Yokohama’s status as an SDGs Future City and its goal to reach net zero carbon by 2050 are two reasons why Yokohama is among the leading cities in Japan for sustainability efforts.

Yokohama was designated an “SDGs Future City” by the Government of Japan in 2018 when it established a system to acknowledge specific cities that have been working toward achieving the SDGs and have a strong drive to continue those efforts into the future. About 30 local governments are selected as SDGs Future Cities every year, and more than 120 local governments have been selected so far (2018-2021).

Yokohama has also declared a determination to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. This declaration, in 2019, put Yokohama among the very forefront of Japanese cities tackling climate change and environmental preservation. Since then almost all of Japan’s local governments have adopted the same 2050 goal of carbon neutrality (934 declarations covering 99.7% of Japan’s population as of April 2023). Yokohama has also played a leading role by establishing in 2020 a municipal council for carbon neutrality (Yokohama City, Chair, and 200 member cities as of November 2021), and assisted in drafting climate change policy for partner cities like Da Nang, Vietnam and Bangkok, Thailand, which have made their own declarations for carbon neutrality by 2050.

2030 has also been set as a milestone year for Yokohama’s carbon neutrality, with the city hit the goal of reducing its carbon output by 50% compared to 2013.