Shiga Climate Change Adaptation Center
Striving for sustainable “Healthy Shiga”

Date of interview	March 11, 2019
Established by	Low Carbon Community and Energy Policy Division, Environment Department, Shiga Prefecture
Interviewees	Katsuhiko Itoh (Associate Director) and Daisuke Hirota (Senior Technical Staff), Global Warming Issues Division, Department of Lake Biwa and the Environment Michinori Kimura (senior researcher), Analysis Division, Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute

Background of establishment

Shiga Prefecture sets sustainable “Healthy Shiga” as a goal and is striving for the health of our residents and communities and the environment, which sustains them. We are also working for climate change adaptation while paying attention to the SDGs and international trends including the Paris Agreement.
What motivated us to consider tackling the adaptation was the Ministry of the Environment’s support project for climate change impact assessment and adaptation planning in FY2015. We set up a working group (WG) consisting of members from relevant departments of the prefectural government. The WG coordinated climate change impact assessments in the prefecture and gathered the results. In FY2016, the climate change adaptation measures were included in the “Shiga low carbon community promotion plan.” As the Climate Change Adaptation Act came into effect in FY2018, the WG was developed into Shiga Climate Change Adaptation Center, a prefectural organization, in January 2019.

Position of the Local Climate Change Adaptation Center and budget allocation

Impacts from climate change are considered to affect a wide range of fields, such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, natural disaster, human health and ecosystems. Shiga does not have a research institute that conducts encompassing studies of climate change impacts. However, the agricultural bureaus and departments have been doing research on the adaptation. Expanding that research, we thought, could lead to the development of adaptation measures. We added the testing and research institutes on agriculture, fisheries, public health, and Lake Biwa environment to the Low Carbon Community and Energy Policy Division to form a cross-departmental center. The division is headed by the governor. As the top echelons champion the efforts and staff members make the most of liaison between them, we are going to strengthen the system for working closely with the National Institute for Environmental Studies (Figure 1).

This year, we will grasp the current climate change, clarify issues and assess risks to prepare for the development of adaptation measures. Those findings will be also presented at symposiums and other occasions to encourage the citizens of Shiga to implement adaptation measures. As for funding, we have requested a budget for the promotion of climate change adaptation, including the cost of outsourcing climate change impact assessments to be submitted to a policy issue meeting. Although future projections entail uncertainty, risks of impacts do exist. We consider it important to clarify risks climate change poses, including natural disasters, in examining the necessity of each adaptation measure.

Coordination between relevant departments

The Local Climate Change Adaptation Center was positioned as a prefectural organization. For coordination with other departments, we have visited relevant departments and talked about a field related to each department, showing materials about the government’s bill on climate change adaptation. Extreme weather including intense heat had been already on the agenda at the prefectural assembly, for instance, we had an unusually light snowfall last year, and those departments were often receiving inquiries. It seemed that the relevant departments were aware of an increase in the citizens’ concern.

Promoting climate change adaptation making the most of the keen ecological awareness among Shiga citizens

Many residents are keenly interested in the environmental issues, such as one about Lake Biwa. That is one of our prefectural characteristics. There are also many NPOs enthusiastic about environment conservation activities. Their activities span a wide range, including conservation of the Lake Biwa ecosystem, utilization of Lake Biwa and forest preservation in the catchment area. Those activity reports are presented at “Mother Lake Forum Biwa Com Meeting” held every year.
The Global Warming Issues Division has conducted a survey on global warming as part of the dissemination and awareness projects carried out by Shiga Center for Climate Change Actions. From July 2018 to March 2019, about 2,200 residents responded (Figure 2). The survey asked what worried the respondents about impacts from global warming. 68.8% of the respondents answered “an increase in floods, landslides and other disasters due to torrential rain.” 53.8% answered “a decline in the yield or quality of crops,” 47.1% answered “anxiety about their health (an increase in heatstroke cases” and 36.7% answered “the environment of Lake Biwa and changes in its ecosystem.”

Future outlooks

In our “Local Climate Change Adaptation Plan” to be mapped out in FY2021, we aim at developing adaptation measures based on impact assessments in individual fields. We must consider measures that work, not simply expanding the existing measures. In the future, we are hoping to set numerical indicators for progress control and follow-ups. Shiga Climate Change Adaptation Center will collect information on the climate change in the prefecture to provide it to the residents, businesses, cities, towns, and university and other research institutes.

Comments from interviewees

Hirota: I was transferred to the Global Warming Issues Division in FY2017 and I have been working on the adaptation since FY2018. As my predecessor was involved in the working group in FY2015, I have learned about the adaptation reading his reports.
Itoh: I feel my job challenging and rewarding as climate change is an important issue common to humankind, not confined to a prefecture.
Kimura: We want to support the prefecture’s measures as a research institute. From the perspective of not only climate change adaptation but also the betterment of society, we are pursuing research to promote “adaptation for future society” including depopulation, regional economy and other social problems.