Tokyo Unites 55 Global Cities for Climate and Disaster Resilience
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Leaders from 55 global cities across five continents have pledged closer cooperation to strengthen resilience against climate‑linked natural disasters and address other shared urban challenges towards building a sustainable world.
They made the commitment in a communiqué (joint statement) issued after two days of discussions at a city leaders’ conference hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as part of its annual SusHi Tech Tokyo global innovation conference. Contd
In an annex to the joint statement, the cities participating in the network, called the Global City Network for Sustainability (G-NETS), also announce specific actions each of them will take to build “resilient and sustainable cities.” The initiatives range widely from Helsinki’s target of an 85-percent greenhouse gas emission cut by 2035 to Singapore’s project to reclaim coastal land against rising sea levels.
At the conference, the US city of Los Angeles and Christchurch, New Zealand, presented their latest resilience initiatives. Both cities have overcome massive natural disasters themselves, a 2021 wildfire and an earthquake in 2011, respectively. Now, LA prides itself on its “climate leadership” and Christchurch calls itself a “benchmark in urban resilience.”
“Now results cannot be achieved through discussion alone,” Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko told a joint news conference when she announced the communiqué after the two-day G-NETS Leaders Summit. “And we will work to ensure that the discussions that have taken place here are firmly translated into action.”
During the 4th edition of SusHi Tech Tokyo, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government also launched a dialogue group with Southeast Asian capitals to discuss strengthening their cooperation. The dialogue, named Tokyo-Southeast Asia Capitals Dialogue for Sustainability (TOKYO-SEADS), focused on “Storm and flood countermeasures” and “Urban infrastructure development” at its inaugural meeting on April 29.
This year’s meeting - held at the level of top leaders including 20 mayors and governors - featured two primary themes: “Urban Climate and Disaster Resilience” and “Well-being in Cities.”
