Statement
Statement by YAMAGUCHI Tsuyoshi, Minister of the Environment, Japan, at OECD Meeting of the Environment Policy Committee at Ministerial Level (March 30, 2022)
Thank you, Chair.
I am YAMAGUCHI Tsuyoshi, Environment Minister of Japan. I wish I could be there with you. Please allow me to speak online today.
First, I must share with you that war is the most serious enemy of the environment. War is the worst crime against humanity. Let me express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Our hearts are with Ukrainian people.
Let me express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Our hearts are with Ukrainian people.
Despite this turbulence, however, our agreement at COP26 is unshakable.
Japan is currently working hard to reform not only the energy supply structure, but the socio-economic system itself. We have been establishing what we call 'decarbonization leading areas' as advanced national models for achieving carbon neutrality.
At the international level, the Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is useful to further reduce GHG emissions globally to achieve the 1.5 degree target. To this end, we organized two online international conferences in February and March to support capacity building for the implementation of Article 6. Also, we will expand the number of partners of Joint Crediting Mechanism.
We have also organized in March "Zero Carbon City International Forum 2022" to promote decarbonization of cities and sub-regions. We shared leading examples of inter-city collaboration at the international level.
Simultaneously, we need to accelerate assistance to vulnerable countries. At COP26, Japan announced to double its assistance for adaptation, as well as to provide 14.8 billion USD in the next five years. We have already allocated approximately 6 million USD to the Adaptation Fund and have decided to disburse approximately 42 million USD for 23 vulnerable countries through UNDP to tackle the climate challenges. Japan proactively continues to firmly implement our commitments and support global climate change measures.
OECD is the source of wisdom, and the beacon light to guide us through a right pathway to 2050 net zero emissions.
I will see you sometime later this year.
Carbon neutrality is a formidable challenge, but together we can make it happen.
Thank you.
