About

Hyogo Prefecture extends from the Japan sea in the north to the Seto inland sea in the south, and further down to the Pacific Ocean through Awaji island. In addition, the prefecture contains a rich variety of communities ranging from large cities to rural villages as well as isolated islands and each of the communities have a unique traditional culture that has been passed down through the generations due to the rough landforms, and several diversified climatic and natural features. As a result, Hyogo Prefecture has become known as “a Japan in Miniature”. Under the geographic conditions, many kinds of animals come and go from east to west. Also, “Mizuwakare (Water fork)” makes it easier for animals to move north and south, which is the median watershed (95.4m above sea level), the lowest point in the Honshu island, between the Japan sea and the Seto inland sea in Tamba city. For these reasons, Hyogo Prefecture can be said to be “a treasury of biodiversity” which has a diverse ecosystem. 

Strategy

Hyogo Prefecture has a high carbon footprint of about 73 000kt - co2, ranking at a high position among the emissions of the whole prefectures in Japan and, above all, industrial division takes up about 70 per cent in carbon emission of Hyogo. This is a high number compared with the percentage of the Japan’s whole emission of 40 per cent. For this reason, Hyogo Prefecture is making alot of effort, from an industrial aspect, to oblige major companies and to lead small or midsized companies to draw up an emission reduction project. Furthermore, “GHG Reduction Cooperation Project”(major companies provide small or midsized companies with funds and technologies for GHG reduction, and they can in turn claim part of the reduction achieved by the small or midsized companies.) is being carried out. This is to avoid a situation where, if a carbon dioxide emission cap is imposed, companies buy and sell the carbon footprint, by carbon emissions trading scheme, without making any effort to reduce greenhouse gas.

In household division, the carbon emission increased by 20 per cent in 2006 compared with the emissions in 1990. As a solution to this, Hyogo Prefecture is working toward realizing a low carbon society through the large-scale introduction of green energy sources such as solar photovoltaic and power saving consumer electronics to every household. In addition, Hyogo is promoting an eco-diagnosis project that develops awareness to people of “where” and “how much” greenhouse gas is emitted from their houses and Hyogo carbon offset program that offset the amount of unavoidable co2 emissions with equivalent investment in co2 reduction activities. As a result, although the reduction amount in 2006 declined by 1.7 per cent compared with the amount in 1990, Hyogo Prefecture is expecting carbon emission reduction by 6.3 per cent, in 2010, excluding the amount that forests absorbed from the atmosphere and that is reduced by the Kyoto Mechanism. In addition, Hyogo Prefecture has been taking massive action as from 2002 to protect forests by advancing implementation of forest thinning, under a project to thin every single forest in Hyogo Prefecture, and is attempting to make an early achievement of thinning target area.

It is important to conserve the public property and to make a contribution to co2 absorbance. By the end of 2010, Hyogo Prefecture is to draw up a Promotion Project of Global Warming Countermeasures for 2020. To achieve the Japan’s emissions reduction target of 25 per cent, it is considered important to set up high and realizable goals as is possible, and to put all the related countermeasures into action. Therefore, it is necessary that the national and local government play their expected roles and develop understanding about the current national government’s policy such as feed-in tariff law, global warming tax, domestic carbon emission trading scheme among others.

Lastly, as original planned, Hyogo Prefecture will endeavor to promote companies that have a high carbon emission to address proper measures, and will assist its people in getting more attention to programs that help in co2 reduction.

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