When environment and energy ministers from the Group of Seven nations gather in Sapporo on Saturday, Japan will push Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “Green Transformation” policy as its way of meeting last year’s agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector by 2035.
But that policy, which calls for the expanded use of as yet unproven technologies, could prove to be very controversial once the meetings get underway. Japan is facing pressure from other G7 leaders to phase out coal power by 2030, while renewable energy proponents are seeking to push Japan to ramp up renewables.
At the G7 climate, energy, and environment ministers meeting in Berlin last year, members committed to a goal of achieving a predominantly decarbonized electricity sector by 2035.