Climate change adaptation measures of Toyota City as a model city of environment advancement
| Date of interview | September 13, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Targets | Environmental Policy Section, Department of the Environment, Toyota City Ryo Aikawa, Chief Shin Takeuchi, Senior Staff |
Please tell us what led to Toyota City’s decision to facilitate climate change adaptation.
Mr. Aikawa: In Toyota City, we have been taking actions to address global warming and achieve sustainable urban development from an early stage. Toyota was selected by the government of Japan as one of its eco-model cities in 2009 and as one of its SDGs future cities in 2018. When Toyota City created its Master Environmental Plan of Toyota City in 2018, it mentioned the term “adaptation” which was still a fledgling concept at the time.
Then in 2019, Toyota announced its vision of becoming a zero-carbon city, while the Mayor at the time proposed that the city should not only focus on climate change mitigation but also on adaptation with full commitment as the global climate had shifted into a different phase, which would lead to the formulation of the city’s local climate change adaptation plan.
Please tell us about your specific activities that are underway toward the formulation of Toyota City’s local climate change adaptation plan.
Mr. Takeuchi: In the initial stage, we decided to build a common understanding of what our united approach should be, so since 2018 we have been holding climate change adaptation seminars and workshops for municipal employees once a year over the past three years, where academics and other experts were invited to speak and instruct. As a result, the rate of employee awareness has improved to roughly 40%, so we feel that our cause is being recognized more and more. We intend to improve this awareness metric to 80% by FY 2025 through frequent provision of e-learning courses, questionnaire surveys, and feedback so that they can use the information to improve their comprehension from one seminar to the next.
Due to its proximity to Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture that is known for notoriously high temperatures, Toyota is also a hot city. Therefore, hyperthermia had been on our radar for some time as a crucial issue that had to be addressed for accident prevention and other obvious reasons. So we have been conducting surveys of extreme heat conditions since 2019. For this survey project, we initially chose two distinct observation sites, one of which is Takamachi – a township situated near the center of Toyota City – with the other being Inabu, a community located at an elevation of 700 m, and gathered data through the Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System (AMeDAS) that is run by the Japan Meteorological Agency. We have also been deploying thermal imaging cameras and analyzing extreme heat occurrence patterns based on extreme heat day simulations based on computational replication of previous extreme heat day data, among other investigative activities.
In addition to these research endeavors, we have also been providing seminars for municipal residents on hyperthermia prevention and also seminars for instructors that are involved in local public health activities. During our seminars offered to municipal residents, we had participants perform the practice of uchimizu (sprinkling of water) where we had them measure the temperature before and after to witness the difference. These are but only a few examples of wide-ranging activities that we conduct.
In your plan formulation, the particular method called “impact chain” was apparently used. Please tell us why you decided to focus on the method and what the current status is.
Mr. Takeuchi: In FY 2019, we conducted the extreme heat condition survey and also organized data on the effects of climate change that had been manifesting on municipal residents’ lives. Then in FY 2020, we communicated with various departments of the City government, business operators, and other concerned organizations to obtain their input so that we could use it in our initial assessment and for identifying the key points based upon which the City’s climate change adaptation plan would be formulated. We have also been holding workshops for municipal residents to learn their opinions.
When we had to select an outside contractor to help with our plan formulation process, there were three important criteria based upon which we screened potential candidates. First, we examined what each candidate proposed in terms of how the vision of our overall adaptation plan would be communicated. Second, we reviewed what each candidate suggested we reflect the City’s unique local features and characteristics in the plan. Finally, we assessed each candidate’s proposal as it pertained to how our achievement of goals as indicated in the plan would be managed. Especially since the Climate Change Adaptation Act came into effect at the time when no one really had any proper adaptation plan, and only a very few administrative plans existed that entailed goal management based on specifically indicated targets, we were confronted with many issues that made it difficult for us to proceed at operational level. To overcome this situation, we adopted a proposal-based approach and relied on business operators that could potentially become our contractor to make us various suggestions, through which we stumbled upon the impact chain method and became interested in it. After learning more about the method and applying it ourselves, we have created diagrams for a total of seven different categories, which are what you see today.
