About ICLEI Japan

ICLEI Japan was founded in 1993, as one of the country offices of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and serves to build and enhance the local governments’ network in Japan. ICLEI Japan supports the member cities to lead local initiatives, to promote global collaboration to achieve regional and global sustainability in partnership with other ICLEI offices and partner organizations.


Our Leadership

Board Members

 Title

Name

Chair

Kazuhiko Takemoto

President, Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center (OECC) Japan

Gino Van Begin

Secretary General, ICLEI World Secretariat

Yuriko Koike

Governor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Koji Matsui
(New mayor of Kyoto, changeover procedure in progress)

Mayor, City of Kyoto
Chair, ICLEI East Asia Regional Executive Committee

Kazuhisa Takeuchi

Mayor, City of Kitakyushu

Kazumi Matsui

Mayor, City of Hiroshima

Takeharu Yamanaka

Mayor, City of Yokohama

Yasuhiro Omino
(New mayor of Musashino, changeover procedure in progress)

Mayor, City of Musashino

Chair: Prof. Dr. Kazuhiko Takemoto

Dr. Takemoto developed policies on sustainable development and the global environment as Director-General of the Environmental Management Bureau and Vice-Minister for Global Environment Affairs of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ). He served for CBD/COP10 as its Alternate President (2010), OECD/EPOC as Vice Chair (2004–07), and UNFCCC/COP3 as Special Assistant to its President (1997).
After serving for the United Nations University as the Director of its Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS), Prof. Takemoto has been fully committed to international cooperation on environment and development as President of the Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center (OECC) and the International Lake Environmental Committee Foundation (ILEC), Project Professor of the University of Tokyo (IFI) and Vice-Chair of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) Council.
Prof. Takemoto recently published two books: “International Cooperation on Environment and Development: Progress and Future Perspective” (2022) and “Environmental Policy and the SDGs” (2020). He received Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo.

 

Executive Director: Togo Uchida

Born in the UK and growing up in Melbourne and Tokyo, Togo started his career at Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) working on donor coordination and aid policies. Gradually, his interest shifted to environmental policies and climate change, and spent over 8 years in Thailand and Cambodia as Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Project Formulation Adviser on Climate Change and Environment. After serving one year at Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) as Programme Manager for promoting SDGs in cities in ASEAN countries, Togo has assumed the position of the Director of ICLEI Japan from July 1st, 2018.

FEATURED CITY

Tokorozawa City, Japan

The Tokorozawa City area, once a wilderness on the Musashino Plateau, includes Nakatomi and Shimotomi in Tokorozawa City and Kamitomi in Miyoshi Town, which are collectively known as ‘Santome.’ Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, who became lord of the Kawagoe Domain in 1694, promoted the development of new agricultural land in the area.
These farms were divided into strips of land, each with a house, farmland, and woodland that occupied 30% of those lands, assigned to farmers from various regions. Farmers practised a cyclic farming method, using fallen leaves as compost for arable land and maintaining thickets with crop waste. This traditional method enhances soil quality, boosts agricultural production, and supports zero emissions.
Known as ‘Musashino Fallen Leaf Compost Farming,’ it was designated a World Agricultural Heritage Site on July 6, 2023. This 300-year-old tradition highlights Japan’s pioneering role in the realisation of a circular economy and 30by30.

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