Climate Change

On April 11th, 2022, from 18:20 for 45 minutes, Ms. Suzuki Takako, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, met with Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), on the occasion of her visit to Japan. The following is the summary of the meeting.

At the outset, State Minister Suzuki extended a warm welcome to the visit of Executive Secretary Espinosa and expressed appreciations for the contributions by the UNFCCC Secretariat to the outcomes at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26). State Minister Suzuki also introduced Japan’s climate change measures at national and sub-national levels, its recent assistance for de-carbonization through UNDP as well as new contributions to the Adaptation Fund under the UNFCCC, and Japan’s efforts related to the youth participation, stating that Japan will continue to work with the UNFCCC Secretariat aiming for the success at COP 27. Regarding situations in Ukraine, State Minister Suzuki stated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable and Japan condemns this in the strongest terms. State Minister Suzuki further stated the commitment by the international society must be observed in the field of climate change as well and the resolution at COP26 by all UNFCCC Parties including Japan towards decarbonization remains firm.

In response, Executive Secretary Espinosa expressed her gratitude for Japan’s contribution to date in the field of climate change in terms of the UNFCCC negotiation process and financial contributions and highly appreciated Japan’s recent assistance through UNDP as well as its contributions to the Adaptation Fund under the UNFCCC. Executive Secretary Espinosa also commended Japan’s proactive efforts in climate change at sub-national levels and in the youth participation, stating that the UNFCCC Secretariat wishes to continue close collaboration with Japan on each respective area. With regards to the situations in Ukraine, Executive Secretary stated to continue to be aligned with Japan including in responses to the upcoming relevant meetings of the UNFCCC.