The government formally announced Thursday a plan to tighten the conditions under which public funding will be provided for exports of coal-fired power plants, which produce large volumes of carbon dioxide.
The stricter criteria, which cover partner nations and the plants' environmental performance, were presented in a new government report on Japan's infrastructure export strategy compiled by the Management Council for Infrastructure Strategy.
The report specified that export assistance such as low-interest loans from government-related financial institutions "will not be provided" to nations whose environmental countermeasures and other factors are unclear. However, developing nations that must rely on coal-fired thermal power may receive assistance, but only for facilities that deliver "top-class" environmental performance. This will help Japan to be involved in these nations' efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Clear environmental performance criteria will be among the conditions for providing support to nations that have no choice but to use coal as a cheap energy source. Assistance will no longer be given for inefficient coal-fired power generation that emits large volumes of carbon dioxide.
The council, which is chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, discusses the nation's strategy for exports of social infrastructure such as railways and communication facilities.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
