Arab News Japan

TOKYO: United States Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and the US Mission to Japan were awarded the Presidential Federal Sustainability Award on Wednesday for converting to 100 percent carbon-free electricity at the US Embassy in Tokyo and in five consulates throughout the country.

The award celebrates leadership, innovation and achievement for federal climate action and sustainability.

“The US Mission to Japan is the first US diplomatic mission in the world of its size to make the switch and we will not be the last,” Ambassador Emanuel said. “Climate change is the challenge of the century, and I am proud of the green legacy that we will leave behind.”

In support of President Joe Biden’s initiative for the US federal government to go carbon-free, Emanuel announced the adoption of carbon-free electricity at all US diplomatic posts in Japan at an Earth Day 2023 event alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

After the US Consulate General in Sapporo made the switch to renewable electricity as a pilot program in 2022, the Ambassador reviewed the results and implemented green energy use across the US Mission.