On September 6 and 7, the German-Japanese Energy and Environment Forum in Berlin, organized by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, and others, was held as a forum for exchange and discussion on important environmental and energy-related topics between Japanese and German political, industrial, and academic circles, both face-to-face and online.
The forum, now in its 12th year, focused on the role of cities and municipalities on the path toward “Net Zero”.
The City of Yokohama was invited to participate in the conference, and through online participation introduced its efforts to achieve decarbonization, including thorough energy conservation, renewable energy conversion, and renewable energy supply to the city in collaboration with other cities, under the title of “Zero Carbon Yokohama 2050”. The presentation also included a description of the city’s efforts to achieve the SDGs. In addition, as part of the efforts to achieve the SDGs, the “Yokohama SDGs Design Center,” a promotion center jointly established and operated by the city and the private sector was introduced, as well as pilot projects that aim to create innovation utilizing this center. In the panel discussion, the merits of the “Yokohama SDGs Certification System “Y-SDGs,” which is a support system for businesses that are actively working on the SDGs in Yokohama, were introduced and discussed.
In Yokohama, the government, businesses, and citizens are working together to realize Zero Carbon Yokohama, and the Minato Mirai 21 district has been selected as a “decarbonization leading area” by the government, and more decarbonizing and environmentally friendly urban development projects are underway.
・More information on Yokohama being selected as a “Decarbonization Leading Region” (Yokohama City Press Release) you can find here（Japanese）
・More information on the “Decarbonization Leading Region”（Japanese Ministry of the Environment） you can find here （Japanese）
・More information on the 12. German-Japanese Environment and Energy Dialogue Forum (EEDF) you can find here
Excerpt from Yokohama’s presentation
