The Climate Change Commission (CCC) met with the Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MOEJ) and discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in climate change action using best available science and data-based modalities. 

CCC vice chairperson and executive director Robert E.A. Borje met MOEJ vice minister for global environmental affairs Yutaka Matsuzawa with both emphasizing the need to evaluate and assess science-based models currently used and their applications in the Asia-Pacific region.

Borje underscored the importance of bilateral and regional partnership for a comprehensive and integrated assessment of climate change impacts as well as its mitigation and adaptation strategies for nations, individually and collectively. 

“With Japan, we can consider and assess the utility of models and identify those that can best support individual and joint efforts to develop strategies that enhance climate resilience, protect vulnerable populations, and ensure sustainable development,” Borje stated.

One of those identified during the discussions, the Asian-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM) developed by the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Kyoto in collaboration with Asian researchers and Mizuho Research & Technologies, streamlines the assessment of climate change measures at the country level. Since its inception in 1990, the AIM has supported national climate policies in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

MOEJ expressed its commitment to support the Philippines’ transformative climate change action agenda and to further strengthen bilateral cooperation that aims to produce more effective climate policies tailored to the Philippines’ unique vulnerabilities and needs.