Japan is the third largest economy in the world. The Japanese energy goals are made clear in Japan’s draft National Energy Strategy, and they include a huge leap toward carbon reduction.

The draft calls for the restart of Japan’s nuclear plants, the bulk of which remain offline after the country’s nuclear meltdowns in 2011. But experts say implementing the plan and reaching its results will be very difficult by its 2030 deadline.

“Japan’s chance of achieving its renewable and nuclear goals and setting its own fossil fuel goals is very low,” says Takeo Kikawa, Vice President of the International University in Japan and a member of the advisory committee on energy strategy.

Japan joins a group of countries rushing to advance their carbon reduction plans ahead of the November 2021 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Recently, the European Union countries and China revealed proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while the US administration is preparing a list of its own proposals.