Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday pledged up to $10 billion in funds over five years to assist Asia along the path to zero carbon emissions, seeking to show leadership in efforts to curb global warming on his debut on the world stage at a key U.N. climate summit.
“Japan will press onward to undertake efforts toward net zero emissions in Asia, the engine of global economic growth,” Kishida said at the climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in a hastily arranged trip following the general election on Sunday.
The aid, which came on top of $60 billion in climate finance Japan committed in June, is aimed at bringing developed countries closer to delivering on their promise to mobilize $100 billion per year in climate finance — one of the key focuses of the ongoing U.N. climate talks, known as COP26.