Politics & Government

Japan, U.S. to continue cooperation over climate change

The Associated Press
U.S. Environment Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, right, is escorted by Minster of Environment Akihiro Nishimura prior to their meeting on Friday in Tokyo.

Jiji Press

16:23 JST, September 3, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan and the United States confirmed in a joint statement Friday that they will continue cooperation in climate change and decarbonization measures.

The statement on efforts to achieve a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to effectively zero by 2050 was announced by Environment Minister Akihiro Nishimura and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan after their talks in Tokyo.

“We want to lead international discussions through the cooperation of both countries,” Nishimura told a news conference after the talks, stressing eagerness to work even more closely with Washington ahead of a meeting of the Group of Seven climate, energy and environment ministers to be hosted by Japan next year.

Regan also voiced hope for a stronger U.S. partnership with Japan.

The joint statement said that Japan and the United States will continue to cooperate in providing support to Asian countries in the fight against climate change.

It added that the Japan-U.S. alignment has brought the two countries “closer to achieving the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision,” which was shared at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in 2019 to reduce additional plastic pollution to zero by 2050.