Fukushima dumping plan toxic as ever
By PRIME SARMIENTO in Hong Kong | April 14, 2022 | Published by China Daily | READ THE STORY HERE Year after Japan's decision, anger over release of tainted water undiminished International opposition to Japan's move to dump toxic water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean is as strong as ever a year on from the decision that sparked fears for the impact on neighboring nations. The Japanese government said on April 13, 2021, it would discharge over 1 million metric tons of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power [...]
Reactive: Japan fails to drive stronger G20 climate pact
Reacting to the G20 Summit’s conclusion in Osaka, Renato Redentor Constantino, Executive Director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities said: “As G20 Chair, Japan’s failure to drive a stronger outcome in support of climate action exposed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s weak leadership in the global stage. Japan wasted its chance to decisively confront the climate emergency and leave behind a legacy of modernity. Instead, it meekly exits the stage bowed low to usher in Saudi Arabia’s climate of impunity. “This weak legacy will inevitably taint Japan’s image on the road to hosting the 2020 Olympics where its leadership [...]
Japan seeks climate leadership at G-20 summit but can’t kick its coal habit
By Simon Denyer (Published June 27 in The Washington Post) TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to burnish his green credentials. Japan, he said, will exercise “firm leadership” on climate change at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka this week, with a focus on “disruptive innovation” that generates economic growth. It also was a theme echoed by G-20 energy and environment ministers in their pre-summit meeting in the Japanese town of Karuizawa. But Abe’s ambitions conceal a dirty secret. Japan is hooked on coal, and it can’t kick the habit, environmentalists say. It is even helping to [...]