Japan has signed a joint carbon offset agreement with Kazakhstan, in efforts to achieve low-carbon growth in the central Asian country through investments and application of advanced technologies and infrastructure.
The deal was signed on 30 October and calls on both countries to create a joint crediting mechanism (JCM) aimed at promoting investment and use of decarbonising technologies, products, systems, services and infrastructure in Kazakhstan.
Verified carbon reductions or removals under the JCM can be quantified on an international basis. Some of the JCM credits issued from such mitigation efforts will be used to achieve Japan's nationally determined contributions (NDCs), while ensuring double counting is avoided on the basis of corresponding adjustments between countries and consistency with the guidance on co-operative approaches referred to in Article 6.2 of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
The latest deal is Japan's 28th bilateral carbon offset agreement since the JCM scheme was launched in 2013. Tokyo has geared up efforts to secure such deals, aiming to increase the number of its JCM partner countries to 30 by 2025.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) began national carbon credit trading on 11 October, as part of efforts to achieve the country's net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goal by 2050. Initial trading is limited to J-credits — government-certified amounts of GHG emissions reduced or removed through energy savings, renewables and forest sinks. But the TSE is considering expanding trading products beyond J-credits, aiming to add JCM credits and carbon credits issued through another emission trading scheme under the green transformation (GX) league, a cross-industry collaboration to achieve carbon neutrality.
The TSE cleared 10,377t of J-credits from 11-30 October, of which J-credits created from renewable power supplies accounted for 7,678t or 74pc. The deal prices of the renewable-based J-credits ranged from ¥2,777-3,900/t ($18.49-25.96/t).
