TAKE ACTION
  • EN
  • JP
  • About Us
  • The Problem
    • Public Finance
    • Private Banks
    • Corporate Players
    • Insurance Companies
    • Projects
  • Campaigns
    • SMBC Group: The Time to Act is Now
    • Mitsubishi: LNG expansion undermining climate commitments
    • MUFG: Climate Chaos For You
  • Past Campaigns
    • Japan at the COP in Madrid
    • G20 Summit in Osaka
    • Wave of Change: Japan Stop Funding Coal
    • COP26 in Glasgow
  • Blog
  • Media
    • Media Contact Details
    • Media releases
  • Take Action
Jun 28, 2021 - By Environmental NGOs

[Joint Statement] Japan must not be allowed to violate the G7 Leaders’ Statement – Supporting new Coal Plants in Indonesia and Bangladesh goes against the Agreement –

We are collecting organizational sign-ons until July 13.
To sign on as an organization, please fill in this Google form.

[Joint Statement]
Japan must not be allowed to violate the G7 Leaders’ Statement
– Supporting new Coal Plants in Indonesia and Bangladesh
goes against the Agreement –

In response to the G7 Cornwall Summit Leaders’ Statement, the Japanese government revised its policy on providing support for overseas coal-fired power projects on June 17, stating to “end new direct international government support for unabated coal-fired power generation by the end of 2021” (*1). Nevertheless, the Japanese government is determined to exclude from this new policy the new yen loans for the main construction of the Indramayu coal-fired power project (Indonesia) and the Matarbari coal-fired power project Phase 2 (Bangladesh) through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). We strongly condemn such determination by the Japanese government.

The fact that the Japanese government is violating the contents of the G7 Leaders’ Statement was confirmed when a Japanese civil society organization checked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) whether the policy applies to the aforementioned 2 projects (*2). According to MoFA’s response, the 2 projects are already in the process of being implemented and are not considered as new projects, thus are excluded from the scope of the G7 Leaders’ Statement.

However, in some cases in the past, MoFA has interpreted projects that are “in process for implementation” as “new projects” and has decided to stop such new projects. For example, when official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam and Indonesia were suspended due to corruption issues, the adoption of new projects suspended (*3). Currently, the Japanese government is continuing to disburse loans for the engineering service in Indramayu and is conducting a preparatory survey for Matarbari 2. It is inconsistent for the Japanese government to exclude these 2 projects from the new policy by stating that they are not “new” because they are “in process for implementation.”

Also, for both projects, the main construction has not started and the loan for construction has not yet been adopted. As such, it is feasible enough to not provide these types of support in the future, in other words, to end direct support for coal-fired power generation by the end of 2021.

The G7 Leaders’ Statement is committed to aligning international public finance with the net-zero by 2050 goal, hence supporting the construction of new coal-fired power plants goes against this agreement. Japan’s biased logic described above is unacceptable in the international community. Inevitably, Japan will once again be criticized on the global stage, such as at this year’s G20 and COP26, for undermining global decarbonization efforts.

Therefore, the Japanese government should review the interpretation of “new” support in the G7 Leaders’ Agreement and state that it will not adopt an ODA loan for the main construction of Indramayu and Matarbari 2 coal-fired power projects.

Footnotes:
*1: https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/keikyou/dai51/siryou3.pdf (in Japanese)
*2: JACSES contacted MoFA on June 14 and the MoFA responded on June 25.
*3: MoFA, “Further efforts by both Japan and Vietnam to prevent fraudulent corruption over Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects” https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press4_001075.html
MoFA, “Efforts of both Japan and Indonesia to prevent fraudulent corruption over official development assistance projects” https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press4_001075.html

*****
Contact:
Yuki Tanabe, Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES)
Email: tanabe@jacses.org

Hozue Hatae, Friends of the Earth Japan
Email: hatae@foejapan.org

Share this

You might also like

Apr 5, 2021 - By Environmental NGOs
[Joint Press Statement] NGOs call on President Biden and Prime Minister Suga to take strong leadership on ending public support for coal, oil and gas at the U.S.-Japan Summit
Oct 30, 2020 - By Environmental NGOs
No Coal Go Green! Project Video “Tell Japan to Stop Financing Overseas Coal Power!”
Oct 28, 2020 - By Environmental NGOs
[Joint Statement] Japanese NGOs praise collective engagement by institutional investors calling for investees to withdraw from Vung Ang 2 coal-fired power plant in Vietnam

#FossilFreeJapan is supported by:

© 2023 Fossil Free Japan
  • About Us
  • The Problem
  • Blog
  • Privacy Policy
We use cookies to help us understand how you use our site and give you the most relevant experience with Fossil Free Japan, including our content and ads on our social media and other digital platforms. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL cookies. However, you may visit “Preferences” to enable or disable the specific cookies.

Please refer to our Privacy Policy for more information regarding cookies and other third-party tracking that may be enabled.
PreferencesAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT