Japan ups greenhouse gases reduction goal to 46pc

Japan on Thursday raised its target for cutting carbon emissions to 46% by 2030, responding to pressure from the United States and domestic companies and environmentalists who criticized its previous goal of 26% as unambitious.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the new target, compared with 2013 emissions levels, hours before the start of a virtual summit on climate change called by U.S. President Joe Biden. Washington is seeking to restore its credibility on combating global warming after Biden's predecessor Donald Trump undermined an international consensus on reducing emissions.

Japan has been under pressure from the Biden administration to be more ambitious, according to sources familiar with discussions held when Suga visited Washington last weekend. Suga late last year set a goal for carbon neutrality by 2050, bringing Japan more into line with some other countries. An end to carbon and other emissions by 2050 is seen as the minimum needed to keep the global temperature rise as close to 1.5 degrees centigrade as possible.

The Japanese government is reviewing energy policy this year and has indicated it will aim for lower use of carbon-emitting fossil fuels in the electricity mix, but has so far kept up its support for coal due to the slow restart of reactors after the Fukushima nuclear disaster led to their shutdown.