Yokohama City's Ordinance to Preserve Living Environment

Yokohama City of Kanagawa Prefecture partly revised its ordinance to preserve the living environment in February 2009, in order to further promote global warming countermeasures. The amended ordinance is expected to come into force in April 2010. The following are part of the details of the amendment.

1. Expansion of Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency in Yokohama (CASBEE Yokohama):
Yokohama aims to promote the market of environmentally friendly buildings, by enabling citizens to easily get information on the environmental performance of buildings. By the amendment, clients of buildings will be obliged to publicize the environmental performance assessment for the buildings and notify it to the city. They will also be required to positively explain the environmental performance of the buildings. Buildings with a total floor area of at least 5,000 square meters are currently subject to the assessment system, but in the future, the program will be expanded to cover buildings with a total floor area of 2,000 square meters or more.

2. Expansion of Climate Change Prevention Program:
Yokohama aims to make the program more widely cover operations divisions and to further promote businesses' voluntary efforts to address global warming. Yokohama also aims to increase the range of target companies (companies that emit more than a certain amount of total greenhouse gases in the city, and companies that use many cars for business purposes will be subject to the program). The city plans to evaluate their emission reduction efforts, award excellent companies, and announce the companies' names. Small- and medium-sized enterprises can voluntarily participate in this program.

3. Establishment of New Program to Promote Renewable Energy:
Yokohama will strive to achieve a 10-fold increase in the use of renewable energy, one of the goals under the Yokohama Action Plan to Stop Global Warming (CO-DO30). When constructing new buildings with a total floor area of 2,000 square meters or more, clients of the buildings are obliged to consider and report on the introduction of renewable energy.

2008年1月に「横浜市脱温暖化行動方針（CO-DO30）」を策定し、 2025年までに一人当たりの温室効果ガス（CO2）を30%減、2050年までに60%減という目標を掲げた。この、CO-DO30では、「生活」「ビジネス」「建物」「交通」「再生可能エネルギー」「都市と緑」「市役所」の7分野で具体的な政策方針を立てている。

横浜市脱温暖化行動方針CO-DO30

さらに、2008年5月に国が募集する「環境モデル都市」に応募し、7月に他の5都市とともに選定された。「環境モデル都市」提案では、「家庭」「再生可能エネルギー」「交通」「地域連携」というCO-DO30に基づいて具体化しようとしていた施策を、重点的かつ先行的に提示している。

横浜市「環境モデル都市」

CO-DO30の中で、再生可能エネルギーを現在の10倍にする目標を設定し、再生可能エネルギー市場の拡大を図るため、政策・社会・ビジネスモデルを実証する導入プロジェクトを進めている。