Japan and South Korea stick to coal plant policies, despite global climate deal

• 8 years ago (2015-12-16)
• David Flin

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Japan and South Korea have announced that they are pressing ahead with their plans to open a total of 61 new coal-fired power plants over the next ten years, casting doubt on the strength of their commitment to cutting CO2 emissions.

Japan’s target for emissions cuts is comparatively modest – its 18 per cent target from 1990 to 2030 is less than half of Europe’s. However, questions are already being raised about its ability to deliver, since achieving that target will depend on using nuclear power, which has been unpopular since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Japan plans to build 41 new coal-fired plants over the next decade. The Japanese tax system favours imports of coal over natural gas.

South Korea has scrapped plans for four new coal-fired power plants, but still plans to build 20 by 2021. In South Korea, tax on imported coal was raised in July, but is still only just over a third of the import tax on natural gas.