. An effective way to address this problem is through green logistics. The author proposes a four-phase action plan based on the current level of penetration and difficulty of execution: Phase 1 (energy use reform), Phase 2 (logistics digital transformation, also known as logistics DX), Phase 3 (logistics structural reform), and Phase 4 (robotization). Each phase of the action plan involves crucial social innovations and, if implemented as envisioned, will enable a considerable reduction in CO₂ emissions and contribute toward a carbon-neutral society.

This study examines policies that have been applied to traditional water resource management using case studies in Bali, Indonesia. The paddy fields of Bali have long been managed by the traditional irrigation organization, “Subak.” The paddy fields such as in Tabanan Regency, Bali, were registered as a World Cultural Heritage in 2012 by UNESCO as “cultural landscape,” which have been created as a basis of harmony between humans and nature. However, with the recent surge in global tourism, Bali has experienced a considerable reduction in paddy field areas, posing challenges to agricultural land conservation. In response, the government adopted Subak-based policies. This study employed field surveys to assess the impact of the Subak government program, examining socioeconomic conditions of local farmers, paddy field reduction, income changes, and the effectiveness of subsidies and policies supporting the Subak system. The results revealed a complex relationship between tourism-driven economic pressures and the sustainability of traditional farming. The key findings comprise decreased paddy field areas, alterations in farmer incomes and livelihoods, and challenges in preserving the cultural and environmental integrity of the Subak system. This study offers broad insights into sustainability, cultural preservation, and balancing modernization and traditional practices.

Climate change is a matter of human rights. To achieve a carbon-neutral society, understanding the challenges faced by the vulnerable groups is necessary. This chapter adopts a case study approach, using interviews, observation, and documentary analysis to examine the impact of climate change on economically disadvantaged and socially vulnerable populations in the Global South. The case of a Cambodian village is examined to define the concept of vulnerability within this context and gain a deeper understanding of the impact of climate change on vulnerable groups. Understanding the reality of people’s lives makes it possible to develop a sustainable society that enables social inclusion.

Creating a carbon-neutral, sustainable society requires revolutionary social innovations. The previous chapters of this book have attempted to present what kind of social innovation is needed and what methodologies are necessary to create a carbon-neutral and sustainable society based on the specialized perspectives of different humanities and social science disciplines. The final chapter shows the social innovations necessary to realize a carbon-neutral society, which were concluded from discussions in diverse social science fields, and the transition stages (first to third steps) to achieve a carbon-neutral society. However, research into the various synergies and trade-off effects that occur during a simultaneous resolution of multiple issues is a key future task.