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Japan, which is the world’s third-largest economy, has come under pressure to increase its ambitions on climate work. Previously, the country had a goal of reducing its emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and becoming carbon neutral “as soon as possible” during the second half of the century. When Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga promised on Monday that Japan is now fine-tuning its climate targets and will become carbon neutral by 2050, he received applause.
“Adjusting due to climate change is no longer a burden on economic growth,” Yoshihide Suga said in his speech, according to The Guardian.
The speech was the first appearance in parliament since Suga took office. In mid-September, he succeeded former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Exactly like emissions it would not be reduced, but renewable energy should be supported and safety prioritized for nuclear power, which could play a bigger role.
The new target is equivalent to the EU’s carbon neutrality target and more ambitious than the target that China announced a few weeks ago, when the country announced that it will become carbon neutral by 2060.
In the United States, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has set the same goal in his climate plan that Japan now announces, that if he wins the presidential election, the goal is for the United States to become carbon neutral by 2050.
