Corresponding to the call for a global Talanoa Dialogue at COP23, various dialogues took place in Japan with the participation of the national government and non-state actors including businesses, local governments, research institutes and NGOs. One of the unique efforts is the launch of ‘Talanoa JAPAN: a portal of best practices to shape the future on climate change’ for sharing stories online. Some of the practices were collated as part of Japan’s Talanoa input and submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat. This session will focus on how Japan will get to a carbon neutral and resilient future by reviewing visions and efforts shared through the Talanoa process in Japan.

The call for a global Talanoa Dialogue made at COP23 resulted in the convening of various dialogues in various countries participated by the national government and non-state actors including businesses, local governments, research institutes and NGOs. The dialogues intended to be a process to raise ambition to achieve the goals of Paris Agreement by sharing good practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

One of the unique efforts in Japan is the launch of "Talanoa JAPAN: a portal of best practices to shape the future on climate change" for sharing stories online. Some of the practices gathered through the portal were collated as part of Japan’s Talanoa input and submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat.

The session intended to deepen a discussion on how Japan would achieve a carbon neutral and resilient future by reviewing the experience of Talanoa Dialogues in Japan.

Firstly, Ms. Masako Ogawa, Ministry of the Environment of Japan explained the major contents of Japan's submission to the global Talanoa Dialogue led by UNFCCC, and introduced visions and efforts shared through the Talanoa process in Japan. She underlined that Japan, assuming presidency of G20 in 2019, is committed to create a virtuous cycle between the environmental protection and economic growth. She also stressed that Japan is in the process of preparing its long-term low GHG emission development strategy.

Secondly, Mr. Takeshi Shimotsuma, Kyoto City introduced the vision of Kyoto. He explained that Kyoto will become a net zero-emission city in the latter half of the century through promoting transformative changes in lifestyle, work-style, and urban infrastructure, as well as through exchanging knowledge and experience by city-to-city collaboration. He also introduced two key relevant documents namely "Road to Zero Project" and "Kyoto Declaration for Cultivating a Culture of Sustainable Cities".

Thirdly, Mr.Noriaki Kobayashi of Challenergy Inc. – an environmental business venture introduced a new wind turbine technology. The Magnus Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (Magnus VAWT) is the first wind turbine in the world that can generate electricity even during typhoons, and is currently under the research and development.

Following the previous speakers, Mr. Takashi OTSUKA, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) introduced further stories of non-state actors such as construction and housing sector, iron and steel sector, local governments and NGOs, which were shared through Talanoa JAPAN, the online portal site.

In the following discussion segment, Ms. Tomoko Ishikawa, IGES played the role of facilitator. Dr. Hans-Jorn Weddige of thyssenkrupp AG, Germany, invited as a designated discussant with his in-depth knowledge and experience of Talanoa Dialogue at SBSTA48 in Bonn in April/May highlighted the importance of immediate actions by the current generation to hand over the carbon neutral and resilient future to the next generation.