reporter
Name Affiliation Title Ryo Hibiya Specialist Contractor, Environmental Management and Climate Change Group, Global Environment Department
summary
Date: November 18, 2024
Organized by: Ministry of the Environment, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
Co-organized by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
Name of venue (pavilion name): Japan Pavilion
speaker
Name Affiliation Title Junichi Fujino Program Director, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Yutaka Matsuzawa Deputy Director-General for Global Environment, Ministry of the Environment Miya Yuki Counselor for International Decarbonization Transition Promotion and Environmental Infrastructure, Global Environment Bureau, Ministry of the Environment Farina Ahmed Under Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), Bangladesh Phouvong Ruangsaysana, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Lao PDR Chanthasakul Spilak, Senior Professional Level Environmental Officer, Climate Change Mitigation Action Division, Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE), Thailand Yulia Suryanti, Director, Climate Change Mitigation, Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MOEF), Indonesia Koji Fukuda Long-term Expert, JICA Vietnam Support Project for the Implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the Paris Agreement (SPI-NDC) Ho Quoc Van Professor, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) / Director, Institute of Environmental Resources Wolanuch Suaykakao Professor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) / Director, Low Carbon Asia Research Center (UTM-LCARC) Koji Mitomori Deputy Director, Sustainability Promotion Office (Climate Change and Nature), Planning Department, JICA, and Counselor, Global Environment Department
Background and Objectives
At this event, policy makers and practitioners from several Asian countries will share the status of science-based long-term strategies and NDC updates in their countries. They will also present progress made by development assistance agencies in implementing long-term strategies and NDCs and in strengthening their capacity to do so, and discuss ways to cooperate to achieve Net Zero Asia.
Contents
In Part 1, Mr. Matsuzawa, Deputy Director-General for Global Environment of the Ministry of the Environment, began the session by referring to the outcome document of the Global Stocktake at COP28 last year, and stated that the next NDC to be submitted by 2025 by all parties must be consistent with the 1.5°C target. He introduced that Japan is working with countries to develop more ambitious plans in cities, using the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM), which evaluates policy options and presents reduction scenarios, as well as contributing to the formulation of long-term strategies and updating of NDCs by each country.
Next, Mr. Yukiki, Counselor for International Decarbonization Transition Promotion and Environmental Infrastructure, Global Environment Bureau, Ministry of the Environment, emphasized that the Japanese government and research institutions are working together as “Team Japan” to support climate change countermeasures in Asian countries. The AIM team will further deepen joint research with Asian countries to realize a low-carbon society and further promote efforts toward the realization of a carbon-free society.
Representatives from Bangladesh, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, in turn, presented the status and challenges of their countries’ efforts to develop the next NDC and long-term strategy, referring to key sectors. In their presentations, they introduced the application of the AIM model and the joint research that each country has conducted with the AIM team to date, and expressed their expectations for the AIM model in scientific goal setting.
Mr. Fukuda, Chief Advisor of JICA’s Support Project for the Implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to the Paris Agreement (SPI-NDC), introduced concrete measures and lessons learned to bridge the gap between planning and implementation, based on Vietnam’s experience in supporting NDC. He summarized Part 1 by pointing out the importance of the catalytic role of development assistance agencies in fostering domestic human resources and promoting self-reliance in an Asia that is becoming increasingly meso-developed.
In Part 2, Professor Ho, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM), began the presentation with an evaluation of the air pollution reduction effects of NDC measures in Vietnam as part of the JICA SPI-NDC project, using the introduction of EV buses in Hanoi as a case study.
Mr. Woranuch, Deputy Director General of the Environment Department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), thanked Japan for its close support in the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Master Plan project, which has been ongoing since 2007, and stated that comprehensive efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 will continue.
Prof. Ho of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) presented climate action plans for each major city in Malaysia and said that net zero in Malaysian cities is complex but achievable.
In closing remarks, Mr. Mitomori, Deputy Director of JICA’s Sustainability Promotion Office, Planning Department, commended the current status of each country’s scientific scenario development toward net zero, and stated that JICA would continue to support climate change measures in Asia in cooperation with Japanese partners.
group photo
Mr. Mitomori, Deputy General Manager, delivers closing remarks
© Source JICA
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