[Cabinet Secretariat] [Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015]
Speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at COP21
[Provisional Translation]
Introduction
First of all, I express my deepest condolences to the victims of the recent terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris. I extend my respect for and show my solidarity with President Hollande, both the Government and people of France who refused to submit to terrorism by opening COP21.
Today we must demonstrate our ability to overcome overwhelming challenges with our solidarity no matter how different our nations or cultures are.
Significance of the Paris Agreement
Eighteen years ago, the Kyoto Protocol, an important step to counter global warming, was adopted. Global average temperature, however, has been on the gradual rise ever since. We have witnessed frequent occurrence of extreme weather- related disasters worldwide such as heavy rain and drought. Beautiful islands now face the risk of submersion. The Earth is the sole homeland to our humankind. We must hand it down safely to the generations of our children and grandchildren. Now is high time to build a new international framework, which developed and developing countries join together.
Constructive proposal for the international framework
Many point out that the present INDCs submitted by countries alone are unlikely to achieve the below 2℃ objective. I would like the Paris Agreement to include the setting of a long-term goal as well as the establishment of a common process for the review of nationally determined mitigation contributions.
Japan on its part will steadily implement its already-submitted, ambitious INDC and its national adaptation plan.
Japan’s new set of contribution: Actions for Cool Earth (ACE) 2.0 (support to developing countries, innovation)
Japan has announced the “Actions for Cool Earth 2.0,” namely, “ACE 2.0”. This is a reinforcement of Japan’s contribution to climate change actions which was presented as “ACE” in 2013.
The first component of the contribution is our support to developing countries. We cannot overlook the difficulties of those developing countries suffering from negative impacts of climate change. Japan will provide, in 2020, approximately \1.3 trillion of public and private climate finance, 1.3 times up from the current level, to developing countries. I believe the increased finance from Japan, if added to the accumulated contributions by countries and international organizations clarify a pathway to the achievement of the commitment made at COP15: the mobilization by 2020 of $ 100 billion in climate finance per year to developing countries.
We will enrich the livelihood of people living on the Earth, while we reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We will take geothermal energy from the center of the Earth and deliver clean electricity to people in Africa. We shed light generated from sunlight in those areas not yet covered with the power grid. We pass on what cities in Japan have gone through to various emerging Asian cities that are experiencing rapidly growing concentration of population. We provide necessary equipment and know-hows so that people of island states in the Pacific can evacuate with ample time available before a typhoon approaches. These are several fields of activities in which Japanese companies have been engaged for a long time and have sophisticated their skills. I am all confident that we can be of great help for every one of you.
Japan has contributed $1.5 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF). I would like to see the fund made available for the support to developing countries as soon as possible. I will ensure Japan’s involvement in the work of GCF from the project-forming stage for swift implementation of the next year’s support of $2.5 billion.
The second component of Japan’s new set of contribution is innovation. The key to acting against climate change without sacrificing economic growth is the development of innovative technologies. To illustrate, there are technologies to produce, store and transport hydrogen towards realizing CO２–free societies, and a next-generation battery to enable an electric car to run 5 times longer than the current level. By next spring Japan will formulate the “Energy and Environment Innovation Strategy.” Prospective focused areas will be identified and research and development on them will be strengthened.
The “Mission Innovation,” proposed by the interested countries, is in line with what Japan has consistently worked on, and I hereby express Japan’s intention to join the initiative.
In addition, many of the advanced low-carbon technologies do not generally promise investment-return to developing countries. Japan will, while lowering burdens of those countries, promote diffusion of advanced low carbon technologies particularly through implementation of the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).
Conclusion
We, the leaders of the world, have all gathered here in Paris despite the challenges posed by terrorist attack. Let all of us achieve an agreement on new framework and show our solidarity.
[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan] [Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015]
Japan-France Summit Meeting
On November 30 (local time), commencing at 3:25 p.m. for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Fran?ois Hollande, President of the French Republic, during his visit to Paris to attend the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21). The overview of the meeting is as follows.
1 Opening remarks
(1) At the beginning, President Hollande expressed his gratitude for Prime Minister Abe's visit to Paris, and stated that he hoped to cooperate closely in this difficult time. He also expressed his thanks for the message from Prime Minister Abe to the French people following the simultaneous terrorist attacks in Paris, and noted that Japan was also the victim of terrorism in the Algeria incident and other cases. Furthermore, he expressed his gratitude for Japan's additional contributions to climate change measures, and stated that he was looking forward to visiting Japan next year, which would also lead to further enhancement of the ''exceptional partnership'' between Japan and France.
