On June 9, Yokohama Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka participated in the ICLEI Global Executive Committee meeting held in Bonn, Germany. ICLEI is one of the world’s largest networks of cities committed to sustainable urban development, with more than 2,500 member cities worldwide.
Mayor Yamanaka serves as the only Japanese representative on the Executive Committee, holding the role of portfolio holder for Circular Development. At the meeting, he spoke on behalf of member cities around the world under the theme of “circular development.” He emphasized the important role cities play in achieving a circular society and introduced Yokohama’s initiatives under its “YOKOHAMA Circular Link” policy, which promotes behavioral changes of citizens and businesses.
The Mayor also highlighted Yokohama’s contribution to the establishment of the Asian Circular Cities Declaration (ACCD), inspired by the European Circular Cities Declaration (CCD), which includes around 90 European cities. The ACCD has now expanded to 26 cities across seven countries in Asia.
To further accelerate the global transition to circular cities, Mayor Yamanaka proposed three key actions:
- Strengthening collaboration between ACCD and CCD cities through knowledge sharing
- Expanding the circular cities movement beyond Europe and Asia
- Promoting circular cities as a key agenda in international platforms such as the UN Climate Change Conference
These proposals received strong support from fellow Executive Committee members, reinforcing Yokohama’s leadership in advancing sustainable urban development on the global stage.
