Credible? Successive "decarbonization" declarations March 3 at 24:15
On the 20th of this month, the United Nations' IPCC = "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change" released its latest report and emphasized that "global warming countermeasures are not enough."
In the report, "zero carbon" was positioned as an important initiative to curb human-induced global warming. This is an initiative that aims to reduce greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emitted from industry and people's lives to virtually zero.
According to research by think tanks, about 1720,2019 companies around the world have announced their participation in the initiative. Many municipalities have also set this goal.
In <>, local governments in Japan announced that they would aim for "zero carbon" one after another. Several years have passed since then, and how far have the efforts progressed? I've made a declaration, but isn't that the end of it?
I looked into the aftermath of the "zero carbon" of local governments.
(International Affairs Department reporters: Sachiyo Sugita and Nobuko Matsuda)
"Zero Carbon" Although it became a big boom ...
The term "zero carbon" began to be heard in 2019.
At that time, there was a growing momentum in the international community that we must tackle global warming countermeasures ahead of the Paris Agreement, an international framework for global warming countermeasures that will begin in 2020.
In response to this momentum, aiming for zero carbon by 2050 has become a common global goal, and the national government, local governments, and companies have announced that they will set it as a goal one after another.
In Japan Japan, with the support of then-Environment Minister Koizumi, local governments declared "zero carbon" one after another.
The number now stands at 871 (as of the end of February 2023).
How are the local governments that have made the declaration moving toward net-zero greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emitted from industry and people's lives by 2050?
I tried calling several local governments.
(Reporter) "How do you plan to proceed?" (Person in charge of Local Government A) "It has not been decided yet" (Reporter) "How will you make a plan?"
(Person in charge of Local Government B) "I don't know where to start"
We talked to about 30 local governments, and all of them were struggling to figure out how to specifically work toward goals decades ahead.
How to achieve? Exploring municipalities
I went to one municipality to find out what was difficult about making a plan. In 1, we set a goal of "zero carbon" in Hokuei Town, Tottori Prefecture.
Hokuei Town, which had been installing wind and solar power generation in the town for some time, initially expected that if the introduction of renewable energy was further promoted, carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced to virtually zero.
However, the analysis revealed that it is expected that it will be difficult to achieve the target simply by increasing renewable energy.
The town's carbon dioxide emissions in fiscal 2019 were approximately 7,4000 tons.
On the other hand, the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide that could be reduced by introducing renewable energy was only one-quarter of that.
The town has commissioned a professional contractor to investigate whether there is a way to increase renewable energy. At the same time, we are beginning to seek to reduce carbon dioxide emissions themselves.
Koji Yamamoto, General
Manager of the Hokuei Town Regional Energy Promotion Office: "There is a limit to the amount of renewable energy that can be increased, and if we cannot increase it to the required amount, we thought that we would need to make efforts to reduce the amount of energy used in the first place, not using electricity in the first place."
The town believes that in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the understanding and cooperation of residents is indispensable. First, we gathered volunteers from the residents and held a workshop to solicit ideas.
Residents have proposed the idea of changing agricultural machinery used in Hokuei Town's main industry to EVs = electric vehicles, and a project to install solar panels on the roofs of houses.
Since then, we have invited experts to hold lectures on decarbonized management for local companies and are working to compile measures to achieve zero carbon by 2050, thereby increasing the momentum of the town as a whole.
Koji Yamamoto, General Manager
of the Hokuei Town Regional Energy Promotion Office: "To be honest, I don't know what to do yet, but as a town, we declared zero carbon in the awareness that we had to do something. When a goal is long-term, it becomes difficult to know where it is headed. First of all, we want to achieve our goal in the near future, and ultimately aim for zero carbon."
Don't just declare: The UN's sense of crisis
While many municipalities continue to seek ways to find a solution, the United Nations has taken a new step.
"We should not tolerate superficial declarations."
These are the words that UN Secretary-General Guterres appealed at the UN Conference on Climate Change Measures "COP2022" held in Egypt in November 11.
Because it is a long-term goal, it is difficult to make a concrete plan for "zero carbon".
This is a common issue not only in Japan but also around the world.
This is why a group of UN experts has published new standards to increase the credibility of the goal of "zero carbon".
The
new standards published include setting reduction targets by 2025 first and making targets and plans every five years at least every five years;
reporting on progress on targets that can be verified by third parties annually,
and publicly announcing
how to move away from fossil fuels. We are proposing such as.
The UN says the new standards will help ensure the credibility of the targets and help municipalities and businesses achieve accountability.
