The Global Commons Stewardship Index was developed by the University of Tokyo’s Global Commons Center in collaboration with the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Yale University. It was introduced in Chapter 10 of the book, “Understanding the Spillovers and Transboundary Impacts of Public Policies: Implementing the 2030 Agenda for More Resilient Societies,” produced by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission-Joint Research Center (EC-JRC).
The outline of the “Global Commons Stewardship Index: GCSi” was presented at the “Tokyo Forum 2020 Online” held in December 2020. This index shows the actual increase and decrease of loads put on the global environmental system by main components such as climate change, biodiversity, land use changes, etc. and the degree to which the goals for each set by governments, organizations, corporations and others have been achieved.
The GCSi could be very helpful for China’s efforts to promote carbon neutrality.
The Tokyo Forum 2020 Online was hosted in Japan by connecting prominent researchers, managers, policy makers, and environmental experts from all over the world online.
The theme of the Forum was “Global Commons Stewardship in the Anthropocene”.
“Humans are the first species which has started to alter the function of the Earth system,” said University of Tokyo President Makoto Gonokami in kicking off the symposium, which was co-sponsored by the University of Tokyo and South Korea’s Chey Institute for Advanced Studies. “To tackle those challenges, we need a systemic transformation of our current economic model so that our prosperity is sustained within the boundaries of our Earth system, our Global Commons.”
The “Center for Global Commons (CGC)” was established by the University of Tokyo in August 2020 to help solve all the environmental issues now facing the planet and to protect the “Global Commons.” Along with other notable speakers, Professor Naoko Ishii, director of the CGC and organizer of the conference, expressed a sense of crisis on numerous occasions. She emphasized that such a sense is necessary, if we are to deal with the unprecedented scale and speed of climate change and other environmental problems now facing the world.
Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, President Xi Jinping of China gained international approval with his pledge to achieve “carbon neutrality,” the virtual elimination of greenhouse gas emissions, by 2060. The trend towards “carbon neutrality” is now on the increase, with lively discussions and initiatives similar to the Tokyo Forum taking place throughout the world.
The United Nations Biodiversity Summit will be held in Kunming, China, from October 11th to 24th of this year. 2021 is shaping up to be a very important year for China as a world leader in the promotion of carbon neutrality.
For Further Information;
Project Website: Tokyo Forum 2020 Online https://www.tokyoforum.tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/
Contact Person: Tokyo Forum Secretariat
Email: [email protected]