Online Seminar & Exhibition “JICA Clean City Initiative (JCCI) International Seminar 2024” Blue Stage

The seminar was held simultaneously in the Blue Stage and the Green Stage.

*The presentation materials (PDF) and videos are available from the links in each section of the program below.

- Mr. YAMADA JUNICHI, Executive Senior Vice President, JICA
- Mr. HATA YASUYUKI, Director-General, Global Environment Bureau, Ministry of Environment, Japan

Mr. MIYAZAKI AKIHIRO, Deputy Director General, Global Environment Department, JICA

Two years have already passed since the launch of the JCCI.I would like to explain the progress of the JCCI to date and our future developments and expectations.
Since its launch, the JCCI has been supported by many people, including Japanese government officials, local governments, universities and other educational and research institutions, private companies, and people from other countries, and many attempts and projects are underway to realize “Clean Cities”. In this session I provided an overview of the results and achievements to date, as well as the projects that are expected to be undertaken under the JCCI and their development.

- Mr. AKATSUKA SHINPEI, Deputy Director Southeast Asia 6, Pacific Division, Southeast Asia and Pacific Department, JICA

Pacific Island countries are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, which has been described as the 'single greatest threat' to people's livelihoods and security. In addition, their remoteness, isolation and narrowness of their geographical conditions make it difficult to manage waste properly, and the rapid modernization of their lifestyles has led to a significant increase in the variety and volume of waste.
In response, JICA has been promoting a regional approach in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). This seminar introduced the cooperation on waste management that has been implemented for more than 20 years since 2000, and the efforts to improve climate resilience based on the SPREP Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC).

- Mr. SOEDA SHUNGO, Senior Specialist, NIPPON KOEI CO., LTD. Circular Economy Dept.

JICA has been providing technical assistances in the waste management field for the Pacific region since the early 2000s. In 2011, regional cooperation project so called J-PRISM was launched and its Phase 3 activities has been implementing since July 2023.
During the past phases, many improvements on waste collection and final disposal were made together with capacity development of our counterparts. On the other hand, it is realized that how to RETURN the resources recovered has now become very challenging issues as a part of 3R promotion activities such as a container deposit legislation (CDL) system to reduce the final disposal amount in limited island territories.
In this seminar, it is expected to share the current actual situations and challenges of the waste management in island countries and region, together with our joint efforts with counterparts and other partners through J-PRISM.

- Ms. KAISAMY OFA, Manager, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme （SPREP） Pacific Climate Change Centre

-【Facilitator】Ms. ONUMA YOKO, Advisor (Waste Management), Environmental Management and Climate Change Group, Global Environment Department

-Mr. KOBAYAKAWA TORU, Office for Ukraine Crisis Response, Recovery and Reconstruction, Middle East and Europe Department

An overview of the situation in Ukraine and the support provided by JICA after the Russian invasion will be explained.

- Ms. KIMURA YUMI, Senior Director, Environmental Management and Climate Change Team 2, Environmental Management and Climate Change Group, Global Environment Department, JICA

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the damage to buildings and infrastructure has resulted in a large amount of debris of various kinds, which is estimated to have exceeded 12 million tons by early 2023, equivalent to the annual amount of urban waste generated.
Japan has experienced large-scale natural disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake, and various measures have been taken by the national government, local governments, research institutes, and private sectors.
JICA is cooperating with Ukraine in both soft and hard aspects to support the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine.

- Mr. KOSTROV ILLIA, Chief Specialist, Division of Regulatory Support for the Development of Project Documentation and Operational Safety, MCTID, Ukraine

- Mr. NANBA KENJI, Director, Institute of Environmental Radioactivity at Fukushima University

While the knowledge and experiences of Chornobyl have been utilized in the investigation and countermeasures after the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi NPS, in Fukushima, 25 years have passed since the Chornobyl accident and research methods have been developed utilizing the advances in research infrastructure such as computers and analytical techniques. By comparing Chornobyl and Fukushima, which have different climates, topographies, and vegetation, through research using the latest methods, a deeper understanding of the environmental dynamics of radionuclides can be expected. In addition, the environmental status of radionuclides in the 25 years prior to the Fukushima accident may be useful for predicting the future of Fukushima, which led to the conception of the project. We were able to initiate the project under the SATREPS program "Strengthening the Environmental Radiation Management and Legislative Infrastructure for the Restoration of Radioactively Contaminated Land Environment", which was implemented for six years from April 2017 to March 2023.

- Mr. KAWAMURA KENICHI, Senior Vice President, JICA