The Ministry of Economy and Industry recently hosted the first annual meeting of the “Asia Partnership for Green Growth”, which brought together more than 20 countries, including Thailand, India, the United States, Australia, countries from the Middle East and some international organizations, led by the International Energy Agency.

Japan hopes the annual gathering will be aimed at helping countries meet the Paris Agreement on climate change and to end global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.

Hiroshi Kageyama, the outgoing Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hiroshi Kageyama with the previous cabinet reshuffle, indicated the importance of countries exerting their efforts to move towards nuclear energy, hydrogen and ammonia, to enhance energy transformations in a realistic manner and in accordance with the economic and social situation, energy conditions and their technological capabilities.

It is worth noting that Japan is considered one of the poor countries in energy resources, and it relies heavily on nuclear energy in its energy mix. Despite its natural environment, its technological superiority and its ability to rapidly transform into renewable energy, its energy emissions are among the highest per capita emissions in the world.

Data from the International Energy Agency indicates that Japan is still highly dependent (80%) on fossil fuels, but it also excels globally (in the third place) in solar power generation capacity after China and the United States. Japan pledges to become carbon neutral, achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050.