Gov. Koike Promotes Tokyo’s Multicity Initiative and Financial Hub Status in NY

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko (left) shakes hands with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres (right) during a meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York City on July 14.( UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe )

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko (left) and Raghu Sundaram (right), Senior Vice Chancellor at New York University (NYU), pose for a photo at NYU on July 14 as they sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko speaks at a High-level Segment panel discussion on sustainable development at the United Nations Economic and Social Council on July 16 at the UN Headquarters in New York City.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko (front row, second from left) takes part in a High-level Segment panel discussion on sustainable development at the United Nations Economic and Social Council on July 16.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko speaks at the FinCity.Tokyo Global Forum before some 170 participants on July 15 at a Manhattan convention complex in New York City.

TOKYO, JAPAN, September 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Speaking at the United Nations, Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko has doubled down on her drive for global city-to-city cooperation to tackle urban resilience, energy innovation and other common challenges in an increasingly uncertain world.

During her tightly packed visit to New York City in mid-July, the governor also promoted Tokyo’s profile as an international financial city. On July 15, she spoke before some 170 financiers at a forum aimed at encouraging business expansion and investment in Tokyo.

“Dizzying waves of change are surging across the globe,” she said in her opening remarks at a panel discussion on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on July 16. She was citing “International order, climate change, technological innovation.”

“Every challenge ultimately manifests itself in cities. This is why leadership by cities is indispensable,” Governor Koike told the SDG event, which is part of the annual “High-level Segment” session of the UN Economic and Social Council.

Prior to her participation by invitation to a High-level Segment panel discussion for the second straight year, she called on UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN Headquarters on July 14. While she was there, New York City was blanketed by smoke from wildfires in Canada, a phenomenon seen by experts as an example of how the climate change is affecting the environment.

“We shared our concerns regarding the increasing severity of natural disasters in recent years,” Governor Koike, a former national environmental minister, told Japanese reporters about her meeting the UN chief. The two also agreed that “cities must work together to immediately provide aid where people are suffering right before our eyes,” she added.

As a member of parliament before being elected in 2016 as Tokyo’s first female governor, she served as the Minister of the Environment and held other portfolios.

▶ Watch highlights from Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko’s tour of New York in July, such as speaking at a SDGs panel discussion at the UN Economic and Social Council, meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres and taking part in the FinCity.Tokyo Global Forum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eidZk5AQqWM

[Considering a New York University’s Global Campus in Tokyo]

During her five days in the most populous and vibrant US city, Governor Koike also met with top executives of global financial data and news leaders Bloomberg L.P. and Reuters.

Her other activities included touring the New York Public Library, an International Business Exchange (IBX) data center and a heliport for demonstration flights of flying cars. She also inspected facility development incorporating public art and dual skybridges for pedestrians over an active runway at LaGuardia Airport.

On July 14, Governor Koike visited New York University (NYU) and signed a memorandum of understanding on exchanges and cooperation between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the large prestigious private university. They are committed to strengthening collaboration in the areas of academic research, education, solution of urban challenges and sustainability promotion.

They are committed to regularly exchanging views on academic research and to considering the expansion of NYU’s overseas study program and the establishment of an NYU campus in Tokyo. The partnership is aimed in part at addressing challenges facing global cities and promoting sustainability there.　

Musashimurayama City is one of the candidate sites for the NYU campus in Tokyo, the governor told Japanese reporters citing the suburban city’s development potential due to the extension of a monorail there.

She said that the benefits of having an NYU campus in Tokyo lie in “both fostering global talent and welcoming students from overseas.”

[‘Cities Have Much to Contribute to Addressing Global Challenges’: Gov. Koike]

At the UN panel discussion—under the theme of “Transformation from the ground up: Acting at local level”—the Tokyo governor reaffirmed her initiative in enhancing global city-to-city cooperation in building a sustainable world. Tokyo aims to halve its greenhouse gas emissions from the 2000-level by 2030 and achieve “zero emissions” by 2050.

She said that “successful solutions developed by cities” should be “shared across cities and scaled up through collaboration with national governments and international organizations.”

“The foremost role of cities is to protect the lives and livelihoods of their residents,” Governor Koike said. “Drawing on the knowledge, experience, and practical solutions they have accumulated through serving people, cities have much to contribute to addressing global challenges.”

“With this in mind, I have been advocating for ‘multicity lateral cooperation,’” she added—citing the term she has coined through rounds of city-to-city diplomacy in recent years. It is derived from “multilateralism,” an established concept of coordination among nations to achieve common goals.

