Confronting Climate Change: What Can the U.S. and Japan Contribute to Creating Sustainable Societies?

A discussion circling around the recent natural disasters in our world and how the U.S., China and Japan must contribute to the future of sustainable change. 

The recent devastation caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma have brought home the potential impact of climate change on our economy, society, and individual daily lives. Measures to deal with climate change are urgent matters that can only be resolved with international cooperation. In this session, experts from the United States and Japan discuss some of the lessons that have been learned from Asia’s experiences. Following the period of high growth (1960s-1980) which made Japan an economic power house, the Japanese government took strong steps to clean up its air and water. The Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in 2011 forced Japan to take even more aggressive steps to reduce energy consumption and lessen its impact on the global environment. In contrast, the United States, the world’s largest economy, is one of the world’s largest polluters and recently made headlines when it withdrew from the Paris Agreement negotiated at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Asia Society is proud to welcome scholars and experts in economics, geography, urban planning, and sustainability for a discourse on these important issues. They will be visiting Houston as part of the Abe Fellows Global Forum (Abe Global), a new initiative of the Abe Fellowship Program which encourages international multidisciplinary research and U.S.-Japan cooperation on topics of pressing global concern. Join Asia Society for a discussion on the environment and how two of the globe’s largest economies are working to create a more sustainable future.