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May 13, 2025
 

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CHANGE

Japan aims for nuclear power to make up 20% of its energy mix by 2040. However, the restart of the country's reactors is complicated by issues such as local opposition, as is the case for the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 10, 2025
Robust new nuclear target for Japan is shrouded in uncertainty
A new plan envisions nuclear power making up 20% of Japan's energy mix by 2040. But hurdles to reactor restarts and rising electricity demand cast a shadow on such ambitions.
The sun sets over the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park, near Furnace Creek, during a heat wave impacting Southern California in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 10, 2025
Record heat pushed 2024 above global warming threshold of 1.5 C
A clear acceleration in rising temperatures has puzzled scientists, even as the evidence of the fast-warming atmosphere became impossible to miss.
In November, BlackRock and rivals were sued by Texas and 10 other Republican-led states that claimed their activism cut coal production and boosted energy prices.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2025
BlackRock quits climate group as Wall Street lowers environmental profile
The world's biggest asset manager is the latest Wall Street firm to depart an environmentally focused investor group under pressure from Republican politicians.
A beach house is engulfed by the flames of the Palisades fire as seen along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 9, 2025
Extreme weather and suburban sprawl fuel LA's wildfires
A prolonged dry spell and strong winds played key roles, though experts say it's too soon to say how much climate change contributed.
Baby Japanese eels are increasingly seen in Hokkaido but the overall number remains low.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jan 8, 2025
Japanese researchers connect rise in glass eels to climate change
Researchers said the fact that the Kuroshio Current is shifting north is believed to be behind the rising prevalence of glass eels in Hokkaido.
A Tesla showroom in Beijing in January 2024. In today's world, the car isn’t the biggest moneymaker for automakers; instead, it is the services attached to the connected vehicle.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025
China’s EVs may change the world in unimaginable ways
China has about 100 EV brands and they claim about 80% of the new electric vehicle market.
A pedestrian walks past air conditioning units in Tokyo in July. The year 2024 was the hottest for Japan since records began, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2025
Japan says 2024 hottest year on record
The average temperatures from January through December were 1.48 degrees Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 average, according to the Meteorological Agency.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Nov. 13. Trump’s presidency is expected to disrupt U.S. energy transition efforts through weakened policies and heightened trade tensions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2025
Can Biden’s green boom survive Trump’s wrecking ball?
The incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump promises to undo at least some of the progress made on decarbonization under President Joe Biden.
A maintenance worker inspects solar panels at a power plant in southern India.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 6, 2025
Where the smart climate tech venture money is going in 2025
The prospect of more trade wars is scrambling the economy in ways that will determine which climate tech sectors to bet on.
Then-economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura marks the opening of the carbon credit market at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 2023. The GX League, which includes the emissions trading system, already covers over half of Japan’s emissions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 3, 2025
Japan poised to lead in a brighter carbon market era
The patchy, voluntary nature of carbon markets around the world is finally changing after world leaders agreed to a new system for trading emissions reductions across borders.
Although meat consumption has been dropping, it's not happening quickly enough to meet climate targets, something to keep in mind over the holidays.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024
Why are my vegan friends going back to meat?
Helping people eat healthier diets with more fruit, vegetables and fiber would have enormous benefits for human well-being and the planet.
Thaleon Tremain, chief executive of Pachamama Coffee, holds a cup of coffee beans in Sacramento, California, on Feb. 27. Wholesale coffee prices are trading near a 50-year high because of shortages related to extreme weather and increased global demand.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 30, 2024
Why coffee prices are soaring (again)
The wholesale price of beans has jumped more than 30% just since the start of November.
Climate demonstrators protest against investments in fossil fuels during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington on Oct. 21.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 30, 2024
After a year of hard climate talks, ‘minilateralism’ is an alternative
Global environmental agreements have never been simple, but a variety of factors, such as political polarization, make countries less willing to compromise.
Indonesia's plan to increase biodiesel mandates to 50% by 2028 could require clearing 5.3 million hectares of forest for palm oil plantations by 2042, an area larger than Denmark.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024
The year’s worst climate news you haven’t heard about
Not enough floodwaters for dams, more coal burning and demand for Indonesian palm oil show efforts to slow global warming are flagging.
People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 29, 2024
Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets
Average temperatures across the nation and surrounding seas exceeded last year’s record-breaking levels "by a significant margin," affecting everything from well-being to farming.
Storage tanks at the BP Cherry Point Refinery near Blaine, Washington
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 27, 2024
Big Oil backtracks on renewables push as climate agenda falters
The likes of BP and Shell this year sharply slowed their plans to spend billions on wind and solar power projects.
Greenpeace activists protest nuclear power in Berlin in April 2023, just as Germany was shutting down its three remaining nuclear power plants. 
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024
It's time for Germany to admit its mistake on nuclear energy
The main thing standing in the way of Germany rebuilding its nuclear sector is a stubborn insistence that it can’t be done.
Volunteers place eelgrass seeds on slabs of agar gel with tweezers during an event in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, on Nov. 9.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024
Seagrass bed restoration work spreads in Miyagi Prefecture
Seagrass and seaweed beds are capturing global attention as they absorb carbon dioxide.
China's solar industry, hit hard in 2024 by overcapacity and financial losses, is expected to recover in 2025 with tighter market conditions and a 25% revenue growth forecast.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024
Here’s the best climate news you missed this year
There are plenty of positive trends out there once you peer past the alarmist headlines.
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 22, 2024
Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?
Japan boasts the world’s third-largest potential supply of geothermal energy, but this renewable energy resource has mostly been untapped.
Ishiba vows Japan will stand its ground, demanding U.S. lift auto tariffs
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a Lower House committee meeting on Friday.
U.S. and China agree to lower tariffs in 90-day cooling-off period
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attend a news conference after trade talks with China, in Geneva on Monday.
'Treasure hunt': Tourists boost sales at Japan's Don Quijote stores
The entrance to the discount retailer Don Quijote in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, known as Don Don Donki outside the country
High school student arrested over deaths of his grandparents
A high school student was arrested Saturday on suspicion of killing his grandparents at their home in Tahara, Aichi Prefecture.
Global militaries to study India-Pakistan fighter jet battle
The Indian Air Force's Rafale fighter jets. India and Pakistan aircraft engaged in a dogfight on Wednesday.
Sculpted waves, sleek updos: Showa hairstyles are back in fashion
The larger-than-life hairstyles of Japan's Showa Era are unmistakable — and they're making a comeback.
In China’s ‘Michelin Guide,’ Tokyo leads overseas listings with 30 entries
China's Black Pearl Restaurant Guide held its award ceremony overseas for the first time, picking the dining capital of Singapore to promote its brand to an international audience.
Escalation fears rise in Japan following Chinese moves near Senkakus
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of the Uotsuri islet, one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. Concerns are growing in Tokyo after a Chinese government helicopter violated Japan's airspace around the uninhabited islets.
Who could become Japan's next prime minister?
Clockwise from top left: Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
With a new Shibuya studio, Apple Music bets big on Japan
Apple Music personalities (from left) Ebro Darden, Kentaro Ochiai, Zane Lowe and Mino came together for a special recording in late April to discuss music and celebrate the newly opened Apple Music studio in Tokyo.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society
Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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