JFS Newsletter No.78 (February 2009)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/028824.html

In February 2008, the Japanese government established the Panel on a Low-Carbon Society to discuss global warming and a wide range of issues regarding the shift toward a low-carbon society. It was convened by the Prime Minister and consists of 13 (originally 12) panelists from various sectors, including academia, think-tanks and industry. The Prime Minister also attends the panel's continuing discussions regarding these issues.

Cabinet Secretariat's Eco-Model City Project
http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/tiiki/kankyo/index.html

The panel has set up three subcommittees which include several panel members together with outside experts. One of the subcommittees was convened to discuss the creation of model environmental cities, or "Eco-Model Cities," and a low-carbon society. The author (Junko Edahiro, one of the co-chief Executives of Japan for Sustainability) sits on the Prime Minister's panel and on this subcommittee.

The subcommittee chooses model cities in order to promote drastic reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging local communities to promote integrated efforts that incorporate existing knowledge and information into social and economic systems and make good use of local characteristics. In April 2008, it was decided that some leading model cities across the country would be chosen to receive government financial support to promote environmental measures.

There are five categories of criteria for selecting Eco-Model Cities;

(1) Drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

・ Long-term reduction goals that exceed 50% by 2050
・ Achievement of a peak and downward trend in emissions in the city or region at an early stage
・ Improvement in energy efficiency by 30% or more by 2020

(2) Leadership and innovation

・ Innovative efforts with no precedents in the context of an integrated approach
・ Functioning as an example and/or reference for other cities in Japan and overseas

(3) Regionally adapted initiatives

・　Unique ideas that identify and make good use of specific local conditions and special characteristics

(4) Feasibility

・ Reasonable planning for implementing initiatives to achieve goals
・ Participation by a wide variety of interested parties: local residents, local companies, universities, non-profit organizations, and others

(5) Ongoing development of initiatives

・ Creation of long-term municipal vitality by presenting concepts for new city development
・ Environmental education of the next generation responsible for future city development

Local governments have shown a strong interest in the program; 82 local governments from around Japan applied to become Eco-Model Cities. In July 2008, the subcommittee selected 6 cities and towns based on the criteria combined with a policy of making a balanced selection from a diverse range of large cities, provincial capitals, small towns and villages. The communities selected in 2008 were : Yokohama (Kanagawa), Kitakyushu (Fukuoka), Toyoma City (Toyama), Obihiro (Hokkaido), Shimokawa (Hokkaido), and Minamata (Kumamoto). All have set ambitious targets, such as a 50% or more reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the current level. In January 2009, seven additional cities were selected: Kyoto City (Kyoto), Sakai (Osaka), Iida (Nagano), Toyota (Aichi), Yusuhara (Kochi), Miyakojima (Okinawa), and Chiyoda ward (Tokyo).

To encourage the setting up of more Eco-Model Cities that can tackle the challenges of achieving drastic reductions in greenhouse gases (GHGs), etc., the Japanese government established another council on promoting low-carbon cities, and held an international seminar on December 14, 2008. The present article introduces a speech given at this seminar by Professor Shuzo Murakami of Keio University, who chairs the subcommittee for creating eco-model cities and a low-carbon society under the Prime Minister's Panel for a Low-Carbon Society. It aims to outline the concepts and activities of movements that are creating environment- friendly cities as a way of realizing a low carbon society in Japan.

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From a keynote speech by Professor Shuzo Murakami, Keio University

Why do we need to look at cities as we attempt to shift toward a low-carbon society? The first reason is that cities themselves are mass consumers of energy. In addition, energy consumption is rising sharply, especially in the category of individual consumer use, which connects directly to our daily lives. As the main entities that formulate and perform measures adopted by cities, municipal governments have a perspective that is directly linked to citizens' daily lives and thus have a great deal of influence over energy consumers. They are also responsible for providing stable local energy.

When we think about a low-carbon society, we should not focus solely on CO2 emission reduction. We should at the same time aim at a balanced triangle of environment, economy and society to create a good quality of life.

The unique characteristics of each environmental city will depend on the scale, natural environment, social systems and industrial structure of the city and the lifestyle of its residents. However, the shift toward a new phase needs to happen in every aspect of the social system. For this, we need an integrated approach that can mobilize all the necessary measures. The typical approaches of the past were pursued in separate policy fields, separate municipal departments, or even in the individual fields of the players, but these approaches could not efficiently implement environmental measures. Therefore, it is necessary to shift to an integrated approach, and model eco-cities appear to be a workable entity for trying out such an approach. In fact, at model city selection hearings, many municipal governments told us that "When we compiled the application for the environmental model city, we were able to work together irrespective of the traditional barriers between departments."

