Environmental Policy

Result of selection of model areas for the project to formulate community revitalization plans to achieve "low-carbon, sound material cycle and natural symbiosis" in fiscal year 2015

Thursday, April 9, 2015
Policy Strategy Division,
Environmental Policy Bureau,
Ministry of the Environment

　As a result of public invitation of applications for model areas for the project to formulate community revitalization plans to achieve "low-carbon, sound material cycle and natural symbiosis," the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) selected 17 areas.
　In this fiscal year, these model areas are formulating their "community revitalization plans" with the focus on efforts for "low-carbon, sound material cycle and natural symbiosis" according to their respective circumstances.
　Also, MOE is formulating the "National Plan" by the end of March 2016, which compiles national support measures to steadily promote the efforts, aiming to disseminate those models to all over the country.

　The MOE publicly invited applications from municipalities for the "model areas" for the community revitalization plan to achieve "low-carbon, sound material cycle and natural symbiosis" - a new project in 2015 - from Thursday February 26 to Thursday March 19, 2015, and thus selected the following 17 areas from 34 proposals (including a refusal).

  • Shiriuchi Town, Hokkaido
  • Shimokawa Town, Hokkaido
  • Tsubetsu　Town, Hokkaido
  • Kuji Area (e.g. Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture)
  • Kitaibaraki City, Ibaraki Prefecture
  • Nakanojo Town, Gunma Prefecture
    Sho and Oyabe River Basin area (e.g. Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture)
  • Tateyama Town, Toyama Prefecture
  • Minamiizu Town, Shizuoka Prefecture
  • Higashiomi Town, Shiga Prefecture
  • Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture
  • Tamba City, Hyogo Prefecture
  • Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture
  • Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture
  • Nishiawakura Village, Okayama Prefecture
  • Hita City, Oita Prefecture
    Shimabara Peninsula(e.g. Unzen City, Nagasaki Prefecture

※Note: For details of measures by each area, see Appendix. [PDF 376KB]

　This fiscal year, these model areas are formulating their "community revitalization plans" with the focus on efforts for "low-carbon, sound material cycle and natural symbiosis" according to their respective circumstances. Consequently, each plan is to show the roadmap to connect their environmental efforts with community revitalization according to community characteristics.

　In order to disseminate the community revitalization plans of those model areas to all over the country, MOE is planning to consider the future vision of a sustainable community model, national support measures to steadily promote efforts to achieve such a vision, and common indexes to understand effects of the efforts, thereby formulating the national plan composed of these elements this year.

　As for the problem of global warming, a large reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is necessary. Local governments are also required to present their future visions based on such constraints and promote community development with future perspectives. In particular, in reducing the cost of energy purchases from other areas and vitalizing the community by forming a sound material-cycle economy in local areas that suffer both shrinking and aging population, MOE considers that it is useful to review energy use, create projects utilizing natural resources, and promote settlement of people in core areas.

　As for the measures taken this time, MOE is organizing measures to simultaneously achieve GHG emissions and local revitalization, and their effects, while disseminating the information in order to seek enhancement of the measures, in light of the achievement of this project as a model, also in the implementation plans (for area measures) that are formulated by local governments in accordance with the Law Concerning the Promotion of Measures to Cope with Global Warming.