Demands

Help build a future powered by the sun, the wind, and the people

Our demands are simple: Japan must support a strong climate finance goal, stop funding fossil fuels and false solutions, and focus on clean, community-led solar and wind projects.

Japan should increase grants, not loans, to help vulnerable communities adapt, and ensure all projects respect and involve local communities.

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our demands

Prime Minister of Japan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry:

To achieve the goals of “tripling global renewable energy” and “accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels” as agreed upon at COP28, we must halt the flow of money to fossil fuels and support an accelerated, community-led expansion of renewable energy. Only by doing so, can we achieve the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement and open the door to a fair and sustainable future.

It’s now inevitable: the planet will breach the 1.5°C limit. Humanity has failed to stop global heating, with devastating consequences. But hope is not lost. Every tenth of a degree matters. If we change course now, the breach can be temporary. If world leaders such as Japan act now, we can still save generations from catastrophe.

The COP30 climate talks is a crucial opportunity for Japan to stop the dirty flow of money to fossil fuels–and start accelerating a clean future powered by community-led renewable energy. Despite committing to the goal of “tripling global renewable energy” and “accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels” in COP28, Japan remains one of the world’s biggest public funders of fossil fuels. It is a major contributor to the climate crisis that has caused super-typhoons and record-breaking heatwaves all across Asia.

Around the world, Japan finances fossil fuel projects that increase rather than reduce carbon emissions, and are linked to destruction of nature and human rights abuses. Worse, it deceptively reports these projects, such as a coal-fired power plant in Bangladesh and an airport expansion project in Egypt, as part of its “climate finance contributions.” Rather than providing grants to vulnerable countries according to the “Polluters Pay” principle, the Japanese government also insists on issuing loans with high interest rates, further burdening poor communities that didn’t cause the climate crisis.

Japan will not be ready for decarbonization by 2030 if government policy continues to promote unrealistic and costly technologies that are not real solutions to climate change, such as fossil gas, ammonia co-firing in coal-fired power generation, and nuclear power. Such greenwashing efforts only prolong our deadly dependence on fossil fuels.

Now is the time for Japan, one of the world’s economic superpowers, to step up. It must defund fossil fuels and greenwashing technologies and fully redirect its financial support towards fair, safe, and affordable renewable energy. Japan must be a force that contributes to the global good, ensures justice for frontline communities, and helps its own citizens thrive in a changing climate.

Unfortunately, Japan is one of the world’s leading countries in the use of international public funds for fossil fuel projects that cause not only the climate crisis but also the destruction of nature and human rights abuses. Japan has been criticized for providing financial support for projects that would increase rather than reduce CO2 emissions, the leading cause of climate change: a coal-fired power plant project in Bangladesh and the expansion of an airport in Egypt, and for promoting these as “climate finance contributions” in its track record.Additionally, the Japanese government insists on issuing loans with high interest rates, burdening Global South countries, rather than following the principles of Polluters Pay.

Japanese government policy promotes unrealistic and costly technologies that will not be ready for decarbonization by 2030, such as fossil gas, ammonia co-firing in coal-fired power generation, and nuclear power, in their greenwashing efforts that prolong our dependence on fossil fuels.

Amidst super-typhoons and yet another record-breaking heat all across Asia, nNow is the time for Japan, the world’s economic superpower, to redirect its full financial support to fair, safe, and affordable renewable energy and energy efficiency, instead of fossil fuels or greenwashing technologies. This will be the force that contributes to a multilateralism for climate justice and helps frontline communities navigate the climate and debt crises.
Specifically, we request the following actions by the end of 20XX:

Specifically, we request the following actions:

1. The Japanese government must contribute to the global goal of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 by committing a significant contribution to the new climate finance goal beyond 2025.
2. The Japanese government must immediately cease all public financing for fossil fuel projects, including fossil gas and greenwashing technologies that delay fossil fuel phaseouts, such as ammonia co-firing, carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS), and nuclear power. Instead, it must redirect financing to support fair, sustainable, and democratic solar and wind power.
3. The Japanese government must allocate financial support not only for emission reductions but also for adaptation and addressing loss and damage.
4. The Japanese government must shift from loan-based financing to grants, recognizing that climate finance is compensation for historical emissions, not charity.

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