Japan to Formulate New National Strategy for Green Transformation with Target Year of 2040

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, May 14, 2024

The government has decided to formulate a new national strategy that includes a path for decarbonization and industrial policy toward 2040. The government will promote related investments and strengthen the competitiveness of domestic industries by establishing a long-term industrial policy as the “2040 vision for green transformation.”

This is the first time for the government to formulate an industrial policy strategy with the target year of 2040. The strategy will be finalized by the end of this fiscal year.

The government was expected on Monday to hold a session of the Green Transformation Implementation Council, which is chaired by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, for discussions to formulate the strategy. The strategy will serve as a guideline for the goal set by the government to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.

The four areas to be discussed at the council session are energy, industrial locations, industrial structure and market creation related to green transformation.

Regarding stable energy supply, the council will examine the development of power transmission lines, based on a plan to establish decarbonized power source bases for data centers and other facilities that use large amounts of electricity, in line with the government’s strategic energy plan.

In terms of green transformation-related industrial locations, the council will offer a plan for industrial clusters tailored to areas with many renewable energy power plants and bases for importing hydrogen and ammonia, among other factors. The council will also discuss the concentration of semiconductor industries using decarbonized power sources and the establishment of industrial parks fueled by hydrogen and ammonia.

For industrial structure, the council will call for a shift in manufacturing processes in steel, petrochemical and other industries that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases. It will also promote support for companies with technological capabilities to establish their bases. The council will also expedite devising an emissions trading system.

Since 2022, experts at the council have been discussing measures to promote areas such as investment in order to realize the stable supply of energy and economic growth, while also achieving decarbonization. In 2023, the government approved a national strategy for green transformation promotion for the upcoming decade.