38 K. HASEGAWA
1110 billion tons, which is beyond its target level of 1042 billion tons
set by the Paris Agreement. This is 5% higher than the target, and means
it will be impossible to meet the target of a 26% decrease from the level
of FY 2013 emissions. This is a nightmare for climate change protection in the world trying to keep global temperatures from exceeding
two degrees centigrade of warming under the Paris Agreement. Coalfired plants also emit other kinds of air pollution, notably SOx, NOx, PM
2.5, mercury, and water pollution through sewage emissions. As of the
end of December 2019, 15 plants already started to operate, another 15
plants are under construction and another 13 projects were canceled or
converted to wood biomass-fired plants. The start of construction on the
rest of the projects has been delayed primarily due to financial reasons. 2
After the Paris Agreement was enacted the worldwide situation
regarding coal-fired plants has changed drastically. In European countries
and the USA, a total of 64 GW of operating coal-fired plants were retired
in 2015 and 2016 due to the impact of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
In even China and India, a total of 68 GW of coal-fired plant capacity
under construction is now frozen at over 100 project sites. As of January
2017, the amount of coal-fired power capacity in pre-construction planning fell to 570 gigawatts (GW) from 1090 GW in January 2016 in
China and India. In October 2017, the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP) recommended an end to the construction of new coal
power plants and an accelerated phasing out of existing plants as key
steps toward achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Recently, the
fossil-fuel divestment movement is very active in the USA and Europe to
reduce carbon emissions, applying public pressure to stigmatize “fossil
fuel companies” that are currently involved in fossil-fuel extraction to
move investments away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres criticized Japan’s “coal addiction” at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP25 in Madrid in
December 2019 (Mainichi 2019).
Nonetheless, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry
(METI) has been supporting construction of coal-fired plants, both
domestically and abroad. Companies are eager to build coal-fired plants
due to its cheaper fuel price compared to natural gas in Japan, in contrast
with the USA and Europe where natural gas is cheaper than coal. It
seems that power companies and the national government are strategically
1110 billion tons, which is beyond its target level of 1042 billion tons
set by the Paris Agreement. This is 5% higher than the target, and means
it will be impossible to meet the target of a 26% decrease from the level
of FY 2013 emissions. This is a nightmare for climate change protection in the world trying to keep global temperatures from exceeding
two degrees centigrade of warming under the Paris Agreement. Coalfired plants also emit other kinds of air pollution, notably SOx, NOx, PM
2.5, mercury, and water pollution through sewage emissions. As of the
end of December 2019, 15 plants already started to operate, another 15
plants are under construction and another 13 projects were canceled or
converted to wood biomass-fired plants. The start of construction on the
rest of the projects has been delayed primarily due to financial reasons. 2
After the Paris Agreement was enacted the worldwide situation
regarding coal-fired plants has changed drastically. In European countries
and the USA, a total of 64 GW of operating coal-fired plants were retired
in 2015 and 2016 due to the impact of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
In even China and India, a total of 68 GW of coal-fired plant capacity
under construction is now frozen at over 100 project sites. As of January
2017, the amount of coal-fired power capacity in pre-construction planning fell to 570 gigawatts (GW) from 1090 GW in January 2016 in
China and India. In October 2017, the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP) recommended an end to the construction of new coal
power plants and an accelerated phasing out of existing plants as key
steps toward achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Recently, the
fossil-fuel divestment movement is very active in the USA and Europe to
reduce carbon emissions, applying public pressure to stigmatize “fossil
fuel companies” that are currently involved in fossil-fuel extraction to
move investments away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres criticized Japan’s “coal addiction” at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP25 in Madrid in
December 2019 (Mainichi 2019).
Nonetheless, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry
(METI) has been supporting construction of coal-fired plants, both
domestically and abroad. Companies are eager to build coal-fired plants
due to its cheaper fuel price compared to natural gas in Japan, in contrast
with the USA and Europe where natural gas is cheaper than coal. It
seems that power companies and the national government are strategically