Abstract
This paper reviews the results of climate change science activities that have been promoted as part of crisis management for climate change to date and draws lessons from them to further strengthen responses to climate stabilization and suggests issues that the scientific community should address going forward. The global climate is a complex physical phenomenon, and it takes time to elucidate its mechanisms. In addition, due to its nature as a global public good with no alternatives, it cannot be controlled without the concerted consensus and action of all nations. Already, the climate management system on a global scale is lagging behind and has not caught up with the actual progress of climate change, and there are concerns that the “climate crisis” will undermine human sustainability. The science of climate change, which is the vanguard of sustainability science, is tackling this unprecedented challenge for humanity by learning by doing and has almost finished collecting nature-side knowledge for stabilizing climate. The next big challenge is how to motivate human society to achieve a carbon-neutral world. Given the limited time available, calls to action on the ground by stakeholders and citizens to reduce greenhouse gases, in parallel with the implementation of top-down policies, will be crucial. It is hoped that crisis management will be strengthened through the consolidation of human knowledge that crosses and integrates various fields. When the science of climate change succeeds in stabilizing the climate, it will serve as a good reference for subsequent sustainability science.
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Acknowledgements
Since the latter half of the 1980s, the author has been observing the progress of climate change science and climate policy from the inside while participating in the policymaking work of the IPCC and the Japanese government. The science of climate change has grown into a big science that paved the way for climate stabilization as the vanguard of sustainability science, but it still does not show enough wisdom to ensure human sustainability. This paper reviews what climate change science has gained and overlooked in its effort as it grapples for a solution for a solution and considers how to steer climate change science toward the critical moment ahead. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the many researchers who have collaborated on this challenge, discussing together in front of the jigsaw puzzle board of climate change. Furthermore, in preparing this manuscript, two peer referees very carefully reviewed the manuscript several times, thereby providing the author with many useful suggestions. The editor-in-chief constantly encouraged the author, and in addition, Ms. Tomoko Ishikawa and Ms. Emma Fushimi provided assistance to the author for the final English check. The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to all those involved for their kind guidance.
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Handled by Mikiko Kainuma, Institute for Global Environment Strategies, Japan.
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Nishioka, S. A challenge for sustainability science: can we halt climate change?. Sustain Sci 19, 7–18 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01405-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01405-1