Many local governments have introduced “reporting systems” which oblige the larger scale of factories and offices to submit their plans and reports on mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. As effectiveness of climate policy is enhanced by nationwide/worldwide implementation, examining the relationship between effectiveness and diffusion of local climate policies is essential. This paper clarifies a relationship between potential effectiveness and diffusion of the system, and derives and barriers for the policy diffusion. Interviews and questionnaire to the officials in local governments which have introduced the system indicates the followings.
1) There are three major factors which affect to the system design and operation; the reference point (TMG [Tokyo Metropolitan Government] system or not), the actors who affect to the introduction process, and industrial sector′s component ratio of CO₂ emission.
2) The local governments who introduce the possible system in the status quo for the first time and upgrade the effectiveness in a stepwise fashion like TMG is limited, because they have enough resource to input for mere notification system. Consequently, many local governments do not have a prospect on introducing a reduction obligation and are in a wait-and-see attitude to wide-range unity and similar local governments.

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We investigated the psychological determinants of waste reduction behaviors by using the two-phase model of environmentally conscious behavior (Hirose, 1994). In early 2010, we administered an online survey to 1,000 residents each from Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, whom we selected by the quota sampling method. Among seven kinds of waste reduction behaviors, we selected the following three: buying refills to reuse containers, with high behavioral frequency; carrying one′s own bags so as to consume fewer plastic bags, with middle frequency; and buying foods without foam cartons, with low frequency. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) to identify the determinants of each behavior, we found that: (a) personal norm and benefit evaluation were the main determinants of the intention of each behavior; (b) subjective norm and cost evaluation, which were main determinants of many environmental behaviors (e.g., recycling), had little effect on behavioral intention; and (c) the main determinant of personal norm was belief in the effectiveness of each behavior on reducing waste and preventing global warming. Meanwhile, the strength of effects of perceived behavioral control on behavioral intention differed among behaviors. The present research suggests the need for employing different approaches to promote individual waste reduction behaviors.

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In the context of sustainable consumption, waste prevention behaviors should be quantitatively evaluated from the viewpoints of not only household waste generation but also life-cycle environmental loads such as greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, five case studies of consumption behaviors, including choices between single-use and refillable detergent containers, and between reheating rice and keeping it hot, were evaluated as life-cycle environmental indicators of global warming potential, acidification potential, fossil resource consumption, and final waste disposal, as well as household waste generation. Alternatives to each consumption behavior were given that had the same fundamental function from the consumer viewpoint. The results showed that some alternative consumption behaviors whose household waste generation was lower had higher life-cycle environmental loads, indicating that quantitative evaluation is required to determine whether behaviors reduce life-cycle environmental loads before promoting waste generation behaviors. However, the results also indicate that household waste generation can be a benchmark for life-cycle environmental loads provided that products are made from the same material and that no energy such as electricity is consumed in the alternative behaviors.

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Shading effect of neighboring buildings in the residential building cluster in the hot summer and cold winter zone of China is estimated by building energy simulation tool eQUEST. Generic building according to the prevailing residential buildings in the area is established. Cooling, heating, and combined electricity energy consumption is estimated, with and without neighboring buildings. It was found that shaded by the neighboring building with the recommended distance from the generic building, the cooling electricity consumption in the five case study cities reduced about 10 to 20 percent. The heating electricity consumption, on the contrary, increased about 0 to 20 percent. The total energy reduced by shading effect is more in the cities of Changsha, Chengdu and Chongqing. The relationship of distance between buildings in the South-North direction has been studied also by energy simulation. In all the cities in the area, with the increase of width_N-S, the cooling energy decreases, the heating energy increases. The optimum width_N-S for energy conservation has been found in Shanghai, Wuhan and Changsha. In Shanghai, it will benefit to building energy saving, if the recommended width_N-S increases to 1.5H. In Chongqing and Chengdu, the smaller the width_N-S is, the more energy is conserved.

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To discuss global environmental concerns with accuracy, a suitable understanding of the Earth system is indispensable. In this research, anthropogenic carbon originating from the combustion of fossil fuels was tracked by using a highly intuitive seven-box model that enables clear understanding of the carbon cycle. The abundance of the heavy isotope ¹³C differs slightly between anthropogenic carbon and the natural carbon that entered the environment before industrialization. The simulation shows that only 64 PgC of anthropogenic carbon is located in the present atmosphere and accounts for 22% of the total emissions of 284 PgC from human activities. This amount is in good agreement with an estimate from the observed δ¹³C value for the atmosphere. The remaining 106 PgC of the increase in the atmosphere is natural carbon from other carbon reservoirs. Of the remaining anthropogenic carbon, half accumulates in the ocean and half, in the terrestrial environment. The disturbance caused by human activity can be represented well by tracking the anthropogenic carbon.

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In this paper, we estimate the short-term impact of a carbon tax on the industry and households, using a tax rate proposed by the Tokyo Prefectural Tax Commission. The proposed tax rate was ¥2,049/t-CO₂ for all fossil fuels except for gasoline and diesel. An interesting feature of the proposed tax is the downstream taxation of electricity. Therefore households directly pay the carbon tax for electricity usage. This point differs from other studies.
We use the 2005 input-output table to estimate the change in commodity prices using a price model. As for the impact on the households, we use the data from the “Family Income and Expenditure Survey” (Statistics Bureau) and link the price change determined from the Input Output model to the quantity listed in the survey. We find that in some commodities the price increase was greater than 5%, while on average the price increase was less than 1%. As for households, the results revealed that the tax burden was higher for low income households and households living in cooler regions.

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An input-output table indicates the cash flow among industries, and hence, an appropriate parameter is required to convert cash flow into material flow. For this purpose, we developed an optimality method for estimating weights using prices. Further, we utilized this method to analyze and assess the material flow in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, from 1980 to 2000, by using input-output tables. The results from the material flow analysis (MFA) indicated that half the resource input was crude and natural gas. A major portion of this input was consumed by primary industries, secondary industries, tertiary industries, and general consumers. Finished products accounted for more than 90% of the exports from this prefecture. Between 1980 and 1985, this prefecture′s industry structure became export-centered. In 1993, a conference was launched in Kanagawa prefecture to promote environmental conservation. Consequently, in a span of two decades, the total amount of waste including the amount of carbon dioxide decreased by 75%.

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