Japan Must Weigh Climate Push with Living Costs, Minister Warns
(Bloomberg) -- Japan will face challenges meeting climate goals while also easing cost-of-living pressures on its citizens, according to the nation’s new Environment Minister Hirotaka Ishihara.
New green technologies will be needed for the world’s fifth-largest carbon dioxide polluter to become net-zero by mid-century, Ishihara said during a press briefing Monday. Japan has also committed to cutting emissions 60% by 2035, from 2013 levels, through its Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement.
“Achieving the NDC targets while balancing the impact on people’s lives is a very significant challenge,” Ishihara said during the briefing.
Ishihara’s appointment by the nation’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, comes amid a shift to the right in Japan with an increasing number of people expressing dissatisfaction over a sense that living standards aren’t keeping up with global trends. In energy and climate, Takaichi has said she will prioritize nuclear energy and scale back support for large-scale solar projects, due to perceived risks of dependence on foreign equipment.
Any slowdown in renewables growth could further jeopardize government targets, although Ishihara said breakthroughs like perovskite solar, a technology under development globally that potentially offer lower costs and higher efficiency, would play an important role. BloombergNEF forecasts Japan’s solar and wind capacity will hit 141 gigawatts by 2030 — 33 gigawatts short of the government’s goal of 174 gigawatts.
Ishihara said during the briefing Monday he would like to attend COP30, the annual United Nations climate conference that this year will be held in Belém, Brazil, if his Parliament schedule allows it. Kyodo News reported earlier this month that Takaichi was skipping the event.
Ishihara has a financial background and spent time at both The Industrial Bank of Japan Ltd. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. His father was previously the governor of Tokyo and his brother is a former lawmaker.
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