54 H. OHTA
reducing GHG emissions by 25% below the level of 1990 by 2020, which
was premised on “the establishment of a fair and effective international
framework in which all major economies participate and on the agreement of ambitious targets by all major economies.” The United States
and China were unwilling to commit to any substantial GHG reductions,
enabling Japan to make an excuse for not committing to ambitious reduction targets. Besides, this mid-term target itself contained a major flaw,
since it heavily relied on nuclear energy, whose prospects were already not
promising due to the low-operating rate of nuclear power plants, their old
age, and the difficulties of constructing new power plants in Japan. Then,
the final blow for both Japan’s energy strategy and climate policy was
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Japan is now edging away from
taking the initiative in international efforts to mitigate climate change.
This chapter employs the process-tracing method (George and Bennett
2005). It does so by providing a detailed account of the critical decisionmaking processes and describing the core elements of energy policy
closely related to climate change policy.
National Energy Strategy
and Climate Change Policy in Japan
Both the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and METI regard a stable
global climate system as an international public good. Both ministries
recognize Japan’s responsibility for mitigating climate change and are
willing to help the most vulnerable developing countries to adapt to
adverse consequences of climate change. However, while the MOE has
emphasized the importance of the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities,” METI has emphasized the fair and just distribution
of costs among major emitters and efficient ways of alleviating global
climate change. The MOE has attempted to take the initiative in introducing a global warming tax as a fair and effective means of sharing costs.
METI’s preference has been voluntary efforts by industry and is reluctant
to promote both the introduction of a new environmental taxation and a
“cap-and-trade” emissions trading system at home, reflecting Keidanren’s
policy preferences (Watanabe 2015; Kameyama 2017).
Against this backdrop, the most influential policy that determines
Japan’s domestic climate policy and climate diplomacy has been Japan’s
energy policy. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident exposed its contradictions and ineffectiveness, and consequently turned Japan in on itself in
reducing GHG emissions by 25% below the level of 1990 by 2020, which
was premised on “the establishment of a fair and effective international
framework in which all major economies participate and on the agreement of ambitious targets by all major economies.” The United States
and China were unwilling to commit to any substantial GHG reductions,
enabling Japan to make an excuse for not committing to ambitious reduction targets. Besides, this mid-term target itself contained a major flaw,
since it heavily relied on nuclear energy, whose prospects were already not
promising due to the low-operating rate of nuclear power plants, their old
age, and the difficulties of constructing new power plants in Japan. Then,
the final blow for both Japan’s energy strategy and climate policy was
the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Japan is now edging away from
taking the initiative in international efforts to mitigate climate change.
This chapter employs the process-tracing method (George and Bennett
2005). It does so by providing a detailed account of the critical decisionmaking processes and describing the core elements of energy policy
closely related to climate change policy.
National Energy Strategy
and Climate Change Policy in Japan
Both the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and METI regard a stable
global climate system as an international public good. Both ministries
recognize Japan’s responsibility for mitigating climate change and are
willing to help the most vulnerable developing countries to adapt to
adverse consequences of climate change. However, while the MOE has
emphasized the importance of the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities,” METI has emphasized the fair and just distribution
of costs among major emitters and efficient ways of alleviating global
climate change. The MOE has attempted to take the initiative in introducing a global warming tax as a fair and effective means of sharing costs.
METI’s preference has been voluntary efforts by industry and is reluctant
to promote both the introduction of a new environmental taxation and a
“cap-and-trade” emissions trading system at home, reflecting Keidanren’s
policy preferences (Watanabe 2015; Kameyama 2017).
Against this backdrop, the most influential policy that determines
Japan’s domestic climate policy and climate diplomacy has been Japan’s
energy policy. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident exposed its contradictions and ineffectiveness, and consequently turned Japan in on itself in