On 9 December 2019, representing signatory cities of the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) Japan, the City of Kyoto attended GCoM Day, a Side Event of COP25, focussed on "Accelerating Action and Scaling Up Impact."

As of the December 2019 event, 21 municipalities had signed the CoM Japan, with the Mayor of Kyoto acting as the head of its Steering Committee. This has been complemented by “2050 Zero Carbon Cities,” the latest climate emergency initiative that Japanese local governments have joined.

Through these initiatives, 27 local governments with a total population of 43 million people – or about 35 percent of Japan's total population – have announced policy directions aiming at net zero carbon emissions by 2050. At COP25, Mr. Shimotsuma, the Supervising Director of Global Environment and Energy, at the City of Kyoto, expressed his hope that these local governments’ actions will push the national government to be more ambitious at COP26, moving towards implementation of the Paris Agreement.

For more information, read the full article here.

Header image provided by IUC Japan.