Category: Japan News Brief and Action Alert

66% of people surveyed did not know that Japan was one of the highest GHG emitting countries in the world. This report is a summary of three polls conducted in 2016 with findings on the attitudes to climate change amongst the Japanese population. The first poll is the “Poll on Environmental Awareness 2016” (this source...

Japan: (1)Strengthen country pledge to the Paris Agreement; (2) Reduce the amount of coal in the country’s energy mix; (3) Set new standards for the thermal insulation of houses and buildings. Japan should strengthen its NDC in 2 ways. First, Japan should reduce the amount of coal in its projected energy mix for 2030. According...

Japan—No 2050 100% commitment Benchmark: 22-24% renewable energy in electricity generation by 2030 Japan plans to achieve 22-24% renewable energy of its electricity generation by 2030. However, it doesn’t have any long-term renewable energy goals. For 5 years, it has used Feed-in Tariff policies to support the use of renewable energy. The government introduced a...

Japan—Tokyo Metropolitan Cap and Trade System In Tokyo, there is a successful cap and trade system that will help meet Japan’s INDC pledge to the Paris Agreement, which is to achieve a 26% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 compared to emission levels in 2013. This is the first urban-type emission trading system in the...

Japan—Falling Behind The Japanese Government submitted their INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Japan pledged to reduce greenhouse gases by 26 % below 2013 levels, by 2030. In order to achieve this promise, the Japanese Cabinet approved the Global Warming Countermeasure Plan on May 2016. However, Japan’s...

Building Insulation Law The government recently passed a new law to make all buildings more energy efficient by 2020. The thermal insulation regulation standard of Japan has been criticized as inferior to that of other developed countries. For example, it is often pointed out that the regulation standard for insulating windows is inadequate. The new...

Typhoon # 10 The biggest natural disaster in Japan over the last three years was Typhoon No.10 in August 2016. It is known as Lionrock and is classified as a Category 4 typhoon. It severely damaged the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions in the northern part of Japan. According to AR5 produced by the IPCC, rising...

Regions/Provinces/States Kyoto Prefecture—Kyoto Prefecture is where the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty was developed at The 3rd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP3), serving as an effective means to promote global warming countermeasures. The treaty introduced trade emission allowances among advanced nations and emissions trading between advanced countries and developing countries. In October 2011,...

Government Official Koichi Yamamoto Minister of the Environment Mr Yamamoto’s Ministry is responsible for Japan’s environmental policies, including setting its emission targets. Contact: https://www.env.go.jp/en/moemail/ Government Official Hiroshige Seko Minister of Economy Trade and Industry Mr Skeo’s Ministry plays a key role in setting economic policy in Japan and plays a role in setting energy policy....

Research Study: Long-term Energy Supply and Demand Outlook, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (2015) Japan’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (METI) developed the Long-Term Energy Supply and demand Outlook in response to its research on consumer attitudes towards energy issues. Such research revealed widespread opposition to the continued use of nuclear power as Japan’s...