Mr. Aikawa: There are mainly two major benefits that resulted from our application of this method. Let me explain. So, when we interview City government employees from different departments and also business operators, the conversation always starts around the question of what climate change adaptation is. Then, before each individual gets into a wide range of topics and provides us with related information, they always state this caveat that they are not certain what they are going to tell us are effects of climate change. But when we apply the impact chain method, we can not only organize the components of each interview, survey, etc. but also sort any issues that become salient in the process, all on the same single chart. The other benefit of the method is its ability to create a visual representation of how the identified effects of climate change would lead to future consequences. While we are currently in the process of providing feedback to the interviewees, all parties involved on both sides have come to a better understanding of how extreme heat causes specific ripple effects based on the single pictorial diagram, which was quite obscure during the initial round of interviews, but now we are able to have roundtable discussions, etc. The method also has yielded this significantly positive effect that allows any department staff at the City government and business operators to express their opinions with more ease while discussing any new ideas and necessary future actions, looking at the same image.
Concerning your plan formulation process, how do you approach finding a balance between climate change adaptation and mitigation?
Mr. Aikawa: Toyota City is of the stance climate change should be addressed by both mitigation and adaptation. To aid City residents’ understanding of what climate change adaptation is, we created this chart which we call the circles of climate change risks and opportunities. Of the three concentric circles, the innermost one is orange, then the one surrounding it is red, and the outermost one is dark red. The orange indicates the current state, while the red is a scenario that will turn out when stringent actions are taken to address global warming, and the dark red is the opposite, i.e., how it will become if stringent actions are not taken. So the chart specifies what viable counteractions are available – which are now commonly referred to as mitigation measures – while implying that even if we execute stringent measures to deter global warming, various effects will still manifest, but doing any less will certainly lead to a more catastrophic state.
When people’s conversation turns to the topic of climate change, it tends to evoke an image of our future that is all doom and gloom. However, as we collectively live in this so-called adaptive society, our internal discussions at the Center have led us to conclude that our societal development would be a moot point unless the process itself was enjoyable, and that it is indeed the purpose of planning. Along these lines of thought, we decided to create the green category, to add the narrative that climate change could also present new business opportunities – fortuitous times for businesses to initiate new entrepreneurial endeavors. Examples include promotion of EVs and FCVs, new styles of clothes, etc. that are adaptive to climate change, etc. As we thought this was such an important point, we have designed the chart to highlight it.
Mr. Takeuchi: Even among us insiders within the Department of the Environment, there used to be this lingering sense of ambiguity and uncertainty as to what climate change adaptation really meant. It is intuitively understandable that climate change mitigation is important, but when the concept of adaptation is introduced and discussed alongside mitigation, it becomes quite difficult to understand the whole dichotomy. So the idea was to express them in a single conceptual illustration.
It is exciting to see how you have been able to effectively apply the impact chain method and create the charts, etc. to facilitate climate change adaptation in such an active manner. Please tell us what motivates you to invest so much of your energy into what you do and what is so rewarding about the work.
Mr. Aikawa: Climate change adaptation is still a difficult concept to understand for many, and even if adaptation measures are implemented, the results do not appear instantly. Also there are diverse assessment criteria, so we often encounter instances where people do not get what we have been doing. On the other hand, because we have been steadily advocating the cause, climate change adaptation has been incorporated into Toyota City’s general plan as one of its prioritized initiatives since April 2021. As it is the City’s general policy and master plan that officially recognize the importance of climate change adaptation, I believe people’s perception of it might have changed significantly. In addition, we have been negotiating with other departments of the City government to have them include the term “climate change adaptation” in the Aichi City administration plan at the next revision, while showing them the impact chain figure, I feel they have become more receptive to the idea and been acting accordingly, which makes me realize that change is definitely taking place and motivates me to do my job well.
Mr. Takeuchi: Before I got assigned to the Department of the Environment, I was even hesitant to do this work to be honest, because I am the type of person that has trouble comprehending any matters well that are unquantifiable and intangible. So initially, my basic mindset was to try to visualize the unclear components of my job and to set up a framework in which my tasks would flow systematically. Then I made actual plans in such direction, conducted a series of interviews and surveys, distinguished the known from the unknown, and here I am starting to get a small glimpse of how I should go about all these environmental issues. As the term “adaptation” used in this context might have been coined only recently, we are still going through trials and errors at this stage, laying the foundation, planting the seeds, and waiting for that moment of them sprouting, thinking I will perhaps be able to feel a true sense of purpose in what we do.
(Posted on April 15, 2022)
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