Japan pledged today, Saturday, to provide financial and technological support to help members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) accelerate their efforts to remove carbon from their economies and combat climate change. Japan, which lacks energy resources, aims to become a leader in the hydrogen economy to reduce reliance on conventional fossil fuels like coal and oil.
A ministerial meeting on climate, energy, and the environment will be held in Sapporo from April 15 to 16, as Japan holds the G7 presidency this year, ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima scheduled for May 19 to 21, to promote what it describes as a realistic energy transition.
Japanese Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura stated at the first ministerial meeting of the Asia Zero Emissions Group that "Japan will take the lead in providing generous support in funding, technology, and personnel resources to assist in carbon removal in Asia."
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida proposed the establishment of the Asia Zero Emissions Group last year to share the philosophy of enhancing carbon removal in Asian countries and to cooperate in advancing the energy transition.
During the meeting attended by several ASEAN members and Australia, Nishimura noted that the push for cooperation would encompass renewable energy, natural gas, hydrogen, ammonia, and others.
The Asia Zero Emissions Group called in a joint statement for the group to provide financial support for carbon removal infrastructure investments and set up clean energy supply chains. Neither the statement nor Nishimura specified the potential amount of financial support.
