Japan to limit financing of overseas coal power plants

• 3 years ago (2020-07-10)
• David Flin

Asia 859 Coal 282

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Japan has said that it will tighten its rules on investment in foreign coal-fired power stations on environmental grounds, but it stopped short of completely ending government funding for such projects.

Hiroshi Kajiyama, Japan’s Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister, said that the Government “has decided to tighten the rules for supporting investment.” He said that countries seeking investment would be required to change their behaviour towards decarbonisation, but added that the new policy was not about cutting back funding. “There are developing nations that can only choose coal as an energy source.”

The government currently provides funding to Japanese companies if their projects meet certain criteria, such as when a foreign country has no options but to choose coal due to economic reasons.

The Global Energy Monitor watchdog said that last year Japan accounted for over $4.8 billion in financing for coal-fired power plants abroad, particularly in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

Greenpeace has criticised the decision, saying that it showed “no clear policy.”