{"id":36778,"date":"2024-06-12T13:15:37","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/?p=36778"},"modified":"2024-06-12T13:15:43","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:15:43","slug":"does-japan-care-about-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/does-japan-care-about-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Japan Care About the Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Does Japan care about the environment<\/strong>? Japan\u2019s environmental record is under scrutiny. With the climate being a ubiquitous talking point among the world\u2019s most powerful economies, Japan\u2019s energy mix<\/a> and current climate targets\u00a0do not align.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of 2021, Japan\u00a0sourced<\/a>\u00a0roughly 10% of its energy from renewables. The remaining 87% was from fossil fuels, and the rest was from nuclear power. Japan\u2019s energy mix is seeing oil lose its grip, but natural gas and coal are increasing their share. This is keeping Japan\u2019s reliance on fossil fuels alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report<\/a> calling for very rapid decarbonisation by 2035, many major emitters, like Japan, are at odds with the recommendations from international scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Japan an Environmentally Friendly Country?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Japan has taken significant steps in becoming an environmentally friendly country. With its advanced technology and innovative infrastructure, Japan has implemented various initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainability. But it is also promoting fossil fuels and solutions like ammonia coal co-firing, which raises the question. Japan’s efforts to become an eco-friendly country are also not sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insufficient Efforts<\/strong> to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite efforts to reach carbon neutrality, Japan\u2019s decarbonisation efforts are still rated<\/a> as \u201cinsufficient\u201d by Climate Action Tracker (CAT). Japan\u2019s over-reliance on fossil fuels is on par with most of Asia. Meanwhile, electrification, increasing power demand and cheap fossil fuels have driven coal, oil and natural gas use in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Japan's
Source: Our World in Data<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

However, Japan is the third-largest economy<\/a> in the world and afford to participate in decarbonisation efforts. This contrasts with developing nations in the region that have major financial and infrastructural roadblocks to decarbonisation as their economies mature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJapan needs to further accelerate its low-carbon transition, particularly as a member of the G7 group, which recently committed in June 2022 to achieve fully or predominantly decarbonised electricity by 2035 and to end fossil fuel subsidies by 2025,\u201d notes<\/a> CAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan\u2019s Current Decarbonisation Targets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Japan\u2019s goal<\/a> is a 46% emissions reduction by 2030 below 2013 levels. This is progress compared to the previous goal of a 26% reduction. However, it still falls short of the country\u2019s fair share target of a 60% reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As pressure mounts for more action on the environmental initiatives, the decarbonisation of major economies and investment in low-carbon alternatives is paramount. Japanese government must shift its perspectives from short-term profits to the long-term viability of its citizens, its economy and the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the country continues to shuffle towards lacklustre climate and environmental protection goals, there is little hope of limiting global temperature increases to just the 1.5-2\u00b0C range that scientists and activists are pushing for.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Japan's
Source: Climate Action Tracker<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What Are Japan’s Environmental Concerns?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Briefly putting climate aside, Japan has also recently experienced several major environmental challenges. This has put the nation in the sights of protestors, other countries and even the International Court of Justice (ICJ).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one of the last countries to maintain<\/a> a whaling fleet, Japan is a target for organisations seeking to stop the practice. Meanwhile, its non-compliance with Australian waters in Antarctica also meant that a case was brought against the country at the ICJ<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fukushima Disaster Grew Fossil Fuel Reliance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Fukushima nuclear disaster highlighted one of the issues with nuclear power. The area surrounding the power plant is still off-limits. However, the country is considering releasing<\/a> the nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. The disaster has also caused cooled interest in the nuclear sector. This led to the importing of more fossil fuels to fill the energy supply gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country is in an energy crisis due to increasing price volatility in the fossil fuel market. Over a decade later, there is a newfound interest<\/a> in nuclear. However, it will take time to implement and will likely take away from renewable energy investment.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Japan's
Japan\u2019s high rate of fossil fuel import gives it low energy self-sufficiency. Source: World Economic Forum<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Japan Is Vulnerable to Climate Impacts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

However, these environmental issues pale against what could happen to Japan if current climate action models remain the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the CMCC Foundation explains<\/a>, \u201cThe science shows that Japan will experience worsening climate impacts if it follows a high-emissions pathway.\u201d It adds that heatwaves will last more than fifteen times longer, with agricultural droughts lasting 22% longer \u2013 causing damage to Japan’s rice export industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe combination of sea level rise, coastal erosion and fiercer weather will cause chaos for Japan\u2019s economy, which stands to lose around 3.72% of GDP by 2050 \u2013 with EUR 404 billion in coastal infrastructure damages by 2050 alone,\u201d says the organisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japan’s role as a member of G7 is pushing its subpar environmental performance into the spotlight. Inadequate emissions reduction goals, a high rate of fossil fuel imports and questionable fishing practices highlight this. These concerns will only grow more dire for the climate-vulnerable country and must be addressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":37248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[525,367],"tags":[311],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-36778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-geopolitics","category-japan","tag-g7"],"acf":{"custom_author_name":"","article_pdf_file":{"ID":36799,"id":36799,"title":"Japan\u2019s Environmetnal Concerns \u2013 From Energy to Climate Impacts","filename":"Japans-Environmetnal-Concerns-\u2013-From-Energy-to-Climate-Impacts.pdf","filesize":537741,"url":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Japans-Environmetnal-Concerns-\u2013-From-Energy-to-Climate-Impacts.pdf","link":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/does-japan-care-about-the-environment\/japans-environmetnal-concerns-from-energy-to-climate-impacts\/","alt":"","author":"13","description":"","caption":"","name":"japans-environmetnal-concerns-from-energy-to-climate-impacts","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":36778,"date":"2023-03-27 00:18:11","modified":"2023-03-27 00:18:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"application\/pdf","type":"application","subtype":"pdf","icon":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/document.png"},"poll_vote":0,"show_in_lastest_from_the_region":"0","order":"","short_desc":"Japan's role as a member of G7 is pushing its subpar environmental performance into the spotlight. Inadequate emissions reduction goals, a high rate of fossil fuel imports and questionable fishing practices highlight this. These concerns will only grow more dire for the climate-vulnerable country and must be addressed.","manage_the_date":"global"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54658,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36778\/revisions\/54658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36778"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energytracker.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=36778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}