Cities around Japan talk about environment, emissions, hydrogen

Kyoto city is where the Kyoto Protocol was signed and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Kyoto Guidelines were adopted.

With this sense of pride and mission, the entire citizenry has been working together to address global warming through our practices of community development, as represented in a 53% reduction of garbage in the last 21 years and a 31% decrease in energy use.

The transformation necessary to achieve “zero by 2050” is positioned as Kyoto’s growth strategy. We are calling for ESG investments and loans from Japan and abroad, supporting new businesses that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and promoting green finance.

Kyoto has been selected as one of the Decarbonization Leading Areas by the Japanese government. Kyoto’s unique local communities, temples, shopping districts, universities and residences will continue to work together to achieve zero emissions by 2030, rather than waiting until 2050.

As a city of universities, students and startups, we aim to collaborate with citizens and businesses to bring about innovation.

We will also work hard to achieve the four “zeros” that the World Expo 2025 in Osaka aims for: zero carbon, zero waste, zero food loss and zero fashion loss.

The city of Fukuoka has set itself the challenge of achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, and our action plan calls for a 50% reduction by 2030, which is higher than the national target.

To achieve this goal, we need to work in partnership with various other entities and implement innovations in society. Fukuoka opened the world’s first hydrogen station that supplies hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles from biogas generated in the sewage treatment process eight years ago. We are also collaborating with Toyota Motor Corp. in converting school lunch delivery vehicles and garbage collection vehicles to run on fuel cells. The city and Fukuoka University have jointly developed the Fukuoka Method, a waste landfill technology that reduces the generation of methane gas. The method has been introduced in 21 countries and was recently promoted by the Japanese government at COP27. We will continue to work with U.N.-Habitat and other organizations to further promote this technology. Team Fukuoka, an industry-academia-government promotion organization, aims to attract 14 asset management companies from Japan and abroad to create a better financial environment. We will continue to endeavor to do what we can now for future generations.

In May 2022, the city of Niigata, located on the northwest coast facing the Sea of Japan, became the first municipality in Japan to be accredited as a Wetland City by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in recognition of our wetland conservation activities. Much of the land being below sea level, we strongly feel the need to promote both mitigation and adaptation measures.

Due to its location, Niigata is often considered as not having enough sunlight for solar power generation. But in fact, the amount of sunlight Niigata receives is about 90% of that of the Kanto region.

To achieve both decarbonization and the revitalization of the local economy, the city partially funded and established a new power company in 2019 called Niigata Swan Energy Corp. It generates power at a waste treatment facility and combines it with other electricity from renewable sources.

Through the Niigata Region Partnership Conference for Promoting a Decarbonized Society, established in 2020 with local businesses, civic groups and financial institutions, we will share ideas about potential new businesses related to renewable energy and decarbonization.