Speech at the OECD Green Investment Financing Forum, October 24th, 2017

On October 24, 2017, Governor Yuriko Koike gave a speech at the OECD Green Investment Financing Forum in Paris, France. The Governor was in Paris to participate in the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and CityLab 2017.

In her speech, Governor Koike introduced the various initiatives Tokyo is engaged in to become a Smart City, along with preparations the city is taking for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

After mentioning Tokyo’s huge economy as the growth engine of Japan, the Governor said that Tokyo is not yet taking full advantage of the city’s resources and suggested that there should be more focus on the financial industry. She explained that Tokyo will formulate a new plan in November called the “Tokyo Financial Big Bang” to restore Tokyo’s status as Asia’s financial center. She also spoke about the city’s initiatives to make Tokyo more appealing to international businesses. These included a ‘financial one-stop support service’ providing integrated solutions to help international financial firms resolve the issues they may face when setting up in Japan, as well as ‘Access to Tokyo’ offices in Paris, London, and San Francisco to attract local enterprises to the metropolis.

Governor Koike also underscored Tokyo’s focus on the key concepts of environmental, social governance (ESG) and sustainability. She highlighted that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) will issue JPY 20 billion in Tokyo Green Bonds this year, which is a first for any national or local government in Japan. She explained that the TMG will help create a trend of utilizing valuable funds for environmental measures such as promotion of a growing fleet of hydrogen-fuelled city buses through these initiatives. The Governor also introduced a new original commendation program to recognize the Japanese and international firms who provide financial services and products which promote ESG investments.

Governor Koike concluded her speech with a promise to promote innovation in environmental technologies and aim for the sustainable development of Tokyo in harmony with the global environment through the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. She stated: “I consider the Tokyo Games to be an opportunity to show the world a model sustainable society, and I also hope to pass on this spirit to Paris.”