Climate Distortion and Human Response--Under a Scorching Sky in 2025

Climate Distortion and Human Response--Under a Scorching Sky in 2025

Climate change refers to long-term changes in global temperature, precipitation, and wind patterns. Recent climate change is not caused by natural cyclic variations, but mainly by human activities--especially greenhouse gas emissions from the massive consumption of fossil fuels. The effects of these changes are occurring on a global scale, resulting in extreme weather events, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and changes in the habitats of many species.

In Japan, the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly severe in the 2020s. Summer heat waves reach nearly 40°C in urban areas, and emergency medical care due to heat stroke has become a social problem. In addition, torrential rains and river flooding caused by linear precipitation zones occur every year, causing extensive damage mainly in the Kyushu and Tohoku regions. In the agricultural sector as well, there have been declines in rice quality and disruptions in the flowering season of fruit trees, forcing production sites to adapt in unprecedented ways. Furthermore, the combination of aging infrastructure and climate change has reached a stage where the impact on urban functions cannot be ignored, including damage to roads and instability in the power supply.

In 2021, the Law Concerning the Promotion of the Measures to Cope with Global Warming was revised to specify that Japan must become carbon neutral by 2050, institutionalizing a path toward a decarbonized society. Green Transformation (GX)" basic policy was formulated, and innovative technologies such as renewable energy, hydrogen, storage batteries, and carbon capture and storage (CCUS) were put forward as policy pillars. In addition, based on the Climate Change Adaptation Law, national and local governments were systematically obliged to assess local climate risks and take adaptation measures.

Internationally, the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 remains the core of climate policy. Countries around the world aim to limit the temperature increase from pre-industrial times to within 1.5 degrees Celsius, and at COP28 in 2023, an agreement was reached to "phase out" fossil fuels. In addition, "climate lawsuits" alleging inadequate climate measures by corporations and governments are on the rise worldwide, and we are now in an era in which responsibility for climate change is being challenged in the legal arena as well.

Climate change is also driving major changes in the economic and technological spheres. Companies are now required to disclose information on their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks under the TCFD (Climate-related Financial Disclosure), and investors are becoming increasingly interested. Economic instruments such as emissions trading schemes and carbon taxes are also being introduced, and climate-related technologies, or "climate tech," are attracting attention from start-ups to major corporations.

Climate change is also a topic of great interest to civil society, and movements such as "Fridays For Future" are being developed in many places, especially among young people. Some local governments, such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the City of Sapporo, have declared a "climate emergency" and are beginning to share a sense of crisis in terms of policy. In school education, climate change is also being addressed as a theme for inquiry-based learning and ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) to raise the awareness of the next generation.

In 2025, the degree to which society as a whole can respond to this challenge in a timely and fair manner will determine the sustainability of the future.