(2) In response, Prime Minister Abe once again conveyed his sincere condolences to the casualties of the recent simultaneous terrorist attacks in Paris. He explained that he felt deep shock and anger over vicious acts of terrorism and resolutely denounces terrorism as an attack on our common values. He informed President Hollande that Japan stands with France in this time of difficulty. Additionally, he stated that Japan would actively engage in countering terrorism hand-in-hand with the international community. He expressed his respect for President Hollande's leadership in holding COP21 at this difficult time, and explained that he intended to cooperate on leading the meeting to success.
2 Climate change
(1) President Hollande explained that it was important to have a large number of leaders participate in COP21 and is said that he hoped to negotiate an agreement document subsequently, saying that financial contribution would be extremely important in that regard. Furthermore, he expressed his expectation over Japan's efforts as the next G7 chair country.
(2) In response, Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan attached the utmost importance to building a fair and effective framework in which all countries participate and that it was essential for the Paris agreement to be a framework for advancing ambitions to reduce emissions, and hoping to make COP21 a success together with President Hollande. Furthermore, he explained that in order to encourage participation of developing countries, Japan had pledged to lift the value of its assistance from both the public and private sectors for developing countries to approximately 1.3 trillion yen a year in 2020, and as a result, the existing commitment of mobilizing 100 billion U.S. dollars per year by 2020 would be on track for realization, strongly expecting that this assistance would encourage the conclusion of this agreement.
In addition, Prime Minister Abe explained that Japan would formulate the ''Energy and Environment Innovation Strategy'' by next spring in order to boost the development of innovative energy and environmental technologies. He also stated that he would like to take part in the ''Mission Innovation'' scheduled to be held following the Japan-France Summit Meeting.
(3) In response, President Hollande expressed his gratitude for Japan's contributions, noting that the goal of mobilizing 100 billion U.S. dollars per year by 2020 could be achieved taking account of Japan's contributions.
(4) The two leaders shared the view that they would promote emerging economies to join a new agreement including in the financial aspect.
3 Counterterrorism
(1) Prime Minister Abe commented that the international community should strengthen its unity in the fight against terrorism, and expressed his respect for President Hollande's enormous efforts to lead the international community, maintaining the momentum of international cooperation by visiting the United States, Russia, among others.
Additionally, he explained the support for enhancing counterterrorism capabilities of Middle Eastern and other countries that Japan had implemented thus far, including border control and investigation and prosecution capabilities. He also explained that Japan was also focusing on the support needed to restore stability in the Middle East region, such as the approximately 810 million U.S. dollars of aid that Japan would implement this year for refugees and internally-displaced persons in Syria and Iraq, including constructing shelters for internally-displaced persons in Iraq. Prime Minister Abe stated that through these efforts to stem outflows of refugees, Japan would like to contribute to preventing proliferation of terrorists. Furthermore, he commented that in the mid to long term, it would be necessary to build societies where extremism would not easily arise, and explained that Japan would continue providing support for human resource development, measures for countering youth unemployment, and redressing disparity. Finally, Prime Minister Abe explained that in its capacity as the G7 chair country next year, Japan intended to engage in counterterrorism in cooperation with the relevant countries, and he expressed his expectation on the development of the Vienna Process.
(2) In response, President Hollande commented that in addition to fighting Daesh (ISIL), measures to simultaneously counter the roots of terrorism are also important, and that France hoped the G7 would work together on countering terrorism including the financial aspect, such as money laundering. He also expressed his gratitude for Japan's support and initiatives in relation to the refugee issue, explained that it is important for refugees to remain in countries nearby their countries of origin, and stated that France also intended to provide support.
(3) In this connection, both sides expressed their hope that a meeting would be realized between H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and H.E. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkey.
4 G7 Ise-Shima Summit
Prime Minister Abe stated that he looked forward to welcoming President Hollande to next year's G7 Ise-Shima Summit, and President Hollande conveyed his gratitude.
[Japan International Cooperation Agency] [Friday, Dec 4, 2015]
Signing of Japanese ODA Loan with the Indonesia: Mitigating traffic congestion through construction of mass rapid transit
On December 4, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed loan agreements with the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to provide Japanese ODA loans of up to 77.137 billion yen for two projects.
In recent years, the Indonesian economy has been sustained by domestic consumption and private investment. Since 2013, the decline in the international economy and other factors slightly decelerated the growth ratio of the real GDP to the 5.0 percent level, which is, however, expected to rise again in the medium-term.
