The World Daily
Climate Emergency declared in Japan in order to support Net Zero Goals

A flooded Shinkansen bullet train rail yard is seen following Typhoon Hagibis in Nagano. photo:TWD

 

Climate Emergency declared in Japan in order to support Net Zero Goals

 

By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | NOVEMBER 19th 2020

 

On Thursday, Japanese lawmakers had declared a country-wide state of climate emergency a month after the country’s government had made commitments to a net-zero emissions timetable to follow, as a means of helping to combat climate change.

Last month, the Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga had made the announcement that Japan would be aiming to cut down its carbon emissions to net zero by the year 2050, much like many of the countries involved in the 2016 Paris Climate Accords.

Being the world’s third-largest economy, this is a major change to Japan. Especially when considering that the majority of its energy and power production comes from fuel imports. It is also, however, the fifth-biggest producer of carbon dioxide and therefore one of the more pressing threats to a healthy climate.

The non-binding declaration of climate emergency states that the world is currently facing a “climate crisis” and that the resulting floods, hurricanes, typhoons and forest fires will be the lead cause of “unprecedented damage.”

“I think this can send the message to the world that Japan’s parliament and government are firmly resolved to tackle this, aiming at a carbon-free society,” said Yoshihisa Furukawa, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and head of the secretariat of a non-partisan group of MPs who were responsible for the climate emergency declaration.

Last month, following the new net zero targets announcement, prime minister Suga said that Japan would be making a gradual transition towards using more renewable energy. He said that their primary focus would be a shift towards nuclear energy, which has become far more renewable and environmentally-friendly over the years.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison stated that Australia certainly shares Japan’s enthusiasm for a 2050 net zero emissions pledge, but that it was far too early to commit to any specific targets. This was said to a team of Tokyo energy company executives.

“Can I just say that Australia also shares an ambition for net zero emissions,” Prime minister Morrison stated. Australia has had particular trouble with bushfires in early 2020, and fears are rising that the fires may worsen yet again. “But what we are focused on is how get there and (how) that can be achieved.”

Scientists have warned that if the Paris Climate Accords are to be met successfully, a lot of work still needs to be put forward from the involved countries. Thus far, many of them are lagging behind on their individual emission targets. The overall goal of this is to keep the worldwide temperatures from rising higher than 1.5-2 Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Lower emission technologies are to be imported into Japan, according to prime minister Morrison, as a very important piece of the Australian relationship with Japan. The first hydrogen shipment, meant to be used for energy production, is to be sent to be sent to Japan from Victoria around the March of 2021.

The new Japan 2050 climate target could serve as an excellent means for the country’s nuclear power industry to initiate again. The vast majority of nuclear power reactors in the country had been shut down since the Fukushima disaster that had occurred nearly ten years past. At the present moment, there are only two operational nuclear power facilities in all of Japan, where there were once 54.

The Fukushima disaster was recognised as the world’s worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl incident in 1986. It was a nuclear meltdown that resulted in the deaths of over 18,500 people, back in 2011. Nearly 160,000 people were forced to move from their homes following this disaster, also resulting in the government’s decision to prevent any such thing from happening again via the shutdown of almost every other nuclear facility in the country.

Before the Fukushima disaster, the 54 operational nuclear facilities provided around 30% of Japan’s total energy production. The precise plans for the opening of future nuclear reactors in the country has yet to see proper discussion and effects, but with the newfound eagerness to reach the net zero target, it’s expected that some common ground will need to be found soon.

 

By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2020

 

 

Categories:
Environment
Tags:
AsiaJapanAustraliaParis AgreementClimate Change