On July 6, 2022, the Japan Climate Initiative (JCI) marked its 4th anniversary. The developments of JCI and the achievements in its activities over the past year, and the future developments that are planned in the coming year are as follows.

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■ The Achievements in the past year

1. 50 new organizations have joined in the past year, bringing the total to 706.

In June last year, JCI strengthened the entry criteria and newly set actions necessary for participation in order to further step up as a network of non-state actors that is actively working on decarbonization. Nevertheless, 50 new organizations have participated in the past year, and JCI, which started with 105 member organizations on July 6, 2018, totaled 706 (526 companies, 37 local governments, and 143 others).

Most of the new participating organizations are companies, and 46 companies including 14 companies listed on the TSE Prime market joined. JAPAN POST INSURANCE Co., Ltd., Asset Management One Co., Ltd., Osaka Shoko Shinkin Bank and more from financial and investment sector, WAKACHIKU CONSTRUCTION CO., LTD., HASEKO Corporation, Rinkai Nissan Construction Co., Ltd. from construction sector, Pasona Group Inc., Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. from professional service sector, and furthermore, Kikkoman Corporation, NAGASE & CO., LTD., SENSHU ELECTRIC CO., LTD., Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. and others from other various industries have newly participated in JCI. They were actively engaged in JCI’s activities in various ways such as participating the JCI events as speakers and endorsing the JCI message.

Among all JCI member companies, the number of companies working on RE100 and SBT is increasing. 52 of the 72 Japanese companies participating in the RE100 are JCI members, and 128 of the 260 Japanese companies that have obtained SBT approved targets or have committed to setting SBT within 2 years are JCI members. In addition, the number of foreign-affiliated company members based in Japan, such as Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Holdings Inc., AstraZeneca K.K., and Hewlett Packard Japan, G.K., has increased to 28, eight of which have joined both RE100 and SBT.

2. A release of a message calling on the Japanese government to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy

On June 3, 2022, JCI released a message entitled “Now is the time to accelerate renewable energy deployment.” calling on the government to take stronger action on climate change even during the energy crisis, and sent it to Koichi Hagiuda, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Minister of the Environment. The message, which was finally endorsed by 300 JCI member organizations (212 companies, 16 local governments, 72 organizations / NGOs), calls for the Clean Energy Strategy, which is being developed by the Japanese government, to focus on promoting the development of renewable energies such as wind and solar power, to provide 40-50% of Japan’s power needs by 2030. The endorsement of a wide range of companies, local governments and organizations of this message is a clear demonstration of the strong will of non-state actors in Japan that even during periods of global upheaval and fossil energy crises, climate action must not be allowed to take a back seat. The message has been covered by many media both in Japan and overseas.

3. Accelerating the efforts of non-state actors in Japan

1) Events

The following events were planned and held to share the global movements toward overcoming the climate crisis and the pioneering experiences of Japanese companies and local governments, and to enhance the efforts of non-state actors.

During COP26, we organized and participated in the following events in Glasgow.

  • JCI-organized event ” Towards Zero: Japanese Non-State Actors Tackling Climate Crisis ” (November 8, 2021)
  • Alliances for Climate Action-organized event ” All In for Net Zero: How A Whole-of-Society Approach Can Accelerate the Race to Zero ” (JCI member as a speaker, November 8, 2021)
  • Alliances for Climate Action-organized event ” Together in the Decade of Delivery: How Collaboration Can Take Us From Commitment to Implementation ” (JCI member as a speaker, November 9, 2021)

2) JCI Race To Zero Circle

31 JCI members from companies, local governments, and universities participated in the JCI Race To Zero Circle, an inner circle of JCI members participating in Race To Zero, a global campaign run by the High Level Champions team of UNFCCC. At the events held by JCI, many members participating in the circle took the stage and shared their efforts toward net-zero. As an official partner of Race To Zero, JCI Race To Zero Circle will continue to invite a variety of non-state actors to participate in the campaign.

 

■ Future plans

1. Japan Climate Action Summit 2022 will be held on October 14th.

With the aim of further increasing momentum toward decarbonization in Japan, Japan Climate Action Summit 2022 will be held online on Friday, October 14 this year. Details will be announced on a later date.

2. Participation in COP27

JCI will participate in COP27, which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6th to 18th this year.

 

PDF: 4th Anniversary of the Japan Climate Initiative: Achievements and Future Developments

 

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