The Japanese government has been warned that its pro-coal policies are creating a "bottleneck" in international climate talks — and that the country risks being left behind in the global green energy boom. Foreign Minister Taro Kono received the strongly worded assessment from his advisory panel on climate change on Feb. 19. The document provides food for thought for policymakers in Tokyo as Kono signals his determination to remedy what he recently described as a "lamentable" situation.

The nine-member panel — which includes business leaders, researchers and conservationists — called for a transformation of the way Japan engages with the international community on energy issues. It said, "Japan's energy diplomacy thus far has focused on efforts securing fossil fuel resources; it should now situate renewables as a core of the pillars of the diplomacy in order to realize a sustainable future in collaboration with other countries."

Perhaps the peak of Japan's climate diplomacy — at least in symbolic terms — was the hosting of the 1997 conference that adopted the Kyoto Protocol, which set the first legally binding emission targets for developed countries. But Japan lost its enthusiasm when it came time to sign up to the second Kyoto commitment period, insisting that developing countries such as China and India must be meaningfully involved. Tokyo ultimately embraced the 2015 Paris accord — based on nationally determined, nonbinding targets for each country — with a pledge to reduce Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2030 (against 2013 levels).