Tokyo governor looking forward to ‘exciting’ World Expo in Riyadh

The governor of Tokyo hopes World Expo 2030 in Riyadh will be an exciting and sustainable event with the potential to “surprise the world.”

The Gov. Koike Yuriko offered her best wishes to Saudi Arabia after Riyadh this week won its bid to host the prestigious event.

“I’d like to congratulate the Kingdom,” she said. “And I hope the Expo … would be an exciting one (and) make the people of the world surprised.”

Japan will pass the Expo baton to the Kingdom after Osaka hosts the event in 2025. Speaking on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, Koike said she hoped the event in Riyadh would be a “sustainable one.”

Saudi Arabia, the Gulf region and Japan should learn from one another and collaborate in order to achieve decarbonization and other green initiatives, the governor said.

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE are producing countries, while Japan is a buying one. Both regions already collaborate and can share knowledge and initiatives to seek the best ways to save the great climate,” she said.

Tokyo’s first female governor, Koike also spoke about the plans and initiatives in place to make the city greener.

“To tackle climate change in Tokyo is very challenging,” she said. “Our timeline is to curb CO2 emissions by 2030 and (achieve) net zero by 2050.”

As 70 percent of Tokyo’s CO2 emissions come from residential property, Koike said the city would implement a new policy in 2025 requiring all new buildings to install solar or renewable energy equipment.

“This is the very first regulation that requests people, or especially house-builders, to set solar panels or solar cells.”

Next year, Tokyo will host the SusHi Tech summit, which aims to make Tokyo a smart city and promote a digital economy. The event will also encourage startups to come up with new initiatives to help Tokyo achieve its green goals.

On the situation in the Gaza Strip, Koike said she was “anxious” for the Palestinian people.

“I have asked a Japanese company, which runs the sanitary goods products in that area, to send their products to children and women in Gaza,” she said. “The Japanese government previously supported building a school for deaf children. But that was bombed many years ago.”

Koike said she hoped the crisis could be resolved as soon as possible.