The Sustainable Economy Research Group at the Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies of Human Survivability (GSAIS), Kyoto University, held its autumn workshop on 7 December 2022. After the opening remarks by Prof. Dimiter Ialnazov, leader of the Sustainable Economy Research Group, Dr. Andrew Chapman (Associate Professor at the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research) gave a presentation. The title of his presentation was “Achieving a Just Transition: Energy System Design and Social Equity”. According to one of the definitions, a just transition seeks to ensure that the substantial benefits of a green economy transition are shared widely, while also supporting those who stand to lose economically – be they countries, regions, industries, communities, workers or consumers (from EBRD’s web site, https://www.ebrd.com/what-we-do/just-transition).

In his presentation Dr. Chapman discussed the results of his recent research on the energy transition in Japan. Through a nationwide survey, he and his team investigated people’s knowledge of energy technologies and policy, important energy and environmental issues, the energy mix and specific energy transition related issues. They managed to get responses from more than 6,000 people from all over Japan. They analyzed people’s preferences and how these preferences can shape the future energy system in Japan. In addition, they showed by using quantitative methods that social equity in Japan can be improved if people’s preferences related to environmental problems, energy consumption, etc. are aligned with their future actions.

As this was a hybrid workshop, we had both in-person and online participants (in-person 15, online 17). After Dr. Chapman’s presentation, we had a Q&A session where all participants had the chance to ask their questions about the just transition and the research findings presented by Dr. Chapman. We plan to post Dr. Chapman’s presentation file and the video file on the GSAIS web site and the GSAIS YouTube channel.