The surface of the Earth is covered with the atmosphere, oceans, and land, and preserving this surface environment of the Earth is indispensable for creating a sustainable human society. However, human activity has caused changes in the climate, including not only rising average temperatures but also an increase in extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and damage to ecosystems and food production. Countries and regions are required to take further measures to reduce greenhouse gases under the Paris Agreement, an international framework for climate change countermeasures. There is growing concern about the climate crisis in the world, and Japan has also pledged to realize net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
The Earth System Division was established in April 2021 in line with the start of NIES’ 5th Medium- to Long-Term Plan. By implementing research programs such as the newly launched strategic research program "Climate Change and Air Quality Research Program", our researchers will, in collaboration with scientists in Japan and overseas, work on a variety of research issues such as prediction of future changes in the global environment, assessment of risks, and development of advanced measurement technologies and models necessary for their research. Furthermore, the intellectual research infrastructure (long-term monitoring, databases, etc.) will continue to be maintained by the Center for Global Environmental Research (CGER) established in 1990. We will also work closely with the Satellite Observation Center that is responsible for the "IBUKI" (GOSAT) series of greenhouse gas observation satellites.
We will disseminate our research results more quickly and widely. Scientific knowledge and data will be actively transmitted to international frameworks such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We hope that, through the above activities, we can contribute to the realization of a sustainable global environment and society.
April 2021Nobuko Saigusa
Director