INDC costs and experiences in removing low-carbon technology barriers: Japan

Japan's INDC toward post-2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions is at the level of a reduction of 26% by fiscal year (FY) 2030 compared to FY2013 (18% reduction compared to FY1990). After the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in 2011, the GHG emission in Japan soared due to the increase of the power generation by the fossil fuel-powered station. However, in 2014, GHG emission declined due to the decrease of electricity consumption and improvement of the CO₂ intensity and power generation. Current governmental energy/climate policy, which becomes the basis of the INDC, requires the industry sector to implement less energy conservation and GHG emission reduction measures compared to other sectors such as commercial, transport and household, which may result in the introduction of the specific policy such as carbon pricing to those sectors. Prioritization of nuclear power and coal-fired power as base-load power-generation technologies is also the characteristics of the current governmental policy. Since the framework to control the coal-fired power plants is voluntary in nature and the future of the nuclear power is uncertain, there is a possibility that Japan cannot achieve the INDC targets. In that case, Japan will rely on the international credits such as from the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).