Tokyo has been named as Asia-Pacific’s greenest city, followed by Seoul, Melbourne, Singapore and Osaka. A survey by Solidiance evaluated ten cities in categories such as CO2 emissions, energy, transportation, air quality, water, waste and green space as well as environmental governance. The study’s editor, Jennifer Elison, told the City Mayors website that the results showed that Japan could still innovate, “The export of green technology know-how to other cities could be the next wave that revitalizes the country’s lagging economy,” she added.
In an introduction to the study, the authors write that many cities in the Asia-Pacific region already have in place strong programmes to reduce pollution. “They have also demonstrated their commitment by signing the World Mayors and Local Government Climate Protection agreement,” the City Mayors site was told.
With a population of more than eight million, Tokyo is one of largest cities in the world and yet it has the lowest carbon dioxide emissions in Asia-Pacific. At 4.3 tonnes per capita, the Japanese capital is striving to be internationally competitive with other green cities worldwide. The city plans to reduce emissions by 25 per cent between 2002 and 2020. The report also praises Tokyo for its comprehensive transportation policy. The authors told City Mayors that businesses received subsidies for electric car purchases and the city’s taxi fleet – it has more taxis than London and New York City combined – were being converted to electric vehicles.
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