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This report proposed how LCA research contributes to establishing the Regional Circular and Ecological Sphere with comprehensive, broad, and ambitious concepts. The topics, reports and papers of the special issues in Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Japan were explained from consumption & production perspective, and urban & rural with actor perspectives. Finally, three proposed concepts of inventory development through open innovation, life-cycle design thinking and regional capital could promote to expand LCA research field.

This article explains the idea of “Regional Circular and Ecological Sphere” (R-CES) and introduces its feature in comparison with existing “zones”. As a framework for wider application, 9 requirements of R-CES and a method for de-composing any activity which is aiming development of R-CES are proposed with example to current projects lead by Ministry of Environment, Japan. In addition, some issues related to R-CES adoption in life-cycle assessment research are discussed.

In recent years, local governments in Japan, are promoting measures and policies proactively towards a regional circular and ecological sphere. In this article, first, we introduce a consulting framework for realizing a regional circular and ecological sphere based on distributed energy system studies. Second, we report some application cases of the framework for Furubira-cho (Hokkaido Pref.), Ohkuma-cho （Fukushima Pref.） and Toyama city （Toyama Pref.）. Finally, we discuss a future direction for realizing a regional circular and ecological sphere in light of lessons learned from each characteristic and resource diversity.

Japan and many other countries, as well as many non-state actors, such as corporations, investors, local governments, have committed that they aim to achieve net zero emissions before 2050. For corporations in particular, the net-zero target includes Scope 3, and there is an urgent need to measure and reduce GHG emissions throughout the life cycle. In addition, calculation and reporting standards are being formulated for land sector and CO₂ removal, and these standards also includes scope 3. This paper outlines the issues that need to be addressed in order for companies to set net-zero targets and ensure their reduction, and the latest trends regarding these issues. In particular, the treatment of scope 3 in net zero criteria, practical calculation methods of scope 3 which enables reduction of upstream scope 3 emissions, and potential reporting guidance for land use and CO₂ removal are introduced.

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