Open Letter: Japan’s “Zero Emissions” strategy is a fallacy

The document demands that Japan phase out coal by 2030, end international public finance for fossil fuels, and stop promoting technologies like ammonia co-firing and carbon capture and storage, which the authors claim are ineffective and costly.

• The authors argue that Japan is undermining global climate goals by spending over $10 billion annually on international fossil fuel projects while allocating only $1.3 billion per year to renewable energy projects.
• The letter claims that Japan's promotion of ammonia co-firing is a "false solution"; specifically, a 20% ammonia co-firing rate at domestic coal plants by 2030 would produce nearly double the greenhouse gas emissions of standard gas-fired plants.
• The document asserts that Japan is failing its G7 commitment to end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022 and is instead using agencies like the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to promote fossil fuel-based technologies in countries such as Bangladesh.
• The signatories demand a total domestic coal phase-out in Japan by 2030 to align with climate science and the Paris climate goal.
• The letter criticizes Japan's investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS), describing the technology as ineffective, costly, and technologically difficult.

APA

Trend Asia (2023). Open Letter: Japan’s “Zero Emissions” strategy is a fallacy. https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230302_AZEC_letter_English.pdf

Chicago

Trend Asia. Open Letter: Japan’s “Zero Emissions” strategy is a fallacy. 2023. https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230302_AZEC_letter_English.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Trend Asia |title=Open Letter: Japan’s “Zero Emissions” strategy is a fallacy |date=2 March 2023 |url=https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230302_AZEC_letter_English.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{trendasia2023open, author = {{Trend Asia}}, title = {{Open Letter: Japan’s “Zero Emissions” strategy is a fallacy}}, publisher = {Trend Asia}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://trendasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230302_AZEC_letter_English.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }