Japan sets new 2035 emissions cut goal
TOKYO: Japan pledged on Tuesday to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 60% over the next decade from 2013 levels, but climate campaigners said the revised target fell short of what was needed under the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.
Under the Paris Agreement, each country is supposed to provide the United Nations with a steeper headline figure for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035 and a detailed blueprint for achieving this.
However, activists argue that more ambitious action is needed to limit global warming to safer levels agreed under the Paris deal.
Japan's environment ministry stated it aims to reduce emissions by 60% by the 2035 fiscal year.
The world's fourth-largest economy also aims to cut emissions by 73% by fiscal 2040 as part of its new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – a voluntary pledge to be submitted to the UN later on Tuesday.
Japan is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels as the world's fifth largest single-country emitter of carbon dioxide, after China, the United States, India, and Russia.
Nearly 200 nations were required to deliver their fresh climate plans by February 10, but just 10 did so on time, according to a UN database tracking the submissions.
The Japanese ministry said on Tuesday that its "ambitious targets (are) aligned with the global 1.5 degree Celsius goal and on a straight pathway towards the achievement of net zero by 2050".
Masayoshi Iyoda from International Environmental Group (350.org) noted that scientists say an emissions cut of 81% by 2035 is needed for Japan to honour its commitments to the 1.5 degree objective.
"This is a major failure in Japan's attempt to transition to a future of renewable energy that is fair and just," he told AFP.
Kazue Suzuki of Greenpeace Japan also called the new 2030 target "far too low", calling for a 78% reduction "from the perspective of our responsibility as an industrially advanced country".
Renewable future?
In 2016, Japan committed to a 26% reduction in emissions by 2030. It strengthened this in 2021 to 46% by 2030 compared to 2013 levels.
The Japanese government also approved its latest Strategic Energy Plan on Tuesday, which includes an intention to make renewables the country's top power source by 2040.
Nearly 14 years after the Fukushima disaster, Japan also sees a major role for nuclear power to help it meet growing energy demand from AI and microchip factories.
A previous pledge to "reduce reliance on nuclear power as much as possible" was dropped from the new plan.
A draft energy plan released in December has said Japan would jointly promote renewable energy and hydrogen fuel with its ally the United States.
However, after President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the Paris accord last month, the wording has been watered down, with mentions of a US-led clean economy framework deleted from the edition approved on Tuesday.
"We've made certain tweaks" following Trump's announcements, an industry ministry official told reporters on Monday.
"But it doesn't mean Japan's broader efforts towards a 'green transformation' will be changed significantly," he said.
Nearly 70% of Japan's power needs in 2023 were met by power plants burning coal, gas, and oil – a figure Tokyo wants to slash to 30-40% over the next 15 years.
Almost all these fossil fuels must be imported, at a cost of around $470 million per day according to Japanese customs.
Under the new plans, renewables such as solar and wind are expected to account for 40-50% of electricity generation by 2040.
By RSS/AFP
