On February 4, Japan Climate Initiative (hereinafter referred to as “JCI”) issued a statement urging the Japanese government to raise Japan’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target in its NDC under the Paris Agreement before resubmitting it to the United Nations. As of today, 248 JCI signatories (159 companies, 25 municipalities, 64 other organizations) have signed on the statement.

Following the JCI’s statement, on February 17, six international investor groups, whose members have assets under management worth hundreds of trillions in yen, jointly submitted a letter to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling for raising ambition of the Japan’s NDC.

The investor groups have stated in the letter that the Japanese government urgently needs to raise its emission reduction target by 2030 and set a clearer path to net-zero emissions by 2050.

In addition, on February 20, We Mean Business, a coalition of non-profit organizations working with the world’s most influential businesses to take action on climate change, also issued a letter to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, calling for Japan to strengthen NDCs.

In the letter, We Mean Business states that Japan is an important market in the world and that it will attract investment and remain competitive in the global market by strengthening its NDC and clear policies. In addition to that, they point out specific issues that the Japanese government should address, such as a strong update to the emission reduction targets towards 2030, an end to overseas coal financing and etc., so as not to miss that opportunity.

The fact that such voices have been raised by global investor and business groups means how important it is for Japan to raise ambition of its NDC and showcase a positive attitude toward the international society in terms of the global business development of Japanese companies.

JCI strongly expect the Japanese Government to take these voices seriously and respond to them with a major increase in ambition of its NDC.

 

PDF: A copy of the letter by the six investor organizations

Media release PDF: English / Japanese

PDF: The letter by We Mean Business

PDF: Provisional translation (Japanese)

JCI news: JCI’s statement to call on the Japanese Government for its NDC enhancement (Feb 4, 2020)

 

JCI held a press conference on Feb 21, 2020 and Ms. Morisawa, Director, CDP Japan spoke to the media about the investor’s statement. (left to right) Naoyuki Yamagishi, WWF Japan, Michiyo Morisawa, CDP Japan and Terukyuki Ohno, Renewable Energy Institute.

 


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Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership (JCLP) (a member of JCI steering committee)

CAN-Japan(a JCI signatory)