Climate governance and sustainable transformations

This seminar is organised by the Environmental Policy research group at LIEPP.

From the Tokyo ETS to the GX-ETS: The Political Economy of Emissions Trading in Japan

Abstract

In 2026, the Japanese government introduced its first nationwide mandatory emissions trading system, known as the GX-ETS, as part of its Green Transformation (GX) policy aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This development came 15 years after the Tokyo Metropolitan Government launched the Tokyo ETS. 

In this talk, I will explain the basic structure of the GX-ETS and examine why the introduction of a national emissions trading system was delayed. I will discuss the role played by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, as well as the differing positions and responsibilities of ministries within the national government. I will also review the major debates among economists and policy analysts concerning institutional competition between national and subnational governments.

Speaker

Toshi H. Arimura is a Professor of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University, Tokyo. Prior to joining Waseda, he served as a Professor at Sophia University. He has been a visiting scholar at George Mason University and Resources for the Future in the United States as an Abe Fellow, as well as at the Paris School of Economics and Sciences Po in Paris.
His research focuses on climate change, energy policy, and air pollution regulation. His work has been published in leading academic journals, including Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Environmental and Resource Economics, Ecological Economics, and Energy Policy. He is a co-editor of Carbon Pricing in Japan (Springer), which received the Commentary Award from the Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies (SEEPS).

The Geopolitization of Decarbonization: How Changing International Relations Reshape the European Union’s Sustainability Transition

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has established ambitious decarbonization policies to achieve net-zero. After considerable initial progress in the renewable electricity sector, EU policymakers increasingly shift their focus towards broader socio-economic production and consumption sectors. Consequently, in the recent past, legislative packages have been brought forward including on the Circular Economy (CE) as a sustainable model for the economy and society, a new clean industrial development model for a more competitive and autonomous Europe, and by compatibilizing the necessary economic changes with social realities. As a consequence, both the complexities and thematic diversity of EU sustainability policies are significantly increasing. 

At the same time, international cross-country relations are changing fundamentally. Until now, decarbonization-related policymaking was characterized mainly by international cooperation. However, the pursuit of national interests introduces a novel, competitive element into sustainability policy mixes. For instance, export restrictions on critical raw materials and ambitions for achieving cleantech leadership positions have heightened geopolitical competition, potentially complicating both further international sustainability cooperation and domestic policy making.

Against this background, this research examines if and how changing international relations and geopolitics affect EU policymaking for the wider sustainability transition and assesses existing and emerging synergies and conflicts within policy mixes. Methodologically, this research combines a systematic literature review with qualitative data analysis. 

The findings reveal strong but heterogeneous effects. On the one hand, synergies emerge such as between external CRM supply risks that act as catalysts for an increasing CE implementation, reducing the need for both externally supplied and virgin resources. On the other, conflicts emerge between a theoretically ideal global CE and more localized CE versions aimed at strategic autonomy. The tension between global climate policy coordination and achieving national cleantech leadership appears less pronounced then commonly anticipated, as leadership strategies still require baseline international coordination. 

Overall, increasing geopolitical competition may fundamentally alter, but not completely replace established sustainability-related policymaking and mixes. Policy makers have to navigate (more) complex trade-offs and prioritize between (more) targets, including local socio-economic, novel strategic autonomy and broader sustainability-related targets.

Speaker

Dr. Christoph P. Kiefer is a Permanent Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Policies and Goods (IPP-CSIC). Previously, he worked as a Senior Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute of Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) and as a Postdoctoral Researcher at IPP-CSIC. He holds a PhD in Firm Economics from the University of Alcalá (2017) and teaches at University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M). His research focuses on corporate environmental economics, sustainability, energy transitions, circular economy, renewable energy, and the geopolitics of economic policy and strategic autonomy.