Members involved in the development of the UN recommendations on the goals noted:
Kaori Miyake, member of the UN Expert Group:
"Global warming is currently in a serious situation, and the earth cannot be saved unless we put our goals into practice.
In overseas municipalities
Even before the United Nations compiled its recommendations, there were overseas local governments that were working close to those standards. It is a city in Scandinavian Denmark that is said to be an environmentally advanced country.
We visited the city of Lolland, which has a population of more than 1,4, about one and a half hours by car from the capital Copenhagen. On a flat land about the size of the main island of Okinawa, there are vast fields that grow beets and wheat.
When you drive by car, you will see many windmills spinning in the middle of the farmland, and it is a very peaceful area.
In 2050, the city of Rolland set a goal of achieving "zero carbon" by 2021.
This was in response to Denmark's declaration of "zero carbon" as a country.
Over the next year, the city created a plan that analyzed the current situation and summarized how to reduce it.
In the plan, we have set an interim target of a 1% reduction by 2030 compared to 2017.
In addition, we will regularly update the plan and publish the progress as required by UN standards.
Information disclosure is important even if it is difficult to achieve goals
Playing a central role in organizing the plan was Climate Coordinator Likitze Rassen, who has expertise in calculating carbon dioxide emissions and other matters.
In Denmark, since 2019, the number of municipalities that have this "climate coordinator" has increased, and now it has spread to almost all municipalities.
According to Rasen, wind power is thriving in the city of Lorrain, generating eight times as much electricity as its citizens, so carbon dioxide emissions from power generation are already zero.
Heat supply for heating and other purposes accounts for 31%, transportation 28%, and agriculture 37%, accounting for more than 3% in these three fields combined.
Of these, emissions from heat supply for heating and other purposes are expected to be reduced to zero.
On the other hand, in the field of transport and agriculture, it turned out that it will be difficult to reduce it to zero by 95.
Agricultural tractors and other vehicles have no choice but to use fossil fuels with current technology, and emissions from fertilizers used for agriculture remain.
Ms. Rasen honestly shows citizens that the status quo does not allow them to achieve their goals.
At least once every two years, we will show the progress of the plan and solicit new ideas for reductions from citizens.
Climate Coordinator Rikitze Rassen
: "If local governments and citizens do not continue to work together, we will not be able to achieve the goal of zero carbon. It's important to incorporate that into your plan. We will always think about whether we can create new initiatives."
Some citizens are starting to move
In Denmark, in response to this attitude of the city, some citizens have started to take action voluntarily.
A few years ago, Leo Fabinke, a large-scale farmer who grows beets and other crops, introduced an automatic seeder that runs on sunlight.
If you take it out into the field on a sunny day, you can sow the seeds while moving slowly at 80 meters per hour.
It is said that it can be set in 1 centimeter increments using GPS.
In addition, it is said that it is possible to automatically remove weeds from the field after sowing seeds.
Since the battery is charged by sunlight, it works automatically all night.
With this machine, the conventional seeder that runs on gasoline is no longer needed.
The price was about 1000 million yen, but due to the high cost of fuel and labor, he decided to purchase it because he thought that it would eventually become profitable.
Leo Fabinke
: "We have to be conscious of the impact we have on the environment, and consumers will want crops grown in ways that emit less carbon dioxide. The world is moving in the direction of decarbonization."
Denmark has been providing subsidies of up to 30% for the purchase of environmentally friendly agricultural equipment for several years to encourage citizens' efforts, and it is expected that more farmers will take action like Fabinke.
Climate Coordinator Rasen
says, "There are government subsidies for the purchase of equipment that will reduce emissions, so we make it known to citizens, make them understandable, and encourage them to take action.
After the interview
"Zero carbon" aims to reduce greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emitted from industry and people's lives to virtually zero by 2050.
When it comes to about 30 years from now, it inevitably feels like a long way off, and it tends to be difficult to see it as your own problem.
On the other hand, what struck me in my coverage of Denmark was that few people doubted that a "decarbonized society" was coming.
Efforts toward "zero carbon" are not only good for the environment, but also lead to new businesses.
What should be done to avoid making it a "superficial declaration," as UN Secretary-General António Guterres points out? It seems that each and every one of us needs to share our wisdom.
Reporter
for the International DepartmentSachiyo
SugitaJoined the Wakayama Bureau Osaka Bureau in 2010After working in the Osaka Bureau, he has been in charge of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of the
Social Affairs Department since 2016, and
has been with his current position since August 2022.
Nobuko
Matsuda, a reporter for the International Affairs Department, joined the Social Affairs Department in 2008,
and is currently covering climate change and gender issues in
the International Affairs Department.