“Global warming is already progressing, and even if we were to achieve virtually zero greenhouse gas emissions, the effects of climate change would be unavoidable. Based on the assumption that climate risks will occur, adaptation strategies refer to policies that consider how society will cope with these risks and provide guidelines. In 2018, the Japanese government enacted the Climate Change Adaptation Act in response to the international community’s call for adaptation strategies as well as mitigation measures as practical climate risks became apparent. Even now, however, the very existence of initiatives to adapt to climate change is not widely known to the public. Therefore, there is a great deal of room for progress and high expectations for practically accumulating the adaptation strategies I am researching and putting them into some semblance of order,”Handa explained.

“Adaptation strategies in Japan are based on the Climate Change Adaptation Plan, which covers seven areas: agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; marine environment and resources; natural ecosystems; natural disasters and coastal areas; health; industry and economic activities; and people's daily lives and urban living. In order to transit to a society that can adapt to climate change, measures will be advanced in each of these areas. Since the analysis will also cover current policies and measures related to these areas, it would be difficult for a single person to conduct an exhaustive study of all these areas. Therefore, since the large-scale flooding that occurs every year in Japan is a risk of growing concern among domestic climate change issues that should be focused on, this is the area that I am analyzing in my research on adaptation,”Handa added.

“Many Japanese companies have established operations in India and are engaged in a variety of activities there. When I looked at the places where they were setting up their facilities, I noticed that, for some reason, they included regions prone to frequent flooding. This led me to ask myself a simple question: ‘Since flooding can naturally impede business operations, why are Japanese companies choosing these locations?’ This, in turn, led me to my current research on adaptation,” Handa recounted.

“The reason why companies can expand into areas where climate risks are expected to threaten their operations is, because there are some methods in place to deal with those risks. Upon further research, I found that one way that Japanese companies expanding into India can address the situation is, to make use of flood insurance programs. So, my first encounter with adaptation was when I learned that this kind of method can be categorized as an adaptation strategy in the field of climate change policy. Knowing that adaptation strategies are undertaken after being discussed internationally, I became interested in what kind of policies Japan is trying to establish with regard to climate risks as one of the members of the international society or to build national resilience. It was during this time that a massive disaster known as the 2018 Western Japan floods caused extensive damage mainly in the western part of the country. This was the first case in Japan in which the Meteorological Agency mentioned the climate change as a potential contributing factor to a flood. This is one of the reasons why I decided to focus on the field of natural disasters, and in particular large floods, in my research on adaptation strategies,” Handa explained.

“In the public sector, the Ministry of the Environment plays a central role, but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare are also involved. However, specific initiatives are left to the prefectural and municipal governments to implement. This is because it is considered desirable to design adaptation strategies tailored to the social, economic, cultural, environmental, and other characteristics of each region."

“For positions related to disaster management, you can hire people who studied in specialized fields like civil engineering. However, adaptation is a relatively new field of environmental policies, where instead of addressing disaster risks from the standpoint of individual policy professionals, measures need to be effectively coordinated and integrated, so there are few people at the working level who have studied adaptation. In addition, there is room to further develop the organizations and systems for planning and implementing adaptation strategies. Still, the reality seems to be that we have no choice but to take some kind of action because the government has handed down instructions and allocated a budget,” Handa said.

“A leading example of adaptation can be found in the United Kingdom, which established an independent research institute called the Climate Change Committee. The Committee provides evidence on climate change and encourages bodies involved in making climate change policy, including Parliament, to update their efforts to address climate change in terms of both mitigation and adaptation. Due in part to this work by the Committee and other institutions, the United Kingdom has a reputation for engaging in evidence-based adaptation planning and for formulating and applying evaluation criteria for climate risk. I plan to conduct additional field research and data analysis on the United Kingdom’s adaptation strategies, and by doing this, I hope to understand how the use of adaptation research outcomes in policy can make a concrete contribution to real-world adaptation strategies.”

“I don't think there are that many researchers working on the policy and institutional aspects of adaptation. The reason I introduce my research by emphasizing that I conduct policy research on adaptation is to establish my identity among adaptation policy and adaptation-related researchers who are bound to become increasingly important. I also hope that this will be a testament to the fact that I have consistently studied adaptation ever since I decided to pursue a career as a researcher.
One stance I maintain in my policy research on adaptation is a focus on the global versus the local perspective, that is, adaptation strategies in Japan as a member of the international community and adaptation strategies to address climate risks within Japan. Since I always keep in mind international relations and Japan, both directly and indirectly, I think my research can be expected to contribute adaptation strategies in developed countries and the study of adaptation in urban areas, something that is starting to attract attention in the field of adaptation research. I believe this is my identity and my strong suit as a policy researcher focusing on adaptation." Handa added.

“In my research, I address academic issues in policy related to adaptation by conducting qualitative research case studies. Another academic activity of mine related to adaptation is the establishment of the Society of Climate Change Adaptation, which I achieved by recruiting my colleagues. Together we plan to address the common issue of why we must undertake adaptation strategies, and in the process, we will leave a record of theoretical research. The Society is currently looking into publishing a book to make the public aware of climate change adaptation strategies. With this research, I hope to promote the understanding of adaptation itself and why Japan needs to undertake it as a member of the international community, and I hope to contribute to advancement of adaptation strategies.
I have been studying international relations at Ritsumeikan University since I was an undergraduate student. Although I was interested in environmental issues when I first entered the Graduate School of International Relations, I never dreamed that I would one day become an adaptation researcher in the field of climate change policy. I believe that the interdisciplinary education in the undergraduate curriculum, as well as the experience of being taught by professors from other fields such as environmental economics, Japanese economics, international environmental law, and the theory of environmental policy, is what cultivated my desire and courage to tackle this novel field.”