Climate Change Issues and Social Sciences

Dr. Ken-Ichi Akao is a professor of environmental economics in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Waseda University. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences from Kyoto University. Dr. Akao joined Waseda University in 1995. His research interests include sustainable development, the tragedy of the commons, environmental policies, and international environmental agreements. He applies nonlinear dynamic theory to economic analysis and environmental issues. Selected publications include: "Tax Schemes in a Class of Differential Games" (Economic Theory, 2008); "Some Rationalizability Results for Dynamic Games" (with Tapan Mitra and Gerhard Sorgner, International Journal of Economic Theory, 2012); "A Tradable Permit System in an Intertemporal Economy" (with Shunsuke Managi, Environmental and Resource Economics, 2013); and "A Theory of Disasters and Long-Run Growth" (with Hiroaki Sakamoto, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 2018). He serves as co-editor of the academic journal Environmental Economics and Policy Studies (Springer), as editor of International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics (now publishers), and as editorial board member of Chinese Journal of Population, Resources, and Environment (KeAi). He was the President of the Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies from 2016 to 2018.

Dr. Ayu Washizu is a Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute for Economic Analysis of Next-generation Science and Technology, and Vice Director of the Research Institute for Environment Economics and Management at Waseda University in Tokyo. Her research interests include input-output analysis, renewable energy, and smart society utilizing information and communication technology. Dr. Washizu has published her work in academic journals such as Cities, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, the Journal of Environmental Management, Telecommunications Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, the Journal of the Japan Institute of Energy, and Economic Systems Research. Dr. Washizu holds a Ph.D. in Commerce, an M.Sc. in Economics, and a B.A. in Economics from Keio University. She has served on several Japanese local government committees on public works, including the Public Works Evaluation Committee of the City of Yokohama and the Port Council of the City of Kawasaki. Dr. Washizu has also served on the editorial boards of academic journals such as Energy and Resources. In 2005, she was awarded the Best Presentation Paper Award at the 4th International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing EcoDesign. In 2010, she was awarded the Outstanding Paper Award from the Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management.