Joko Widodo was inaugurated as the president of Indonesia last October. His administration is committed to improving the productivity and international competitiveness in Indonesia by reducing costs that arise from inadequate infrastructure by developing the country’s infrastructure, and to addressing important social issues, including food security and regional disparities. With the intention of reforming fuel subsidies, the system of set fuel rates was relaxed in January 2015 to allow fluctuation. It is expected that the government will use the extra revenue generated from the fuel subsidy reduction to increase infrastructure development expenditures. Also, a target of 7 percent annual economic growth was announced in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN, 2015-2019). To achieve sustainable economic growth, it is critical that the investment environment be improved by facilitating infrastructure development as a basis for economic activities, and especially that critical infrastructure issues be resolved, such as mitigating the serious traffic congestion in the Jakarta metropolitan area, which is a leading center of the Indonesian economy.
The population of the overall Jakarta metropolitan area is approximately 28 million people (2010), an increase of about 1.3 times over the past decade (average annual growth rate: 2.8 percent). The number of commuters from the suburbs to the center of Jakarta has rapidly increased over the past decade about 1.5 times (from 743,000 in 2002 to 1.105 million in 2010), and the number of registered vehicles in Jakarta metropolitan area has rapidly increased as well, by about 3.6 times (from 2.67 million in 2000 to 9.63 million in 2010). With this growth, urban environmental degradation, including severe traffic congestion and air pollution has become a serious problem.
Construction of Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit Project (II) and Engineering Services for Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit East-West Line Project (Phase I) will enhance the passenger transportation capacity and alleviate serious traffic congestion through the construction of a mass rapid transit (MRT) system with Indonesia’s first subway in the Jakarta metropolitan area.
(1) Construction of Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit Project (II)
(a) Background and Necessity
The total population of the overall Jakarta metropolitan area has grown about 1.3 times over the past decade, and the number of commuters from the suburban areas to the center of Jakarta is rapidly increasing along with the number of registered vehicles. With these trends, severe traffic congestion, air pollution and other types of traffic pollution have become major issues; yet a further increase in the transportation demand is forecasted for the upcoming years. Therefore construction of a new MRT system is indispensable for the Jakarta metropolitan area.
The National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN, 2015-2019) developed by the Government of Indonesia lists “expansion of public transportation in urban areas” as one of the major targets in the development policy. This project has been highly prioritized by the Government of Indonesia to alleviate the severe traffic congestion and reduce traffic pollution in the Jakarta metropolitan area with the construction of an MRT that includes Indonesia’s first subway.
JICA has provided ODA loans for the project, a total of 50,019 million yen in Japanese fiscal years 2006 for the engineering services and 2008 for the Construction of Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit Project (I).
(b) Objective and Summary
The objective of the project is to enhance the transportation capacity of the Jakarta metropolitan area through the construction of an MRT system, thereby mitigating the escalating traffic congestion and in turn, improving the investment climate in the Jakarta metropolitan area.
The loan is to be allocated to civil and track works, electrical and mechanical systems, rolling stock, consulting services and other areas.
(c) Executing Agency
Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta
Address: Jakarta Provincial Government Building, Jl. Mean Merdeka Selatan No. 8-9, Jakarta 10110
Phone: +62-21-3822159, fax: +62-21-3842871
(d) Planned Implementation Schedule
(i) Completion of project:
November 2018 (when the facilities are put into service)
(ii) Issuing of letters of invitation for consulting services:
Engineering design: Already contracted
Operation and management: Already issued
Engineering design for the north-south extension section: February 2016
(iii) Tender announcement of initial procurement package for international competitive bidding on project construction:
Civil and Track Works (Underground Section): Already contracted
(e) JICA Contact Information
For further information about the procurement schedule, please contact the party listed below.
Contact Point for Transportation Sector, JICA Indonesia Office
Address: Sentral Senayan II, 14th Floor Jl. Asia Afrika No. 8, Jakarta 10270, INDONESIA
Phone: +62-21-5795-2112, Fax: +62-21-5795-2116
(2) Engineering Services for Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit East-West Line Project (Phase I)
(a) Background and Necessity
The total population of the overall Jakarta metropolitan area has grown about 1.3 times over the past decade, and the number of commuters from the suburban areas to the center of Jakarta is rapidly increasing along with the number of registered vehicles. With these trends, severe traffic congestion, air pollution from exhaust gas and other types of traffic pollution have become major issues; yet a further increase in the transportation demand is forecasted for the upcoming years. Therefore the construction of a new MRT system is indispensable for the Jakarta metropolitan area.
