Japan’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Hit Record High
Greenhouse gas emissions in Japan hit an all-time high in the year to March, largely due to the closure of its biggest nuclear power plant after an earthquake.
The 2.3 percent increase last year adds more pressure on the world’s fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide to meet its voluntary Kyoto target over the next four years.
Emissions rose to 1.371 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent in the Japanese fiscal year through March, after a 1.3 percent decline the previous year, Ministry of the Environment data showed on Wednesday.
A rise was widely expected after the world’s biggest nuclear plant, run by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), had to suspend operations following a July 2007 earthquake, forcing utilities to meet demand by burning more coal, oil and natural gas, all of which emit far more greenhouse gases.
In order for Japan to cut emissions by the estimated 13.5 percent needed to hit its 2008-2012 target under Kyoto of just under 1.2 billion tons, analysts say that immediate action is necessary.
"We immediately need a set of effective policies to drive a change towards a more climate-friendly society," Tetsunari Iida, executive director of Tokyo’s Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP), an environment policy NGO.
While Japan’s utilities have stepped up their buying of U.N. carbon offsets, Wednesday’s data suggests they may have to buy more if Japan is to meet its global pledge, potentially driving up global carbon credit prices.
Members the European Union have adopted a mandatory set of caps or a carbon taxes on companies’ emissions, but Japan has been slow to do so.
In addition, a worldwide economic recession is not expected to help international attempts to cut back on emissions because it may case governments to focus on other issues than the environment.
While Tokyo has worked hard to drive utilities toward cleaner forms of energy, it has also struggled to convince power companies facing tough times to hasten investments in new nuclear power stations with low emissions.
The government also faces public distrust about Japan’s scandal-plagued nuclear industry, including safety fears over the numerous earthquakes the country suffers each year.
On Tuesday, J-Power said it had delayed the start of a major new nuclear unit by two years, the latest in a string of delays to new projects.
Yet long term strategies are key to resolving the problem, analysts say.
"There will be no reduction in carbon emissions until there are viable ways of replacing energy supply and energy growth with large-scale renewables," said climate change expert Barry Brook, of the University of Adelaide in Australia.
"That is where the focus of international action should now be."
Iida said the fact that two new coal plants were being built in Japan underscored the need for sterner government action.
Last week, the International Energy Agency estimated that $26 trillion would need to be invested to develop an energy infrastructure by 2030.
Tokyo has set companies and households a private-sector emissions target, to be met by voluntary steps, of 1.254 billion metric tons, which will be offset by a further 68 million tons a year by government spending on domestic forest conservation and credits from investing in clean technology in poorer countries.
The key to Japan’s voluntary program is the electric power industry, which has pledged to cut CO2 emissions to an average of 0.34 kg per kilowatt hour a year through to 2012.
However, even if the power industry met its voluntary target last year, Japan’s emissions would still have exceeded its target, the environment ministry said.
Image Courtesy NASA
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