Japanese Prefectures to Introduce Only Electrified Vehicles

Tokyo, July 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese prefectures said Tuesday that official vehicles they will newly introduce will be only electrified ones in principle. The decision was included in a declaration that the National Governors' Association adopted to help the Japanese government meet its target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. "This is the first declaration of action unanimously agreed by the (country's) 47 prefectures," Nagano Governor Shuichi Abe told reporters after a meeting of the association's climate change task force. "We'll work on more measures that we can collaborate closely on together," said Abe, who heads the task force. Some prefectural governments have already launched initiatives to introduce more electrified vehicles. The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to make all official vehicles, excluding special vehicles, electrified by fiscal 2024, which ends in March 2025. The Okinawa prefectural government has launched a project to raise the proportion of electrified vehicles used by the governor's departments and bureaus to 60 pct by fiscal 2025. The declaration also includes a plan to reduce energy consumption by at least 50 pct at facilities to be newly developed by prefectural governments mainly through the introduction of highly efficient equipment. END