On the national government level, the Cabinet Secretariat is supporting the project rather than specific ministries, such as the Ministry of the Environment or the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in order to promote cooperation among the national government ministries, between the national government and municipalities, and between businesses and universities.

How should we, as a potential environmental city, proceed with the establishment of a low-carbon society? First, we need an assessment of the current status and future outlook of CO2 emissions of the city. Many municipalities in addition to those selected as model eco-cities are already engaged in this task. Next we need to identify the bottlenecks and barriers and clarify the roles of each stakeholder. After that we need to set a future vision, formulate a road map based on backcasting and determine an action plan, not forgetting to do a follow-up on the action plan. The council on promoting low-carbon cities was established to facilitate this process.

The image of a model eco-city will differ depending on the scale of the city. For big cities, reducing CO2 has a great deal to do with the city structure itself, including a transformation in energy use and transportation systems, reforming living structures and basing the city's foundation on utilizing its specific natural environment. For provincial capitals, transforming into a low-carbon environment requires cooperation with their surrounding suburbs. The keys here lie in creating compact cities and maintaining a good public transportation system. For small towns and villages, low-carbonization should be considered from the viewpoint of utilizing aspects of their natural environment such as renewable energy and local resources.

In the future, we plan to support the efforts of environmental model cities and provide follow-ups to track their achievements and to disseminate best practices across Japan and to share information on successful efforts with the rest of the world through cooperation with foreign cities that are also actively involved in environmental activities.

Lastly, I would like to briefly touch upon a subject of recent discussions, city environmental performance assessments. It is difficult to find the proper tools to evaluate a city's environmental performance, because, despite the growing need for them, such specific tools have not yet been fully developed.

Worldwide, many tools have been developed for evaluating buildings, including the Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE) in Japan, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program in the United States, and the BRE Environmental Assessment Method, (BREEAM) in the U.K. For evaluating cities, however, tools are not as widely available as they are for buildings. There is a growing demand for tools to evaluate measures and activities on the scale of a city or society as a whole.

Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE)
http://www.ibec.or.jp/CASBEE/english/index.htm

We are currently working on developing such tools. One fundamental principle guiding this effort is the need to reduce environmental loads and create a low-carbon society while also improving the quality of life. Clear, simple and comprehensive evaluation results should also be presented, in a visual format, which is very important in obtaining consensus from the general public.

CASBEE is a tool developed in Japan under the leadership of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It has several scales, such as for housing and offices. Many municipal governments use CASBEE, for example by requiring it in environmental performance assessments when applying for a new construction permit.

We are now engaged in developing a low-carbon version of CASBEE for cities. Included in the process are the CASBEE tool for housing and other buildings as well as a tool for urban development and a tool for evaluating a city as a whole. The building and urban development tools have been completed, and we are about to start work on the third, comprehensive tool.

One example of the application of the CASBEE tool for urban development is "Harumi Triton Square," a large-scale urban re-development area located about one kilometer from Tokyo Station. This project was evaluated "A with four stars" with ratings indicated with one to five stars, attesting to the completion of this tool for evaluating urban development. We need to expand the concept of CASBEE tool for "urban development" to a city as a whole.

When we can visualize a city's environmental performance and create simple indicators based on environmental efficiency, it will give citizens useful information on how to reduce carbon dioxide. Even if we create a superior energy-saving city, it will not be truly effective unless the citizens embrace an energy-saving lifestyle. It is extremely important to stimulate citizens with incentives to engage in low-carbon activities.

Completed city environmental performance assessments would provide strong support for environmental measures within each municipality, and would also function as a tool for comparing the environmental efficiencies of various measures with other cities. It would attract more attention from citizens and enhance their sense of belonging to their local communities. It is also expected to help activate the community itself by introducing a competitive consciousness among cities.

If Japan is to meet its long-term target of reducing carbon emissions 60 to 80 percent by 2050, we must swiftly transform into a low-carbon society. To achieve this, we need to provide information on what a low-carbon society might be like, share the idea with all citizens in a way that will increase their awareness. One effective way to do this is to present an existing case study of an environmental model city. We need to promote and exchange information on low-carbon societies in and out of Japan in order to help environmental model cities succeed. We believe this will be effective.

See also:
Presentation by Professor Shuzo Murakami of Keio University
http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/tiiki/kankyo/seminar2008/04murakami.english.pdf

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In the next issue of our Newsletter, JFS will introduce some municipal initiatives for creating a low-carbon society and describe some of the environmental model cities and their challenges, based on presentations given on December 14, 2008 at the International Seminar on Promoting Eco-Cities by representatives of the six environmental model cities selected by the Japanese government in 2008. Please stay tuned.