Tokyo, April 15 — On Friday, government figures showed that Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to a record low in the financial year that ended March 2021.
The latest government data reveals a 5.1% year-on-year decrease in emissions, marking the seventh consecutive year of declining emissions.
Japan is the world's fifth-largest carbon emitter and is now looking to take more significant steps in its fight against the climate crisis. “Although emissions have decreased for seven straight years, we are still a long way from achieving carbon neutrality and can’t be optimistic,” Masayuki Koiwa, a director at the ministry, told reporters at AlJazeera. “To achieve the 2030 target and our 2050 goal of carbon neutrality, we need to maximize the use of renewable energy,” he said. The ministry would promote solar power in particular to meet the 2030 target because that method of generation could be applied quickly.
The 2020-21 emissions figure reflects an 18.4 percent decrease compared to 2013 levels.
Renewable energy accounted for 19.8 percent of electric power generation of one trillion kilowatt-hours in 2020-21, up 1.6 percentage points from the previous year.
Nuclear energy fell 2.3 percentage points to 3.9 percent, while thermal power made up 76.3 percent, up 0.7 percentage points, industry ministry data showed.
To strengthen its emission-reduction efforts, Japan has restarted ten nuclear reactors. Although only five are currently operational, this is the most active reactors Japan has seen since the Fukushima incident.
Japan's remarkable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is a true reflection of its commitment to combat the climate crisis - it underscores our collective responsibility as a species.
Source: Al Jazeera. "Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fall to lowest on record". https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/4/15/japans-greenhouse-gas-emissions-fall-to-lowest-on-record. 15 April, 2022. [Accessed: 17 April, 2022].
Edited by Yash Pincha
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