Nagasaki Prefecture’s Iki Island is the first place in Japan to declare a climate emergency. It now needs to lead the charge toward a more sustainable future.
It’s golden hour on Iki, a pristine island in southwestern Japan. A gentle breeze cools the day to a perfect 24 degrees Celsius. The roads are clean, the trees are green, a playground sits atop a grassy hill. Locals call Iki a lucky island because it’s rarely affected by natural disasters.
And yet, last year Iki became the first place in Japan to declare a climate emergency.
On Sept. 25, Iki joined more than 1,250 jurisdictions in 25 countries in the emergency declaration. The goal of such an action is to mobilize resources at sufficient scale and speed to protect civilization, economy, people, species and ecosystems, according to the Climate Emergency Declaration website.
Although the island has made few headlines for destructive typhoons or flooding, Iki faces systemic and urgent threats. As a small, isolated city with a rapidly declining population, it embodies many of the problems faced by island communities across the country.
With just two Family Marts on the island, Iki stretches 17 kilometers from north to south and 14 kilometers east to west. In a car, it takes less than 40 minutes to cross. Many of its residential areas are concentrated around the coast, so the island is vulnerable to sea level rise, and its dependence on the fishing and farming industries makes the effects of the climate crisis an increasing concern.
Japan topped the list of countries most affected by the climate crisis in 2018, according to the latest Global Climate Risk Index report published by environmental think tank Germanwatch in December.
As the first locality in Japan to declare a climate emergency, Iki has taken on the responsibility to set an example for the impact of climate declarations nationwide.
THE JAPAN TIMES, LTD.