322
in order to expand and develop cities, the coast and ocean have provided a place for
landfill with waste and sand/mud.
Likewise, measures against global warming have primarily focused on landbased efforts. The municipal government and other institutions in Yokohama City
have worked to improve environmental conditions along the coast and protect
marine ecosystems. As a result, Yokohama now has water quality that is good
enough to allow the World Triathlon Series to be held there. Despite these environmental efforts, however, little focus has been given to the relationship between
global warming countermeasures and the sea.
Yokohama City was selected as an Environmental Model City in 2008 by the
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. This designation is awarded to advanced cities that aim to “realize urban design that results in a considerable reduction of CO 2
and fosters sustainable low-carbon lifestyles”. In April 2010, Yokohama City was
selected as a next-generation energy and social system demonstration area by the
Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Furthermore, it was selected as
an environmental Future City in December 2011 by the Cabinet Office, Government
of Japan. As such, Yokohama City will continue to focus on the three values of environment, society, and economy while solving common problems associated with
environmental degradation and an aging society. The Future City initiatives resulted
in the subsequent blue carbon initiative, the Yokohama Blue Carbon Project.
Using carbon offsets as a measure against global warming requires raising the
awareness and changing the behavior of citizens. Furthermore, carbon offset needs
to be integrated into urban design. In 2009, the United Nations Environment
Programme published the Blue Carbon Report (Nelleman et al. 2009), which highlights the critical role of shallow coastal ecosystems in maintaining climate and
aims to assist policymakers in incorporating an oceans agenda into national and
international climate change initiatives. Although the region’s blue carbon potential
was high, at that time Yokohama City officials thought that it would not be possible
to initiate blue carbon measures because it was difficult to effectively demonstrate
the outcomes. However, officials also felt that the ocean could be worked into urban
design and blue carbon could be coupled with land-based global warming countermeasures. The Future City initiatives inspired local government planners to manage
all the new measures comprehensively from this new perspective, and the city
decided to bet on blue carbon. Leaders were also motivated by the challenges of this
project, as there were no practical examples in the world to follow.
In this chapter, we describe the progress of the Yokohama Blue Carbon Project
started in 2011, which is to our best knowledge, the first carbon offset project in the
world utilizing coastal waters, and the expected future development of this project.
M. Nobutoki et al.
in order to expand and develop cities, the coast and ocean have provided a place for
landfill with waste and sand/mud.
Likewise, measures against global warming have primarily focused on landbased efforts. The municipal government and other institutions in Yokohama City
have worked to improve environmental conditions along the coast and protect
marine ecosystems. As a result, Yokohama now has water quality that is good
enough to allow the World Triathlon Series to be held there. Despite these environmental efforts, however, little focus has been given to the relationship between
global warming countermeasures and the sea.
Yokohama City was selected as an Environmental Model City in 2008 by the
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. This designation is awarded to advanced cities that aim to “realize urban design that results in a considerable reduction of CO 2
and fosters sustainable low-carbon lifestyles”. In April 2010, Yokohama City was
selected as a next-generation energy and social system demonstration area by the
Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Furthermore, it was selected as
an environmental Future City in December 2011 by the Cabinet Office, Government
of Japan. As such, Yokohama City will continue to focus on the three values of environment, society, and economy while solving common problems associated with
environmental degradation and an aging society. The Future City initiatives resulted
in the subsequent blue carbon initiative, the Yokohama Blue Carbon Project.
Using carbon offsets as a measure against global warming requires raising the
awareness and changing the behavior of citizens. Furthermore, carbon offset needs
to be integrated into urban design. In 2009, the United Nations Environment
Programme published the Blue Carbon Report (Nelleman et al. 2009), which highlights the critical role of shallow coastal ecosystems in maintaining climate and
aims to assist policymakers in incorporating an oceans agenda into national and
international climate change initiatives. Although the region’s blue carbon potential
was high, at that time Yokohama City officials thought that it would not be possible
to initiate blue carbon measures because it was difficult to effectively demonstrate
the outcomes. However, officials also felt that the ocean could be worked into urban
design and blue carbon could be coupled with land-based global warming countermeasures. The Future City initiatives inspired local government planners to manage
all the new measures comprehensively from this new perspective, and the city
decided to bet on blue carbon. Leaders were also motivated by the challenges of this
project, as there were no practical examples in the world to follow.
In this chapter, we describe the progress of the Yokohama Blue Carbon Project
started in 2011, which is to our best knowledge, the first carbon offset project in the
world utilizing coastal waters, and the expected future development of this project.
M. Nobutoki et al.