Japan wants to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday, the path to achieving this goal being difficult due to the country's dependence on coal.
Read also: China sets a goal of carbon neutrality by 2060
"
I declare that we will reduce (emissions) of greenhouse gases to zero by 2050
" to "
aim for a carbon neutral society
," Suga said in his first policy speech to Parliament Japanese since coming to power in September.
Focus on innovation
This announcement significantly concretizes Japan's commitments to fight climate change.
Until then, Tokyo had only said it hoped to achieve carbon neutrality in the second half of the 21st century.
The Prime Minister did not give a precise timetable for achieving this balance between greenhouse gas emissions and their absorption, but he mentioned the importance of technology.
"
The key is innovation,
" he said, citing in particular the new generation solar batteries.
Japan will also promote the use of renewable energies and nuclear energy, he added, stressing the importance of security in a country marked by the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
The accident, following a major earthquake and tsunami, caused the temporary shutdown of Japan's nuclear reactors and increased its dependence on fossil fuels.
The world's third-largest economy, which signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, was the sixth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world in 2018, according to the International Energy Agency.