In March 2025, the Port and Harbor Bureau, City of Yokohama developed the “Port and Harbor Decarbonization Plan.” In formulating this plan, Yokohama City established a council of 29 companies to discuss its progress. The council includes energy providers, oil refineries, financial institutions, manufacturers, and shipping companies. Many of the council members have their plants and factories in the Yokohama waterfront area. These facilities emit large amounts of CO2. The Council members and other stakeholders are working to strengthen public-private partnerships and cooperate to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from the Yokohama waterfront area to achieve net-zero by 2050 as well as absorb CO2 by blue infrastructure to 250 tons/year by 2050.
The plan identifies a total of 121 port decarbonization promotion projects in 3 categories as below.
- Decarbonization of industries
- Decarbonization at the terminals
- Creation of an abundant ocean
Of the 121 initiatives, the following three initiatives are unique; other ports in Japan don’t include in their plans. First, we are developing supply systems to meet a variety of next-generation marine fuels such as methanol, etc. Second, we have launched a “Sustainable Finance Framework” based on international standards. It will make it easier for SMEs as well as large corporations to access sustainable finance. Third, we clarified the concept that Yokohama is envisioned to be a hub for receiving electricity from floating offshore wind power that are expected to be constructed in Japan’s EEZ area in the future.
Additionally, it is easy to reach out to community because Yokohama Port is managed by the city government. We are actively working with citizens to protect the port environment. We will create an ecosystem in collaboration with companies and citizens, and energize Yokohama port through the formation of a carbon-neutral port.