The RPJMN issued by the Government of Indonesia lists “expansion of public transportation in urban areas” as a major development target. In addition to an MRT North-South Line with what will be Indonesia’s first subway, the MRT system to be constructed by this project has been highly prioritized by the Government of Indonesia as a means to alleviate the severe traffic congestion and reduce the traffic pollution in the Jakarta metropolitan area.
(b) Objective and Summary
The objective of the project is to enhance the transportation capacity of the Jakarta metropolitan area through the construction of mass rapid transit system, thereby mitigating the escalating traffic congestion and in turn improving the investment climate in the Jakarta metropolitan area.
The loan is to be allocated to consulting services including engineering design, and tender assistance).
(c) Executing Agency
Directorate General of Railways, Ministry of Transportation
Address: Jl. MedanMerdeka Barat No. 8 Jakarta Pusat
Phone: +62-21-3505558, fax: +62-21-3523643
(d) Planned Implementation Schedule
(i) Completion of project: December 2018 (with completion of the loan disbursement)
(ii) Issuing of letters of invitation for consulting services (including engineering design and tender assistance): under consideration
[Japan International Cooperation Agency] [Friday, Nov 27, 2015]
Signing of Japanese ODA Loan Agreement with the Philippines: Using Japanese technology and urban planning models to construct a landmark commuter railway system connecting Metro Manila and outlying areas
On November 27, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines in the capital city, Manila, to provide a Japanese ODA loan of up to 241.991 billion yen for the North – South Commuter Railway Project (Malolos - Tutuban).
Being the largest economic center in the Philippines with a concentration of 13 percent of the country’s population and 36 percent of the GDP, Metro Manila has grown from 7.92 million people in 1990 to 11.85 million people in 2010, reaching a population density of 19,137 people per square kilometer. In Mega Manila-the region encompassing Metro Manila along with neighboring Rizal, Cavite and Laguna Provinces-the population has also increased rapidly over that period, rising from 12.39 million people in 1990 to 23.02 million people in 2010, a growth rate exceeding that of Metro Manila.
JICA has supported the improvement of the transportation infrastructure of Mega Manila including circumferential and radial roads in Metro Manila, as well as highways connecting Metro Manila with outlying areas to the south and north, by Japanese ODA loans. However, the development of efficient railway networks still lags behind. There are currently only three elevated light rail lines with a total length of approximately 50 kilometers in operation in Metro Manila, and one non-electrified commuter line with a low service frequency that is operated by the Philippine National Railways from Metro Manila southward. Despite the rapid growth of Metro Manila and greater Mega Manila, this railway network has been expanded by only five kilometers over the past 10 years. To the north of Metro Manila, a line was abandoned by the Philippine National Railways in 1991, and no new railway lines have been built since, and the lack of railway lines is a factor hindering urban development in that area. As a result, the population and economic activity continue to concentrate in Metro Manila, and traffic congestion worsens, costing an estimated 2.4 trillion yen per year in social expenses, factors that lower the international competitiveness of the Philippine economy.
To provide assistance for sustainable development in Mega Manila, JICA has assisted in the creation of the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Its Surrounding Areas in 2014. This infrastructure roadmap calls for enlarging the capital region to the north and south with greater connectivity to the suburbs, thereby alleviating the overconcentration in Metro Manila, and to do so, proposes the creation of two new railway lines as a transportation corridor connecting Metro Manila with the outlying areas to the north and south.
This project will construct a commuter line interval (approximately 38 kilometers long) as one of those proposed lines in the infrastructure roadmap, running from Malolos, the capital city of Bulacan Province north of Metro Manila, to Tutuban in the City of Manila, thereby enhancing the connectivity of the transportation network and alleviating the serious traffic congestion in Metro Manila, with the objectives of expanding the economic sphere of Metro Manila and reducing air pollution. The loan funds will be allocated to civil works, including elevated railway tracks, station buildings and a depot, to the procurement of electrical and mechanical systems and rolling stock, and to consulting services. Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) will be applied to this project, and it is expected that Japanese technology such as construction techniques for elevated railways, efficient signal systems and rolling stock will be utilized.
JICA will continue to work comprehensively toward solving the challenges facing the Philippines, supporting the implementation of high-quality infrastructure projects by effectively coordinating JICA’s various types of ODA, which include Japanese ODA loans, technical cooperation and grant aid.
