Japan Given Infamous Fossil Award

Jiji Press

11:06 JST, December 4, 2023

DUBAI (Jiji Press) — Climate Action Network, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations tackling environmental issues, granted Japan, the United States and New Zealand the Fossil of the Day awards during U.N. climate talks in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.

The award is given to countries which CAN believes are slow to act in the fight against climate change.

Japan was picked after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the country will promote thermal power generation using a combustion technology in which ammonia is mixed with coal.

“It’s clear that this is nothing more than greenwashing of hydrogen and ammonia co-firing with fossil fuels, which would keep thermal power plants running far into the future,” CAN said in a statement.

Kishida’s push to lock in fossil fuel-based energy across Asia is “delaying the transition from fossil fuels to renewables,” CAN said.

CAN claimed that the United States’ contribution to a fund that tackles loss and damage caused by climate change is far less than its military spending to support Ukraine and Israel. It criticized New Zealand for the country’s oil and gas exploration plans.