| Paris alignment | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| Some progress | Climate considerations need to be further integrated into sectoral policies. Some have been written before the Paris Agreement in 2015 and therefore require updating to reflect this. |
| Mitigation | Resilience | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | Currently, supports “efficient technology” in coal financing. | Avoiding climate risk included but more detail needed. |
| Transport | Climate not mentioned in transport section of annual report. | Little or no mention of climate risk or resilience. |
| Water | Some mention of climate in water strategy. | Little or no mention of climate risk or resilience. |
| Cities | Low carbon cities core goal or urban policy. Unclear if low carbon excludes fossil fuels. | Emphasis on how cities exacerbates climate impacts. |
Explanation
Energy
JICA’s energy strategy is based on its “3L” policy: low cost, low carbon, and low risk. JICA’s energy strategy highlights the role of renewables, energy efficiency and geothermal power. However, it also states that:
“A significant expansion of coal-fired power in developing countries is considered unavoidable in the future. What is necessary in such a situation is to reduce CO2 emissions as much as possible by utilising every available technology. As Japan leads the world with this technology and is one of the few donors who can provide relatively large-scale funding for this field, JICA expects to play a significant role in disseminating the technology.“
JICA’s energy policy, which dates back to 2013, is not aligned with its climate strategy.
The low-risk part of the JICA’s “3L” energy strategy includes “avoiding or reducing climate risks”. However, there is no further detail on how JICA intends to operationalise this.
Transport
JICA does not have a standalone publicly available transport strategy, despite transport being the largest recipient of financing with JICA’s portfolio in 2017. Furthermore, the transport overview page on the JICA website states that transport infrastructure is part of GHG emissions reductions. However, the JICA Annual Plan for 2020 provides an indication of JICA transport priorities, which are to develop Japan’s road-based Intelligent Transport Systems overseas and to ‘consider introducing a new urban railway system in each country’. Climate change is not mentioned within this section, but the overall goal appears to be the development of more efficient transport systems. There are no specific mentions of climate risk in relation to JICA transport policy.
Water
On the Bank’s Cooperation Strategy for the Water Resource Sector, climate change mitigation and adaptation are considered. JICA is promoting initiatives that are oriented around strengthening the “resilience” of river basins and the protecting local communities dependent on them. From a mitigation perspective it acknowledges that water distribution is energy intensive and suggests that the energy source be considered.
Cities
JICA cites creating low-carbon cities that can respond to global warming as a core goal of its urban and regional development work as part of its Urban Growth for Inclusive and Dynamic Development – this document sets out the direction of the Agency. It emphasises how urbanisation can exacerbate climate impacts.