Her administration has a track record in promoting multicity actions. Since 2022, it has organized a conference of leaders from cities around the world, called the Global City Network for Sustainability (G-NETS), to help solve shared urban challenges and build a sustainable world.

Governor Koike recalled that at the latest G-NETS summit held in Tokyo this April, leaders from 55 cities discussed the themes of “Urban Resilience to Climate Change and Natural Disasters” and “Well-being in Cities.”

This January, she assumed the chair of a city leaders’ coalition launched by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The city leaders’ grouping is called the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative and committed to tackling inequalities and promoting more inclusive economic growth in cities.

“By working together, cities can help tackle global challenges and create a society where everyone can live with peace of mind and shine as their true selves,” she told the panel. “As the leader of a global city network, I will prove this to the world.”

[‘Tokyo Oil Field’: Turning Used Cooking Oil into Aircraft Fuel]

At the UN panel, Governor Koike explained Tokyo’s SDG actions in the areas of resilience and energy. She pointed to torrential rains driven by climate change and the difficulty in securing energy resources due to tensions in the Middle East.

As an example of Tokyo’s resilience measures, she cited development of “massive underground regulating reservoirs” that temporarily store and release rainwater “in a controlled manner.” She also said the seismic resistance of Tokyo’s water and sewer pipes, and that “the earthquake-resistance rate of housing now exceeds 90 percent.”

Tokyo, a megacity of 14 million residents, is also working to diversify its energy supply sources and promote innovation while Japan as a whole relies on Gulf countries for 90 percent of its oil.

Governor Koike referred to the “Tokyo Oil Field” campaign to collect used cooking oil from households and turn it into biodiesel fuel—and into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) which can power aircraft.

She also touched on the “Tokyo Mine” project to extract rare metals from used mobile phones and electronic home appliances.

“We produced the gold, silver and bronze medals for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games” from the recycled metals, she said. “Resources are buried all around us as untapped mountains of treasure in our everyday lives.”

Governor Koike also mentioned Tokyo’s efforts to promote the production of green hydrogen and expand the use of “thin, lightweight and flexible” solar cells, a technology originating in Japan. Her administration has made the installation of solar power generation equipment mandatory for newly built homes in Tokyo.

[Financial Tokyo Under ‘Historical Transformation’]

At a financial forum co-hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government at a convention complex in midtown Manhattan on July 15, Governor Koike called on New York-based financiers to do business with and invest in Tokyo.

She highlighted Tokyo’s strengths as a resilient and adaptable city, while promoting investment in growth sectors such as green transformation (GX), artificial intelligence (AI) and startups. She showcased Tokyo’s initiatives, including the world’s first certified “resilience bond” designed to protect against natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes.

“From now on, securing energy supply and building resilient urban infrastructure will be essential conditions for any trustworthy financial center or innovation hub,” she told the audience at the FinCity.Tokyo Global Forum. “I hope you will come to Tokyo and work together to be a witness to that historical transformation.”

The forum is organized by FinCity.Tokyo, a public-private partnership launched in 2019 following the metropolitan government’s concept of creating a top-class global financial center.

It brought together some 170 participants from financial institutions, asset management firms, family offices and AI-related companies this time, according to the official FinCity.Tokyo website.

At the gathering, Governor Koike brought up SusHi Tech Tokyo—an annual startup and tech event hosted by the metropolitan government—which has grown into Asia’s largest global innovation conference in four years.

The 2026 edition of SusHi Tech Tokyo, which was held together with the G-NETS city leaders’ summit, welcomed over 790 companies and 60,000 people this year, according to organizers.

[‘Global Boiling’? Isn’t It ‘Global Melting’ Now]

Back home, Governor Koike told a weekly news conference that she had discussed climate change and the energy crisis with UN Secretary-General Guterres. “I believe that measures which cannot be addressed by a single country or city alone must be tackled steadfastly and collectively,” she said, “and that is the kind of discussion we’ve had.”

The governor added that, at the global financial forum in New York City, she had explained her government’s “resilience bond,” which provides financial backing for responses to various disasters such as floods. She said this concept had “seemed to have attracted widespread interest.”

Governor Koike let on that she had chatted with the UN chief in their July 14 meeting about “global melting.” In 2023, the UN chief made headlines by warning that the era of global warming has shifted into that of “global boiling.”

“With this kind of heat this year, we talked about things like, ‘The earth’s got to be already melting,’” she said.

Strategic PR Section, Strategic PR Division
TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT
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