Japan Press Weekly

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2022 June 22 - 28 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Japan gives up ODA for coal power projects in Bangladesh and Indonesia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 22 announced that it will pull out of coal-fired power projects under Japan's ODA framework in Matarbali, Bangladesh and in Indramayu, Indonesia.

According to the ministry, it decided to cancel the project in Bangladesh in light of a global trend toward a phase-out of fossil fuel. As for the Indramayu project, the Indonesian government informed Japan of its decision to halt the project.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi has repeatedly demanded in the Diet that the government cancel the two ODA-backed projects.

Inoue in 2019 met with local Indonesian residents who came to Japan to request that the Japanese government stop funding the project. He revealed in the Diet that the project is posing health hazards for local residents and destroying the nearby natural environment, and that human rights abuses such as unjustified arrests of residents who are opposed to the construction of a coal-fired power plant in their community are occurring. He then urged the government to make a policy change to provide financial aid for renewable energy projects in Indonesia.

JCP Upper House lawmaker Takeda Ryosuke in a Budget Committee meeting in March also demanded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not extend ODA loans to the two projects.

Past related articles:
> Indonesian environmental NGO calls for end to Japan’s financing of coal-fired power plant in Indonesia [December 5, 2019]
> Indonesian farmers opposing coal-fired power plant project ask for JCP assistance [April 11&13, 2019]