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On April 27, 2023, Jay Collins, Vice Chairman of Citigroup (U.S.A.) gave a lecture at Waseda University titled “Promise or Peril: The Road from COP27 to COP28 – Driving the Climate Agenda forward amidst Global Challenges.” Attendees included over 100 students from the School of Political Science and Economics, the School of Commerce, the School of Social Sciences, the School of International Liberal Studies, and the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies.

Collins, who spent a year studying at Waseda University in 1983 through the GLCA/ACM Japan Study Program, briefly spoke about his personal ties to Japan, including the significant influence his experience at Waseda had on his life and career.

The lecture centered around the current objectives of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change, in preparation for the COP28 in October 2023. Collins, who has been a key participant in the COP, began the lecture by describing the background of the COP, and the roles of various stakeholders in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The transition to green energy will require the development and implementation of new technology, for which the cooperation of international organizations, national governments, and private industries is crucial. Financial institutions have a critical role here, Collins explained, as they have the responsibility of connecting stakeholders to promote investments in such projects. To further illustrate this point, Collins recounted his experience as financial and risk advisor to Covax, describing the mechanism established during the COVID-19 pandemic through which costly COVID-19 vaccines were purchased by OECD states and distributed to Global South countries.  As a strategy to help Global South countries achieve carbon neutrality, the same mechanism will need to be put in place – that is, OECD states must fund the science and technology necessary to reduce CO2 emissions in the Global South countries. As a leader of a global financial institution, Collins demonstrated the need for stakeholders to approach this critical challenge through a global political and economic perspective.

Collins also described the historical background of the COP in relation to the war in Ukraine and inflation. He thoroughly explained the factors involved in addressing climate change, including the roles of technology, banks, and international development banks, as well as the necessity of expanding investment from private industries, and the importance of helping Global South countries with major challenges including debt. He emphasized the urgency for national governments to begin preparations to address climate change, citing examples of responses to COVID-19 by national governments. The lecture was followed by a lively question and answer session, which lasted about one hour.

This special lecture came to fruition when Collins reached out to President Aiji Tanaka expressing his wish to return to his second alma mater to speak to current students. The students gained not only an understanding of the challenges facing the international community, but also valuable insight into becoming a global leader who contributes to solving the world’s most pressing challenges.

In 2021, Waseda University declared the “WASEDA Carbon Net Zero Challenge 2030s,” which outlines the University’s roadmaps to achieve carbon neutrality.