A cross-industry group of Japanese companies has urged the government to accelerate renewable energy expansion and introduce a carbon pricing scheme early, in order to tackle climate change.
The request came ahead of a meeting of the G7's climate, energy and environment ministers, which will be held at Sapporo in Japan's northernmost prefecture Hokkaido during 15-16 April.
A total of 303 entities — 225 companies, 16 municipalities and 62 organisations including non-government organisations (NGOs) — in the Japan Climate Initiative (JCI), a group fighting climate change, urged Tokyo on 12 April to meet the majority of domestic electricity demand using renewable power sources by 2035. The group said this could be achieved by accelerating the development of offshore wind power projects and mandating the installation of solar power facilities on new buildings. But JCI did not provide a numerical target.
G7 countries in May 2022 committed to reaching "predominantly decarbonised electricity sectors" by 2035. This is well ahead of Japan's current renewable power target — a 36-38pc ratio in the country's power mix — to achieve a 46pc reduction in the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the April 2030-March 2031 fiscal year against 2013-14 levels.
The group has emphasised that the government should not be satisfied with meeting the 36-38pc renewable goal, and would have to implement effective policies and reform regulations to boost renewables to a level that can account for the majority of the country's power supplies by 2035. It would be rational to shift from expensive fossil fuels to renewables with costs that have been gradually falling, the group added.
The group has also called for the earlier introduction of carbon pricing mechanisms to attain the 2030-31 climate goal and achieve even deeper emissions reduction, as well as to appropriately evaluate decarbonisation efforts by Japanese companies. Japan's carbon pricing scheme is mainly comprised of a carbon levy and a carbon emission trading system.
Japan plans to introduce a carbon levy that would be imposed on fossil fuel importers, such as power firms, refiners, steel makers and trading firms, from 2028-29. The country also aims to introduce a carbon credit market from 2026-27, after voluntary trading over 2023-26. But a market utilising an auction system for emissions allowance is now scheduled to begin from 2033-34.
JCI was launched in 2018 to promote decarbonisation in Japan, with 768 members currently participating in the initiative. The members include 584 firms and 38 local governments, with others from the academic and religious communities, along with NGOs.
