Outline of the Project

The international community has recognized the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent by 2050. In order to achieve this target, it is imperative to develop the LCSs in Asia, as Asian countries account for more than half the global population and GHG emissions. It is thus necessary to identify development pathways to enable a shift to low-carbon emissions and low-resource consumption, while continuing to improving peoples' daily life through economic growth.

The S-6 Research Project aims to identify feasible and robust development pathways over the medium to long-term for the realization of a low-carbon society in Asian countries, at both the national and sub-national levels. It examines these? pathways from five perspectives: (1) integrated research on scenario development towards the realization of LCSs in Asia; (2) fundamental analytical research exploring the possibility of developing LCSs in Asia and how to evaluate progress; (3) research into the medium to long-term international and domestic institutional design options and their formative processes; (4) research to limit GHG emissions from the resource consumption associated with economic growth; and (5) research into concrete measures to establish a low-carbon transport system in Asia

In undertaking this research, the S-6 Research Project firstly summaries the knowledge of Asian development scenarios and emission reduction targets. Secondly, it develops and shares predicative scenarios, presenting an image of the future based on the shared predicative scenarios. In addition, it suggests the institutional arrangements, and resource circulation and low-carbon transport policies, which are necessary for the realization of the low-carbon scenarios, and analyses the feasibility of their implementation. Thirdly, it translates these outcomes into the parameters for integrated models, and performs quantitative analysis, confirming the consistency between categories. Finally, it develops and suggests the policy options which encourage Asian countries to create low-carbon societies from multilateral perspectives and the roadmaps to realize such societies.

The S-6 Research Project also conducts outreach activities to disseminate research outcomes to stakeholders with the capacity to influence the realization of low-carbon societies in Asia. These outreach activities include research symposiums, workshops, reports, policy dialogues and so on. They seek to integrate outcomes of the S-6 Research Project into development planning, and support stakeholders in implementing policies which promote low carbon societies in Asia.