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Mr. NISHIMURA Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is NISHIMURA Yasutoshi, and I am the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. It is my great pleasure to tell you that the RD20 Leaders’ Session is taking place today as part of the TOKYO GX WEEK. With the aim of realizing a “virtuous circle of economy and environment,” the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is holding TOKYO GX WEEK from September 26th. This is a series of international conferences related to energy and the environment. This event is the new and improved version of Tokyo Beyond-Zero Week, which was held last year. We changed it to focus more on green transformation. There were eight conferences in this event last year, which we have expanded to 10 this year. We established the GX Executive Conference this past July with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in Japan by 2050. Since then, we have been discussing how to concretely achieve green transformation. In order to achieve green transformation, it is essential to generate innovation through research and development, and the results should be shared across the world. As we build on that concept, the RD20 Leaders’ Session is significant because leaders from national institutes overseas gather to discuss international collaborations that generate technical innovations. A Leaders Statement was adopted at last year’s RD20 that was the result of a three-year discussion. To put this international agreement into practice, a concrete action plan must be formulated, which is a big goal at today’s RD20. I have been informed that at this year’s meeting, policies for achieving further international collaboration will be discussed. This includes collaborative international research on solar cells and hydrogen, and training for high-level research and development human resources. In establishing a concrete action plan, I expect that RD20 will be transformed from being an annual conference to being initiative which is active throughout the year. As we build on that concept, the RD20 Leaders’ Session is significant because leaders from national institutes overseas gather to discuss international collaborations that generate technical innovations. A Leaders Statement was adopted at last year’s RD20 that was the result of a three-year discussion. To put this international agreement into practice, a concrete action plan must be formulated, which is a big goal at today’s RD20. I have been informed that at this year’s meeting, policies for achieving further international collaboration will be discussed. This includes collaborative international research on solar cells and hydrogen, and training for high-level research and development human resources. In establishing a concrete action plan, I expect that RD20 will be transformed from being an annual conference to being initiative which is active throughout the year. I too will join you on the journey to achieve green transformation. I am grateful for the tremendous contributions you have made thus far and wish you all the best in your future endeavors. I hope today’s session will deliver major outcomes. Thank you for listening. October 6, 2022, NISHIMURA Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Mr. YAMAMOTO Sakon, Parliamentary Secrertary of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

I am Sakon Yamamoto, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. On behalf of MEXT, a co-sponsor of this event, I would like to express my congratulations to the organizers on the holding of this RD 20 Conference, where topmost experts from research institutions representing the G20 member countries and regions will discuss climate change issues. As you all know, global warming, fueled by excessive carbon dioxide emissions in countries around the world, has been rapidly growing in severity in recent years. It has become one of the major problems facing the international community. In order to achieve carbon neutrality, it is incumbent on industries, academia and governments around the world to pool their capabilities to produce innovative solutions through research and development. Today I hope that the experts from research institutions gathered here from across the globe will have active discussions on innovations in the environmental energy field and that our international cooperation can be further advanced. MEXT is enhancing its support for basic R&D and human resources development at national research and development agencies and universities while collaborating with efforts by industry for producing innovative green transformation technologies. Specifically, we are continuing our support for: -Research and development on hydrogen production and liquefaction and next-generation storage batteries, including solid-state batteries, at the National Institute for Materials Science, NIMS; -R&D on the production of biofuels and bioplastics at RIKEN; -R&D on nuclear fusion energy at the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, QST; -Innovative technology development such as high-temperature gas-cooled reactor at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, JAEA. I wish to thank all of you for your great contributions and sincerely hope that today’s meeting will be very fruitful. Thank you.

Mr. KUNISADA Yuto, Parliamentary Secrertary of Ministry of the Environment

I would like to extend my greetings on the occasion of the 4th RD20. Since 2019, the RD20 has invited top-class experts on clean energy from the G20 countries to create a forum for information sharing on research development and joint international research opportunities. Discussions at this 3rd RD20 will provide an opportunity to expand research on clean energy technologies. I sincerely hope that it contributes to Japan’s push toward global decarbonization. At COP26 last year, the international community agreed on the 1.5-degree target. To reach the 1.5-degree target, the development of new technologies in addition to the existing ones is essential. The G20 countries account for around 80% of global emissions, and, as a consequence, we are expected to bear the corresponding responsibility. It can be said that our contribution to the development of new technologies as discussed at the RD20 is a concrete response to such expectation. In this RD20, we will discuss in particular on the themes of “Hydrogen Lifecycle Assessment and Techno Economic Analysis,” “Renewable Energy Generation and Integration,” and “Carbon Management.” These important technologies will be key on our path toward decarbonization. In Japan, the Ministry of the Environment has implemented pilot projects to establish the supply chain of decarbonized hydrogen, including hydrogen production and transportation using local resources, in 11 regions to date. Toward the realization of a Hydrogen Society, Japan is working on establishing the whole supply chain from production to consumption at the local level, which will lead to CO2 emission reduction. Let me conclude by wishing that the discussions at the 4th RD20 will contribute to broaden research in clean energy technologies and drive global decarbonization from the technical perspective. Thank you very much.
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