Kimiko Hirata's Theories of Change - Part 2. Founding Climate Integrate
Part 1 of this interview explores the earlier part of Hirata’s career — working on policy advocacy, leading grassroots anti-coal campaigns, and pressuring Japanese banks through shareholder resolutions. Part 2 looks at her motivations for founding her own think tank, Climate Integrate, and its work so far.
Having been at the forefront of Japan’s climate advocacy for over 20 years, it became clear to Hirata that three fundamental gaps were preventing Japan from taking more proactive climate action.
First was what Hirata calls an ecosystem gap. By that, she means the ecosystem of climate NGOs. “The community to push climate policy forward, the community in the broad sense of the term, is weak.”
There’s also an information gap: “We all know what needs to be done, but there’s a lot of odd information, like nuclear is cheap and fighting global warming will require us to make personal sacrifices. When people don’t know what information to believe, they avoid making decisions.”
Finally, a transition gap, where “the goal of net zero by 2050 is already decided, but it’s not at all clear what the path is.”
Hirata also came to see that Kiko Network was too constrained to effectively fill these gaps. Its mission as an environmental advocacy organization put it in a “green” or “leftist” camp on the political spectrum, which limited the types of organizations it could closely collaborate with. This was particularly constraining because, above all, what it needed most was more capacity for objective analysis to fill the information and transition gaps. “There wasn’t always enough research and analysis to underpin and back up our claims. There was a problem of capacity because as an environmental group, we couldn’t create that kind of analysis ourselves,” Hirata explains.
These three gaps and what Hirata saw were Kiko Network’s limitations, motivated her to leave the Network to found her own think tank, Climate Integrate in early 2022. As a new research institute with a neutral mission, rather than an advocacy group, Climate Integrate could begin to fill these gaps. It would expand the ecosystem of organizations working to advance Japan’s decarbonization, employ more staff and researchers, and partner with researchers both inside and outside of Japan to disseminate rigorous analysis on the energy transition. Hirata explains that “with Climate Integrate, we can now work with people at research institutions that we didn’t have connections with before. We can borrow their expertise.”
Collaboration has thus far been Climate Integrate’s greatest strength. During its two years in existence, it has partnered with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to chart the decarbonization pathway for Japan’s power sector by 2035 and the Germany-based nonprofit NewClimate Institute on a report evaluating the emissions reduction measures of ten major Japanese firms.
Hirata is also still on Kiko Network’s board. The two organizations continue to work together on issues related to coal phaseout. She explains that “my hope is that Climate Integrate’s work is also going to strengthen Kiko Network. We’re moving forward together.”
Going Local
Climate Integrate’s other strength has been to connect with local communities and local governments to advise them on how to take climate action in their areas.
That’s another theory of change that Hirata is testing — a theory of bottom-up change that spreads from local municipalities to the national government.
Working with cities and towns isn’t the ultimate objective; policy change is the core of my theory of change. So working with localities is an ingredient for that objective. When I say ‘ingredients,’ it sounds like they’re chess pieces or something, but to me, they’re extremely important pieces. Without the feedback loops from them that ultimately affect (national-level) policies, the speed and scale of government policy just aren’t enough.
Of the dozen or so entities it has advised so far, Climate Integrate has worked most closely with three municipalities. In Sakata City in Yamagata Prefecture, Hirata and her colleagues met with the local coal plant and wind turbine owners, students, and youth groups to strategize ways to couple emissions reduction strategies and stimulate a depopulating city.
In Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture, the local tourism association invited Climate Integrate to hold study sessions to discuss climate adaptation measures. Like many towns that rely on winter tourism, ski resorts in Toyooka have been feeling the effects of rising temperatures and reduced snowfall. Together, Climate Integrate and the tourism association published a “Yukimirai (”Snow Future”) 100 Year Declaration,” the city’s plan for carbon neutrality in the 2040s.
And last, Hirata was appointed as an advisor for environmental policy for Ichikawa City in Chiba Prefecture, where she is also a resident — a fact that the city’s website and mayor proudly note.
Although each of these municipalities’ needs are unique, and so is the shape of Climate Integrate’s engagement with them, this is Hirata’s latest theory of change.
Faith in People
Filling the information gap that Hirata identified — that phenomenon of too much misinformation about climate and energy policy overwhelming people into inaction — requires a level of faith in people. Hirata holds that faith, especially in the people of Japan. But hers is not a naive faith.
Japanese people aren’t taught that they can change big societal issues, and they think that those problems aren’t their problems. That way of thinking, without intending it, is what’s preserving the current system.
At the same time, she sees the intrinsic goodness in Japanese people. “I actually believe that this is where the possibility is.”
There are so many people who want to do good for other people. Japanese people are kind and generous. So if those people can be given the information on ‘we need to do this now, and this is how we can do it,’ then they can show their strength.
This is why Hirata believes it’s imperative for Climate Integrate and organizations like it to keep disseminating accurate information in a way that “gets to their heart directly, and to support people’s actions in whatever circumstance they’re in.”
For the people reading this who might not be activists, advocates, or analysts, Hirata has these words: “I myself don’t have any power, but I started by taking one step at a time. The power of each individual is actually huge, so don’t underestimate that and start taking action now.”