Climate Change

At the opening session on March 4, Ms. Ayano Kunimitsu, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, delivered the opening statement, highlighting Japan's contributions to climate action and the promotion of GX (Green Transformation), which aims to simultaneously achieve stable energy supply, economic growth, and decarbonization.
In addition, as co-chairs, Mr. Ryo Nakamura, Assistant Minister and Director-General for Global Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago,COP30 President, delivered remarks. Ms. Fatma Varank, Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of the Republic of Türkiye, COP31 Presidency, and Ms. Kushla Munro, Deputy Secretary, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water of Australia, COP31 presidency of negotiations, also delivered remarks. They agreed to continue promoting global action against climate change based on multilateralism.
Subsequent sessions covered five topics: a review of COP30, advancing mitigation to achieve the 1.5°C goal under the Paris agreement, adaptation to climate change, accelerating implementation for mitigation and adaptation, and direction to COP31. Over the course of two days, we held vigorous discussions on key issues and future directions of climate change, in preparation for COP31 scheduled this November.

On March 4, Japanese companies and international organizations delivered presentations to chief negotiators and other representatives from participating countries at the meeting, and showcased their advanced initiatives on climate action to government representatives from various countries who shape national climate policies. The participating companies/organizations and presentation titles are as follows.

• Toyota Motor Corporation
  Title: Multiple Pathways to Carbon Neutrality
• IHI Corporation
  Title: Realizing a Clean Society with Ammonia
• JFE Engineering Corporation
  Title: Advancing Climate Action through JCM-facilitated Waste-to-Energy Solutions
• Asian Productivity Organization (APO)
  Title: Green Productivity as a bridge between international cooperation, policy, and ground action

During the meeting, Japanese companies implementing advanced climate action showcased their initiatives through panel exhibitions in the meeting room. This exhibition communicated the efforts of Japanese companies to chief negotiators and other representatives from various countries. The exhibiting companies are as follows.

• Alhytec Inc.
  Exhibit Content: Proprietary technology for producing low-carbon, high-purity hydrogen and aluminum hydroxide from waste aluminum
• INSPIRATION PLUS Inc. / Deloitte Tohmatsu LLC
  Exhibition Content: Disaster prevention information systems contributing to climate change adaptation and the evacuation shelter management system utilized during the Noto Peninsula Earthquake
• Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants Inc.
  Exhibition Content: Waste management solutions utilizing cutting-edge decarbonization technologies
• Kajima Corporation
  Exhibits: CO2-absorbing concrete
• Sagri Co., Ltd.
  Exhibition Content: Solving Agricultural Challenges While Generating Carbon Credits
• JFE Engineering Corporation
  Exhibit: Waste-to-Energy Power Generation Balancing Resource Recycling and Decarbonization
• SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO, LTD.
  Exhibit Content: Perovskite Solar Cells
• Geosphere Environmental Technology Co., Ltd.
  Exhibit: Water Cycle Analysis System for High-Precision Prediction of Floods and Droughts Caused by Climate Change, and Calculation of Forest Nutrient Content and CO2 Absorption Capacity
• Hitachi, Ltd.
  Exhibit: Hitachi Sustainability, Blue Carbon Nutrient Supply Management

On March 4, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a dialogue between university and graduate students —future leaders in climate action— and the Co-Chairs (Mr. Ryo Nakamura, Assistant Minister and Director-General for Global Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago). The students engaged in active discussions with the co-chairs under the theme "Ten years have passed after the adoption of the Paris Agreement. How can we accelerate global climate action and advance mitigation and adaptation efforts?".