Climate Change Adaptation at the local level
Climate change impacts vary in type and severity depending on region and industry impacted. As such, adaptation to the impacts of climate change should be addressed within the context of community building, taking into account the characteristics of each locality. In this context, local governments have a major role to play. This section outlines the roles and key initiatives of local governments.
The importance of adaptation at the local level
Japan is exceedingly long in the north-south axis, which means that the way and degree to which climate change impacts are felt, and the measures needed to address those impacts, tend to vary from region to region. As such, adaptation measures need to be tailored to topography, industry, population and other characteristics of each region of Japan.
Local governments bear a significant responsibility in this regard. The Climate Change Adaptation Act also stipulates that local governments have an important role to play in promoting adaptation within their local area and facilitating adaptation by local businesses and other stakeholders by providing relevant information.
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The role of local governments
Local governments are expected to formulate local climate change adaptation plans, proactively incorporate climate change adaptation into relevant policies in collaboration with other related organizations, and implement climate change adaptation measures in each sector.
They are also expected to establish Local Climate Change Adaptation Centers or similar organizations for collecting and sharing information on adaptation, and to organize Regional Councils on Climate Change Adaptation to facilitate cooperation between national and local governments on implementation of adaptation measures in their particular regions. In addition to working on their own adaptation measures, local governments are also expected to support the adaptation initiatives of local businesses.
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Local government initiatives
Local governments engage in various initiatives to fulfill the roles expected of them, including formulating local climate change adaptation plans, establishing Local Climate Change Adaptation Centers, collecting, and analyzing data within their local area, raising public awareness, and supporting local businesses.
All of Japan's prefectures and more than 400 municipalities have already drawn up local climate change adaptation plans and are implementing measures based on these plans. More than 65 local governments across the country have established Local Climate Change Adaptation Centers that function as hubs for adaptation initiatives. (Both as of July 2025)
Local governments are implementing a wide variety of adaptation measures, including developing heat-tolerant crop varieties, drafting flood risk maps to prepare for increasingly severe river and inland flooding, and greening buildings in urban areas.