Nov. 27, 2024
Thirteenth Global Summit of Research Institute Leaders
On October 5, leaders from 23 public research institutes from around the world attended the Thirteenth Global Summit of Research Institute Leaders in Kyoto. Together they discussed “Reducing our ecological footprint without compromising research excellence.”
The Summit began with initial presentations by Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Kimberly S. Budil, Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Each of the other participants were then invited to share additional thoughts on the theme of this year’s Summit.
The participants discussed the measures that they were taking to reduce their ecological footprints by, for example, reducing energy and water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and the use of limited natural resources, and brought up ideas such as incorporating eco-efficiency into new project plans and adopting open innovation/open science. In closing, they adopted a Joint Statement in which they wrote, “As leading research institutions, we recognize that we have an important role to play in performing research that will support and encourage the creation of greener societies. At the same time, the international commitment to achieving net zero emissions means that we must achieve a balance between reducing our own ecological footprints while maintaining high-level research that will help achieve that goal.” They also mentioned the importance of making “scientific predictions of how our efforts will be most successful” and committed themselves to “collaborating to share ideas on ways to make research more sustainable.”
The Global Summit of Research Institute Leaders is an annual event held in Kyoto ahead of the STS forum. It is co-hosted by RIKEN and AIST. The Summit this year was co-chaired by RIKEN President Makoto Gonokami and CNRS Chairman and CEO Antoine Petit, and was moderated by former Swedish Ambassador to Japan, Stefan Noreen.
Group photo of main table participants of the 13th RIL