A webinar organised by ICLEI World Secretariat was held on 22 March and attended by Saitama Mayor Hayato Shimizu. The webinar was organised under the theme of ‘Green Resilience: Building Resilient and Environmentally-Friendly City’ to boost momentum for the ICLEI World Congress 2021-2022 in Malmo, Sweden in May 2022.

In recent years, the world has been hit by a variety of natural disasters, including those caused by global warming, decarbonising and strengthening resilience in cities is a pressing issue. In the webinar, through presentations by the participating cities, the speakers shared pathways for resolving issues such as securing diverse energy sources and energy management initiatives in times of disaster.

In addition to the Saitama City, the webinar featured Simon Chrisander, Deputy Mayor of Malmo, Sweden, and Leila Mahomed Weideman, Director of Sustainable Energy Markets, Cape Town City, and was moderated by Togo Uchida, Executive Director of ICLEI Japan.

Mayor Shimizu commented that ‘effort to combat climate change, realise a resilient society and decarbonisation, cannot be achieved by one local government alone, and that it is important to complement each other’s shortcomings by working together with cities in Japan and abroad’, and called for participation in the ‘Saitama Sustainable Cities Summit – E-KIZUNA Global Summit’ to be held in Saitama City in November 2022.