Please tell us about Osaka Prefecture’s unique local features and characteristics, what led to the establishment of the Local Climate Change Adaptation Center, and what its organizational structure is like.

(2) What led to the establishment of the Climate Change Adaptation Center in Osaka Prefecture and its organizational structure

In terms of Osaka Prefecture’s activities leading up to the establishment of its Local Climate Change Adaptation Center, the prefectural government revised its Osaka Prefecture Action Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures(Regional Measure Edition) in December 2017. Then in September 2018, Osaka published a report entitled Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Measures, in which the current and forecasted effects of climate change affecting the prefecture were explained and measures of addressing them were identified in the categories of (1) agriculture, forests/forestry, and fishery, (2) water environment, (3) ecology, (4) natural disaster and coastal area, (5) health, (6) industrial and economic activity, and (7) prefectural residents’ living/urban living. Furthermore, in January 2019, Osaka Prefecture officially recognized its climate change adaptation measures as part of its adaptation plan pursuant to the Climate Change Adaptation Act and has been facilitating them since.

Moreover, in April 2020, Osaka designated the Research Institute of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries, Osaka Prefecture (the prefecture’s local incorporated administrative agency; hereinafter referred to as the “RIEAFO”) as its Local Climate Change Adaptation Center*.

Please tell us about the current activities of Osaka’s Local Climate Change Adaptation Center as well as its future plans.

(1) As for our activities in FY 2021, we were contracted by the Ministry of the Environment to execute the tasks of the climate change information gathering and analysis project with citizens’ participation and have been conducting the following surveys.

(Agriculture)

(i) Feasibility of tropical fruit tree cultivation; (ii) climate change impact on peach and fig farming; and (iii) climate change impact on heat-resistant rice cultivars

(Health)

(i) WBGT forecast; (ii) empirical on-site testing of heat alleviation techniques; and (iii) evaluation of heat alleviation techniques involving instrumental analysis

(2) As for our other activities in FY 2021, we were contracted by the Osaka Prefectural Government to operate the Osaka climate change adaptation and awareness enhancement project and have been conducting the following activities.

(i) Provision of heat alleviation seminars to concerned groups (education, social welfare, agriculture)

(ii) Provision of climate change adaptation seminars to assigned municipal staff members

(iii) Provision of climate change adaptation workshops to assigned municipal staff members

(3) Our other activities include information gathering through cooperation with research institutes, administration of the Local Climate Change Adaptation Center in Osaka website, and public awareness and education through distribution of posters, pamphlets, and fliers.

Please tell us about any unique approach that your Local Climate Change Adaptation Center is taking to effectively coordinate with other departments of the Osaka Prefectural Government and to facilitate adaptation by the prefecture and businesses, as well as any issues, etc. you are experiencing.

Cooperation with other departments of the prefectural government:

• Osaka Prefecture’s global warming action facilitation conference: Our staff members attend their review subcommittee conferences as observers and share information on the status of progresses being made under the prefecture’s Osaka Prefecture Action Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures(Regional Measure Edition), etc.
• We conduct interviews, inquiries, etc. individually with other departments whose functions concern climate change in their respective fields.
• We are also sharing information internally with different departments of the RIEAFO, whose functions concern agriculture, fishery, ecology, etc.

Cooperation with municipalities within Osaka Prefecture:

We have been holding seminars and workshops as part of the Osaka climate change adaptation and awareness enhancement project that has been contracted by the prefectural government.

Facilitation of adaptation by business operators:

• We are continuously making efforts to improve our information provision to business operators.

Please tell us what motivates you to do your current work and also your outlook on the future.

Motivation

As climate change affects diverse areas, we need to communicate with a wide range of people and groups that are concerned with the topic. Through this process, we are able to obtain new knowledge and insights, so this is what motivates us.

Future outlook

We are planning on designing and implementing a procedure through which data predicting future temperatures, rainfalls, etc. can be properly provided to the public as part of our effort to enhance the Local Climate Change Adaptation Center’s organizational function as a critical information hub for the prefecture.