The clean energy transition is by far the most ambitious collective effort ever undertaken by the global community. While led by Western and Asian democracies, no matter of top-down administrative rulings and regulations can alone guarantee the transition’s success. Reaching net zero emission goals can only be possible if local governments also get on board.

In the past year, Japan has made significant progress on this local front, with many municipalities pledging their support to carbon neutrality goals by 2050. Despite this encouraging start, very few municipalities have set specific roadmaps about how to go about this.

In addition to lacking detailed plans, some municipalities lack resources. Some villages and towns have managed to measure the carbon footprint of their municipal offices, but they still haven’t done so for their entire community and local economy. This lack of reliable local data may also be an obstacle to achieving net zero emissions goals.