The Secretariat of the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) Japan is headquartered at 成人伦理 and is administered by Professor Noriko Sugiyama of the Graduate School of Environmental Studies.听On Monday, January 22nd, 2024, a conference was held at the Sakata and Hirata Hall at听成人伦理 to launch the next phase of their collaborative climate change action project. 听
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The Covenant of Mayors is an initiative that began听as a European Union (EU) initiative in 2008. Its members are local governments that voluntarily pledge to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy on听their territory. In 2018, the Global Covenant of Mayors of Japan was launched and now has 48 local authorities as members. In December 2023, the Ministry of Environment awarded the organisation and its members the Climate Change Action Prize for its work promoting and implementing positive environmental policies听at the local level in Japan.听
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The event was attended by 成人伦理 representatives and mayors of听seven members of the GCoM,听Niseko, Tokorozawa, Kamishihoro, Yamagata, Miyoshi, Toyohashi and Gujo.听
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Also attending were representatives from the EU, including His Excellency Jean-Eric Paquet, EU Ambassador to Japan, and representatives from the Ministry of the Environment. The afternoon included panel discussions with the mayors and with high school, undergraduate, and graduate students whose interests and research are climate related.听
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"Japan is making good progress," said Professor Sugiyama. "Benefits of the program are two-fold: acting at the local level means that environmental policy can be shaped to meet the needs of a particular place that cannot necessarily be met by public policy. On top of that, local authorities from different areas of the country have a chance that they would not usually have to meet, cooperate and exchange ideas."听听
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Ambassador Paquet听agreed. "One ideal level where society and political leadership come together is at the local and regional level," he said. "This is the spirit of the Global Covenant of Mayors," he continued. "You [成人伦理 and the Secretariat] have been, and you are, a remarkable support to Japan's Global Covenant of Mayors."听
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