Japan's lofty climate pledge demands radical energy innovation

Eliminating coal power plants must be part of roadmap, estimates show

Japan generated less than a fifth of its power from renewable sources like wind in fiscal 2019. The figure needs to be much higher for the nation to meet its higher emissions reduction target. © Reuters

Nikkei staff writers

April 23, 2021 05:14 JST

TOKYO -- Japan promised a steeply higher emissions reduction goal at Thursday's U.S.-led climate summit, but achieving it will require drastic steps such as ditching coal-fired power plants and replacing the nation's car fleet with zero-emission models.

The new goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46% from fiscal 2013 levels by fiscal 2030. The biggest hurdle is decarbonizing the energy sector, which generated about 40% of Japan's carbon dioxide emissions in fiscal 2019.