Kashiwa City, Chiba getting serious about global warming

Only two of Japan's 1,800 or so municipalities have enacted special ordinances to deal with global warming, according to Kazuhiko Ikeshita, the official in charge of environmental matters in Kashiwa City, Chiba. Kashiwa, with a population of 383,000 east of Tokyo, has created legislation to specifically address the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The only other city to do that is Kyoto.

Kazuhiko Ikeshita notes that three prefectures (out of 43) have made similar efforts:

In Kashiwa's case, work on the new ordinance started two years ago, after the Kyoto Protocol came into effect on February 2005. Kashiwa immediately began considering a new regulation to support efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

We regarded our move as a rather belated response to the treaty, which was ratified by Japan in June 2002. We were then surprised to find the only municipal ordinance on this issue in force at the time was the one enacted by the city of Kyoto in December 2004.

He also notes that each person can do something. Here is the math: An estimate by the Kashiwa municipal government's environment department states the city emitted 1.24 million tons of greenhouse gases in 1990. So Kashiwa must lower its emissions to 1.16 million tons by 2012. The city's latest statistics available say Kashiwa's total emissions in 2003 were 1.64 million tons. That means the city must slash its emissions by an annual average of 480,000 tons.

And that translates into a reduction of 1.26 tons in annual emissions per Kashiwa resident. Kazuhiko Ikeshita points out that it could be achieved if a person who drives 6,000 kilometers a year in commuting to work switched to public transportation. Also, a household could trim its greenhouse emissions by about five times the required per-capita cut by installing a solar-power generator.

Asahi: Think global, act local to cut greenhouse gases

Actually, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is also implementing policies to reduce CO2 emissions. Did you know that the TMG is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in Tokyo?

Based on the Plan for Preventing Global Warming, the government is taking measures including the Energy Service Company (ESCO) project whereby companies give a guarantee that they will reduce energy use and cut energy costs, and a sewage carbonization project based on the same Plan. Such efforts are also aimed at encouraging the private sector to take more active steps to reduce CO2 emissions...