Date/Time: 13:30-15:00 a.m. on July.10 (Sat.), 2021
Topic: Carbon Neutral –What could be done locally and globally?–
Style: This discussion was conducted on-line with Zoom application.
Language: English
Fee: free
Attendees: Non-native Japanese*2 (China*1 UK*1)
Moderator: a MIFA staff member
Climate change due to global warming has melted the Arctic, Antarctica, and permafrost, raising sea levels and making lowlanders more susceptible to high waves. In addition, rising sea temperatures make it easier for typhoons to occur, causing heavy rains like never before, floods and debris flows. Large-scale wildfires are occurring all over the world due to the westerly meandering. The melting of permafrost releases methane trapped in the ground into the air, spurring global warming. Polar bears are displaced by melting ice, koalas are displaced by wildfires, endemic species are extinct due to the disappearance of rainforests, and coral dies in the sea due to sea temperature rise and acidification of seawater due to carbon dioxide increase. Coral dies and carbon dioxide cannot be absorbed into the sea. Indigenous peoples who live in heat and low rainforests have been displaced by pioneers, tropical rainforests have been opened up, and the savanna, which loses moisture the air becomes dry and a large-scale wildfire is occurring.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are considered to be the cause of global warming that poses a threat to living things on the earth, including humans. Carbon dioxide is generated when fossil fuels burn. It is carbon neutral to reduce this and make the increase and decrease of carbon dioxide emissions the same amount. At the G7 summit held the other day, participating countries confirmed their goal of “achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest.” But can such efforts really stop global warming?

In order to stop global warming, individuals, NGOs, etc. need to cooperate on the Internet to encourage governments and companies to change their behavior. For that purpose, there are many things to be done such as efforts to protect local forests such as forest conservation and trust movement, reduction of food loss, shift from carnivorous to plant-derived protein intake, recycling, reuse, and promotion of reduce, etc.