In the fiscal year of 2020, total greenhouse gasses emissions from Japan decreased consecutively for the seventh year and are now the lowest ever. According to the report released by the government, to no one’s surprise, this is the result of the worldwide pandemic.
A total of 1.149 billion tons of carbon dioxide were produced from March to 2021, down 5.1 percent compared to the prior year. This will erase the previous low recorded in fiscal 2019, after the government began collecting information in the fiscal year 1990, as per preliminary information released from the Environment Ministry.
Fiscal 2020 showed an 18.4 percent drop from fiscal 2013, far away from Japan’s target of a 46 percent reduction by the end of fiscal 2030, as presented by the Japanese government to the United Nations in October.
The target was raised from the earlier pledge to reduce by 26% compared to 2013.
“We would like to expand renewable energy and accelerate the introduction of thermal insulation measures for homes,” an official from the ministry said.
In the fiscal year 2020, the industry sector reduced its carbon dioxide emission by 8.3 percent from an earlier year as carbon dioxide emissions in transport and service providers decreased by 10.2 percent and 4.1 percent in the service sector and transport, respectively.
The household sector saw an increase of 4.9 percent rise in emissions, possibly due to the rise in online and teleworking classes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In the power mix, the proportion of renewable energy grew to 19.8 percent due to the growth of photovoltaics, while nuclear power accounted for 3.9 percent. Several nuclear power plants were shut down under stricter safety rules implemented following 2011’s Fukushima nuclear catastrophe triggered by a powerful seismic and tsunami.
The coal fire ratio was widely criticized for its carbon dioxide emission dipped to 31%, a decrease of one percentage point from one previous year, as per the figures.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) super greenhouse gases used in cooling, refrigeration, and other areas increased by 4.4 percent over one year ago. The ministry aims to strengthen HFCs’ disposal and collection regulations and others.
Source: The Japan Times
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