The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), established in April 2001, is an inter-university research institute promoting comprehensive research in global environmental studies. Its motto is “The root of global environmental problems is the problem of human culture,” and while it belongs to the Inter-University National Institutes for the Humanities, it has conducted research that incorporates a wide range of humanities and social sciences perspectives, based on data from the natural sciences.

Today, the earth is facing many challenges. Rapid population growth, urbanization, massive industrial production, and rapid movements of people and goods are causing serious changes in the global environment, including increased carbon dioxide emissions, global warming, ocean acidification, and tropical deforestation. The coronavirus pandemic was triggered by massive human intervention in nature, and it is no exaggeration to say that the recent rapid population growth and global movement of people and goods have caused a man-made disaster. The sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2021) goes so far as to assert, “There is no doubt that human impacts have warmed the atmosphere, oceans, and land.”

The Planetary Boundary, a set of nine indicators of the safe zone or degree of safety for the planet, has already been exceeded for biodiversity (species extinction rate), biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus cycles), and new chemicals such as plastics. At the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2022, measures to limit the global average temperature increase to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels were discussed, and a fund was agreed to be established to assist developing countries with “losses and damages” caused by climate change. Japan has declared that it will reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions to virtually zero by 2050.

In 2015, another important decision was made at the United Nations: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted to guide long-term development until 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consist of 17 goals and 169 targets (specific goals) to be achieved by developed and developing countries working together to ensure that no one is left behind. Japan is an issue-oriented country in the SDGs and is even considered an advanced problem-solving country in some areas. However, achieving these goals is not an easy task and requires a variety of efforts and technological innovations.

In particular, solving these problems requires not only natural scientific numerical targets and science and technology, but also a social way of thinking that will significantly change people’s lives. The impact of the new coronavirus has widened social and economic disparities among people, and there is a growing tendency to prioritize one’s own country. In 2022, the Club of Rome looked back on 50 years after the “Limits to Growth,” and offered concrete proposals to reverse poverty and inequality, empower marginalized groups, and transform food and energy by 2050. It offered concrete proposals to advance the transformation of food and energy.

With those proposals in mind, RIHN will continue to explore and advocate for future possibilities, using local culture as a major stepping stone and extending the concept of the global commons. Over the past 22 years, RIHN has conducted 41 research projects and made various proposals based on the results of those projects. From now on, we will use these results as a springboard to promote transdisciplinary research, which aims to solve multiscale and complex environmental problems from the local to the global level, and to create a future-oriented society. Transdisciplinary research is a research activity in which researchers, companies, governments, municipalities, NGOs, and other interested parties come together across disciplines to address issues, and work toward multidisciplinary solutions. The modern era is called a “knowledge-intensive society.” However, there is a lot of wisdom and traditional ways of thinking that lie dormant in local communities. It is important to uncover them and draw a design for the future society that fits the local climate.

RIHN’s projects and ongoing themes have effectively interwoven the natural sciences with the humanities and social sciences, and have produced significant results that have caught the world’s attention. It has become an international center for environmental studies, leading the global network Future Earth and the Earth Hall of Fame KYOTO, and supporting the institutional design of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). In collaboration with universities, local governments, and industrial companies throughout Japan, we serve as the secretariat of the University Coalition for Carbon Neutrality and the Kyoto Climate Change Adaptation Center in cooperation with Kyoto Prefecture and Kyoto City. In addition, starting this fiscal year, we have assumed responsibility for the doctoral program in Global Environmental Studies as part of the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, and will be accepting graduate students. I am determined to continue along our current path and demonstrate to the world the significance of Research Institute for Humanity and Nature while keeping an eye on the future of academia and society.