Today, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared in his first policy speech that he would aim for achieving carbon neutral by 2050. Takejiro Sueyoshi, the representative of Japan Climate Initiative (JCI) has published the following comments.

“We welcome the Japanese Government to set a clear target of achieving a decarbonized society by 2050, which is necessary for the realization of the goals of the Paris Agreement. Many companies and local governments already participating in JCI have set the same goal and started taking actions. We believe that the government have responded to the pioneering efforts of a wide range of these non-state actors. This is an important step, but the problem is yet to come. Not only does the government sets a goal for 30 years from now, it must set a concrete roadmap and immediately strengthen its actions, aiming for significant reductions by 2030. Again, We urge the government to reinforce its NDC and raise its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by 2030.”

In addition, the member organizations of the JCI Steering Committee have published the following statements.

CDP
A letter from Paul Dickinson, the Executive Chair of CDP to Prime Minister Suga

Renewable Energy Institute
Japan’s 2050 Carbon Neutral Declaration 45% Emission Reduction is Needed by 2030 (English)

WWF Japan
Statement (Japanese)

Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership
Statement (Japanese)
Proposal (Japanese)

ICLEI
Statement: “Japan to go climate neutral with support of net zero cities” (English)

 

JCI is willing to work to ensure that this declaration of carbon neutral by 2050 truly strengthens Japan’s climate change countermeasures and leads to the achievement of the Paris Agreement and its 1.5 °C target.