Becoming a net-zero emissions city through transformative changes in lifestyle, work-style and urban infrastructure

Having given its name to the Kyoto Protocol, Kyoto City proudly and responsibly promotes advanced climate actions collaborating with local citizens and businesses. Such actions resulted in about 30% reduction of citywide energy consumption, about 50% reduction of municipal waste and increased use of public transportation by tourists. ‘Walking fun town’ initiative has drastically decreased by 80% the number of people visiting Kyoto by car. 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. Two key documents have recently been adopted: namely (i) ‘Road to Zero Project’, a revised local climate action plan, which made Kyoto the first local authority to declare net-zero GHG emissions in Japan; and (ii) ‘Kyoto Declaration for Cultivating a Culture of Sustainable Cities’, which stipulated the responsibility of cities and regions around the world as major GHG emission sources and shared visions on ‘how do we get there?’

Organisation	City of Kyoto
Detail	20181101-009.pdf（PDF, 1.35MB）
Date	1 November 2018

Stop global warming through environmental education and achieving a circular and ecological society! - Becoming a society where local resources are shared among cities and rural areas -

In the year following the 1992 Earth Summit, Itabashi Ward in Tokyo announced the Ecopolis Itabashi Environmental Declaration to create a city where citizens and the environment coexist.
For the past 25 years, Itabashi has taken a range actions, including environmental education that places importance on local resources and exchange between people in sister cities like Penang, Malaysia and Nikko, Tochigi.
Although not directly contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emission reduction, it is regions and cities with forest resources that use their local characteristics to support one another, develop human resources, and achieve a circular and ecological society. In the future, these regions will greatly contribute to achieving SDGs including climate change measures, through mutual support between urban and rural areas around the world.

Organisation	Itabashi Ward
Detail	20181004-017.pdf（Japanese only, PDF, 3.93MB）
Date	04 October 2018

Evolving sustainable energy policy in Nagano Prefecture, Japan: The path towards a 100% renewable energy region

In line with the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the global temperature increase within this century to below 2 degrees Celsius, and the declaration made after the Nagano “Local Renewables Conference 2017”, Nagano Prefecture aims to become a “100% renewable energy region”, and promote energy saving and reusable energies on a local level.

Organisation	Sustainable Energy Policy Division, Environment Department, Nagano Prefectural Government, Nagano, Japan
Detail	20180601-001.pdf (PDF, 2.67MB)
Date	1 June 2018