Saitama City was invited to the ASEAN Forum 2025 held in Malaysia, where Mayor Hayato Shimizu took the stage at the session ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ hosted by the host city, Kuala Lumpur City.

During the session, Saitama City shared its decarbonization measures,  its city-to-city collaboration initiatives with Malaysia, and the activities of Urban7, the G7 cities’ alliance. Furthermore, Mayor Hayato Shimizu emphasised the importance of strengthening partnerships between the G7, the Global South, and cities worldwide to achieve G7 goals, including sustainable urbanization, climate resilience, and economic development.

Saitama City has collaborated with Kuala Lumpur City from 2022 to 2024, utilizing the ‘City-to-City Collaboration Program for Zero Carbon Society Program‘, adopted by the Ministry of the Environment. To continue this relationship and strengthen the partnership, a new cooperation agreement has been signed.

Moving forward, Saitama City aims to contribute to global decarbonization through city-to-city collaboration.

(Article provided by the Saitama City Environmental Bureau, and translated by ICLEI Japan)