TOKYO-- October 11, 2022 -- Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) hosted “Innovation for Cool Earth Forum 9th Annual Meeting (ICEF2022)” as part of “TOKYO GX WEEK” which holds 10 international conferences in the field of energy and environment.

ICEF2022 is the international conference which brings experts of industry, academia and governments from the world together to discuss “innovation” as the key to solving global warming. A total of 15 sessions were held, attended by about 1,600 people from governments, international organizations, companies, and academia in 87 countries/regions.

The Keynotes included dialogue and speeches on the status of energy security, the importance and necessity of innovation to address it, and the innovation that are attracting attention while having various barriers for achieving carbon neutrality.

· Keynote 1: Pre-recorded Dialogue between Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of International Energy Agency (IEA) and Mr. TANAKA Nobuo, Chair of ICEF Steering Committee
· Keynote 2: Video Message from Mr. Gerd Müller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
· Keynote 3: Pre-recorded Dialogue between Mr. Francesco La Camera, Director-General of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Mr. TANAKA Nobuo, Chair of ICEF Steering Committee
· Keynote 4: In person Speech by Mr. Rahm Emanuel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Japan

In each session, under the theme of “Low-Carbon Innovation in a Time of Crises,” lively discussions were developed about policy innovation, CDR (Carbon Dioxide Removal technology), sustainable nuclear systems, a sustainable value chain in the age of resilience: Critical Metals and Minerals, and more. As the result, ICEF2022 issued a statement based on these series of discussions.
Each session is distributed on-demand on ICEF’s YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ouNL9NbvDomDTfiubi8iw

Moreover, the roadmaps for “Low-Carbon Ammonia” and “Blue Carbon” were released. ICEF will give presentation for these roadmaps in COP27 (the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC) held in Egypt and in BNEF held in Shanghai in November 2022.

[Statement]

Under the ICEF2022 main theme of “Low -Carbon Innovation in a Time of Crisis”, the statement addresses the crises we face, the opportunities under such uncertainties and risks, and the importance of diversified approaches to materialize opportunities. Focusing on the need for accelerated action by 2030 and action-oriented innovation, it emphasizes innovation in policy making and innovation for transitions. As a technology innovation, a wide range of technological options for both the supply-side such as carbon dioxide removal and utilization, nuclear, hydrogen and synthetic fuels in heat and transport sector, and critical minerals and enhancing energy efficiency and utilizing renewables in all sectors on demand-side are emphasized.
The full text of statement is at the bottom of this release.