December 17, 2019

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira, following the closing of the 25th UN Climate Change Conference on December 15, has criticized the Japanese government for "working against the joint global effort by presenting no specific targets despite being required to do so by the international community".

Koike on December 16 held a press conference in the Diet building and raised issues regarding the Abe administration's attitude as follows: Japan did not even consider increasing its GHG reduction target; Japan has no intent to abolish coal-fired power generation, and instead, is promoting projects to construct new power stations at home; and the government is facilitating Japanese businesses' export of coal-fired power plants abroad.

For these reasons, Koike pointed out, Japan received a "Fossil of the Day" award twice during the COP25 talks.

Quoting environmental activist Greta Thunberg as saying, “The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like real action is happening, when in fact almost nothing is being done, apart from clever accounting and creative PR,” Koike said, "This is a severe criticism that holds true for the Japanese government and business circles."

Koike expressed his determination to "continue to demand in the Diet that the government make concrete and responsible efforts to tackle global warming".

Past related articles:
> US withdrawal from Paris accord shows US irresponsibility toward global climate challenge [November 7, 2019]
> Abe gov't should meet the demand of the young to find solutions to climate crisis [September 26, 2019]
> More than 5,000 young people in Japan join ‘Global Climate March’ [September 21, 2019]