Japan Press Weekly

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2016 November 9 - 15 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Abe gov’t seeks to increase financial support for fossil fuel industry

The Abe government is stepping up financial support for the fossil fuel industry. The Japanese Communist Party criticizes this move for running counter to the Paris Agreement on climate change which the Lower House recently approved.

On November 10, a government-proposed bill to expand activities of the state-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) was passed by the Economy and Industry Committee of the House of Councilors. The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties as well as the opposition Democratic Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai voted for the bill while the JCP voted against the bill.

The JOGMEC is an independent administrative institution which provides funds to help Japanese companies explore for and develop reserves of oil, natural gas, coal, and metals. The bill is to allow the organization to “support Japanese upstream developers in acquiring overseas resource companies and other efforts”, according to the Economy and Industry Ministry.

Prior to the vote, JCP lawmaker Tatsumi Kotaro used his question time to oppose the bill. He pointed out that the human species is facing the pressing need to tackle global warming and that more and more corporations and organizations in the world are withdrawing their funds or “divesting” from the fossil fuel industry. Under such a situation, it is unacceptable for the Japanese government to promote increased investment in the carbon-intensive industry, the JCP lawmaker stressed.

In response to Tatsumi, Economy Minister Seko Hiroshige said that Japan will need to keep depending on fossil fuels.

Tatsumi stated that the root of the problem is the Abe government’s basic energy plan which places nuclear power and thermal power generation as key energy sources. He noted that the Japanese government is promoting coal-fired power generation despite the fact that the world is moving forward with tightening regulations on the highly-polluting power generation based on coal. Tatsumi criticized the Abe government’s move as going against the goal of the Paris Agreement.

The bill was already passed by the House of Representatives (November 1) and is expected to be enacted in the House of Councilors plenary meeting on November 11.

Past related articles:
> Environment Ministry gives approval to construction of more coal-fired power stations [February 10, 2016]
> Japan’s plan to build 48 new coal-fired power plants contradicts global efforts to combat climate change [November 27, 2015]