On November 8, USJC convened its third in-person Sustainability Roundtable – the second in two consecutive years to be hosted at USJC’s Annual Conference. The dialogue gathered over 50 Japanese and American sustainability leaders from the corporate, finance, non-profit, academia and government sectors, and was made possible by the generous anchor funding from the Climate & Sustainability Initiative Founding Strategic Partner, Amazon.
The meeting was held under Chatham House rules and included two sessions followed by a networking lunch. The first session on “Sustainability and Climate Financing and Disclosures” provided framing for key issues and opportunities around climate financing and sharing of best practices as sustainability leaders identify opportunities for different stakeholders to collaborate and address similar challenges. U.S. government and U.S. and Japanese corporate speakers discussed the evolution of carbon emissions compliance, government oversight, regulation, and enforcement, and corporate transition financing of net zero emissions commitments.
The second session on “Hydrogen Hubs – Lessons from Japan and the United States” focused on Japan’s and the United States’ leadership and bilateral cooperation on hydrogen. Speakers representing the U.S. and Japanese governments and private sector outlined the history and current status of these efforts both within and between the two countries, including government strategies and legislation, bilateral and multilateral forums and agreements, and public-private partnerships and investments.
Both sessions clearly demonstrated that both the U.S. and Japanese governments and key corporate and civil sector stakeholders in each country are committed to forging partnerships and finding solutions to address the critical climate and sustainability issues of our time. We thank each and every participant who joined us for the roundtable and look forward to carrying on this work to promote dialogue, deepen understanding and encourage progress on these issues between our two countries.