On 19 October 2022 GSAIS hosted an International FORUM “ZERO-CARBON CITIES: Opportunities, Challenges, Solutions” which was organised by 5th grade PhD student Fedor Myasoedov as part of his Project Based Research (PBR). The purpose of the forum was to discuss how and why Japanese municipalities (cities, towns, villages) attempt to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, what challenges they face towards this goal and what could be some possible solutions.
          The forum gathered an expert panel of five speakers and three commentators, that have included representatives of city governments (Kyoto and Kobe), representatives of the Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and the global city network “ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability”, and scholars from Tokyo University, Federal University of Parana, Brazil, and Bandar Lampung University, Indonesia. The core presentation was delivered by Fedor Myasoedov who introduced the results of his original survey research on municipalities’ motivations and barriers towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 
          The forum had approximately 60 participants (around 45 online and 15 at the venue) from 17 countries. At the Q&A session we had 3 questions from the on-site attendees, and 19 questions from the online participants. As a follow-up to the forum, the responses to all questions submitted during the Q&A session will be collected from all speakers and organized in a summary document which will be shared with all attendees of the forum.

Figure 1: The map of forum’s attendees’ countries