The trade ministry eventually won a fierce arm wrestle with the Environment Ministry over the wording of a government plan to tighten the conditions under which public funding will be provided for exports of coal-fired power plants.
The Environment Ministry wanted all support for such projects banned. The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry wanted to continue assistance for these exports, which are in demand in many Asian nations.
The recently announced plan to tighten the criteria for supporting exports of coal-fired plants aims to convey to the world Japan's efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
"Rather than squeezing funds to coal-fired thermal generation, we proposed tightening the support criteria and restricting assistance to exports of world-class technologies," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon. "This approach gained the support of other ministries."
Kajiyama had championed a realistic approach to supporting these exports, instead of a blanket ban. He also specified that, in principle, assistance will not be extended in cases where the partner country drags its feet on measures to combat global warming or has not clarified a plan to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. The government plan also set numerical criteria that restrict support to highly efficient coal-fired plants that generate 10% to 20% less carbon dioxide than conventional facilities do.
-- Discussions bogged down
However, inter-ministry wrangling over the exact wording of the plan raged up until the last minute.
Four ministries were involved in the process: Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, which steers energy policies; the Environment Ministry, which is in charge of environmental policies; the Finance Ministry, which has jurisdiction over government-related financial institutions; and the Foreign Ministry, which holds sway over diplomatic issues.
According to sources, discussions among the ministries were thrown into confusion not long after they started in late June, when the Environment Ministry strongly demanded changes be made to the draft. The Environment Ministry wanted the wording, "The government will not provide support, in principle" in the first part of the draft. Although reducing Japan's dependence on coal-fired power generation is difficult at a time when the nation's nuclear plants are only slowly resuming operations, Environment Ministry officials felt that "restricting exports would showcase [Japan's commitment] to the international community."
However, demand for coal-fired power generation remains strong in many developing Asian nations because coal used for fuel can be cheaply and stably acquired. China is expanding exports to these countries, and the economy and finance ministries had raised concerns from economic and diplomatic perspectives. The talks became bogged down and meetings between senior officials from each ministry failed to seal an agreement.
In the end, Kajiyama and Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi sat down to discuss the matter. Kajiyama confronted Koizumi with the reality that coal-fired thermal power "won't be reduced to zero at once," and the Environment Ministry budged from its insistence on including the wording "be banned in principle." The plan ended up stating, "It is a reality that developing nations and others have chosen to use coal-fired thermal power."
-- Embers still smoldering
At a press conference Thursday, Koizumi emphasized the final result was acceptable to him. "Writing a plan that states Japan will not support [certain projects] was an unusual decision," Koizumi said. "You can see a conclusion was reached after politicians on both sides held frank discussions."
However, it remains unclear how kindly the international community will assess this pragmatic approach.
At the U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP25, held in Spain in December 2019, Britain, France and other nations announced they would phase out coal-fired thermal power. Japan set out no such policy. "Because of our approach to coal, the impact of Japan's other efforts have been erased," Koizumi said.
Based on the new plan, the Japanese government will need to support efforts by developing nations to reduce their carbon emissions, and show the international community its achievements in combating climate change.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
