The severe impacts of climate change, such as fires in the Amazon rainforest, melting permafrost in the Arctic, unseasonable heat waves, and massive typhoons, are becoming apparent all over the world, and we can say that we are in a state of emergency. In this context, the city of Darebin in Australia made the world's first "Climate Emergency Declaration (CED)" in December 2016. Since then, CEDs have rapidly increased, mainly in Europe and the United States, and as of August 2019, 987 local governments (mainly councils) in 18 countries, including London, New York, and Paris, have made CEDs.
Furthermore, this year, universities that should be intellectual hubs have increasingly announced their CEDs, primarily in Europe and the United States, and declarations have been made in multiple international networks involving over 7,000 universities around the world.
This global situation has not received much attention in Japan until now, but in September 2019, the Science Council of Japan issued an emergency message and Iki City decided to join CED.
Our university established the SDGs Action Charter on September 12, 2019. Among the action goals, we believe that responding to climate change, which has recently become increasingly severe, is of utmost urgency, and therefore we are issuing the following emergency message.
declaration
- We recognize that the rapid climate change in recent years is largely attributable to human activities and that the global environment is in a critical situation.
- As Japan's first 100% renewable energy university, Chiba University of Commerce is actively researching and implementing measures to combat climate change, and working towards building a 100% renewable energy society.
- Building a 100% renewable energy society will greatly contribute to promoting ESG finance and achieving the SDGs.
October 2019
Chiba University of Commerce
President Yukihiko Harashina
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