Published by
Climate Integrate
March 2024

Japan's Spending Plans for
Climate and Energy
Unpacking Japan's National Budget for Fiscal 2024

日本政府の気候・エネルギー予算とGX投資の現状
2024年度の気候・エネルギー予算と3年間のGX投資の分析

Contents

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy
Unpacking Japan’s National Budget for Fiscal 2024
Key Findings

03

Ⅰ.

04

Ⅱ.

Climate and Energy within the Fiscal 2024 Budget
01 Climate/energy budget overview

04

02 Climate/energy budget breakdown (by ministry)

05

03 METI and MOE climate/energy budgets

05

04 Climate/energy budget breakdown (by category)

06

Green Transformation (GX) Budget

08

01 Scale and current status of 10-year GX budget

08

02 GX budget breakdown (by category)

09

03 GX public and private investment plan for 10 years vs

12

04 GX Economy Transition Bonds issued in February 2024

13

III.

Disclosure of Government Budget Information

16

Ⅳ.

Conclusions

17

current tally

The size of government budgets and the steady implementation of upfront investments by governments
are crucial factors in promoting policies and measures relating to climate and energy.

On January 16, 2024, Cabinet approved the government of Japan’s budget for 2024.1,2 The budget

also incorporates GX（Green Transformation) investments funded by GX Economy Transition Bonds under
the policies to promote a GX (On GX, see our report).

This report summarizes and examines the overall picture of the Japanese government’s 2024 climate/energy budget3 and current tallies for the GX investments for 2022 to 2024.

1
2
3

2

I n this report, budget references are for the Japanese government's fiscal year. For example, fiscal 2024 starts April
1, 2024 and ends March 31, 2025.
Ministry of Finance “FY2024 Budget Government Draft” (in Japanese) nalysis of a national budget is a daunting task. In this report, we define “climate/energy budget” as the totalAof funds budgeted for projects/programs we deem to be related to climate and/or energy. We include climate
mitigation and energy, but exclude the following: budget items where only a portion is used for climate/energyrelated activities; carbon sequestration in forests; contributions to international organizations; climate observation;
climate adaptation; and the Special Account for Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Due tomethodology, our climate/energy budget totals may differ from published government numbers.
Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

Key Findings
Below are our main findings from compiling data we were able to obtain from official
announcements and documents as well as direct inquiries to the relevant ministries.
•

Of the total government budget of 113 trillion yen ($750 billion, $1=150 yen) for

2024, the total climate- and energy-related allocations amount to 1.75 trillion yen($11.7 billion), only 1.6% of the national budget. GX promotion measures accountfor 34.4% (603.6 billion yen) of the climate/energy allocations. The Ministry of

Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) accounts for more than 70% of the climate/energy allocations. Of the climate/energy allocations, just three categories (energy

efficiency; fossil fuels; and cross-sectoral, which includes subsidies to secure power
generation sites, GX Promotion Organization expenditures, etc.) account for 60%,
while renewables account for less than 10%.
•The GX budget for 2024 was halved from the 1.26 trillion yen budget request ($8.4
billion) to 603.6 billion yen ($4 billion), significantly less than the total of 2.97 tril-lion yen ($19.8 billion) for 2022 and 2023. Requests by the relevant ministries for the
categories of housing/buildings (148.4 billion yen), automotive (141.7 billion yen),and semiconductors (107.8 billion yen) were completely declined.
•

More than one-third of the GX budget for 2024 is related to battery storage.

•

Regarding fossil fuels, the budget for the Special Account for Energy Measures

allocates a large amount to that category every year, but very little of the GX-related
funds for 2022 to 2024 have been allocated. This suggests that while the govern-

ment still aggressively funds fossil fuels, it is attempting to present GX in a positive
light in order to gain acceptance for GX from institutional investors.
•

If the government continues to invest in GX on the same scale as in the three years
2022 to 2024 (total 3.58 trillion yen), the total will come to about 12 trillion over 10
years, far short of the 20 trillion pledged by the government.

•

There are significant disparities in the budget allocations by category for GX in-vestments in 2022 to 2024 compared to the allocations of government investment
and public-private investment planned for the next decade. Notably, government
investment for renewables is extremely low relative to the 10-year plan.

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy3Ⅰ . C limate and Energy within
the Fiscal 2024 Budget

01

4

Climate/energy budget overview
Based on our compilation from official documents, the total budgets for climate and energy come to 1.75 trillion yen as part of the government’s 113 trillion budget for 2024. That
represents only 1.6% of the national budget. The GX budget (603.6 billion yen), account-ing for 34.4% of the climate/energy budget, is financed by GX Economy Transition Bonds.
More than one-third of the GX-related allocations for 2024 relate to battery storage.

Fig. 01

Fiscal 2024 climate/energy budget(incl. GX budget)
GX battery
storage�,���（��％）Non-GX��,���（��％）GX cross-sectoral�,���（�％）GX renewables���（�％）
GX other�,���（�％）Units: billion yen
Prepared by Climate Integrate based on government data

44T otal of climate/energy-related budgets in the government’s 2024 budget. The numbers include
budgets related to climate mitigation and energy, but do not include budgets where only part of
the amounts is used for climate/energy-related activities and budgets for carbon sequestration
in forests, contributions to international organizations, climate observation, and climate
adaptation
Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

02

Climate/energy budget breakdown (by ministry)
Of the total climate/energy budget (1.75 trillion yen), the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry (METI) accounts for the largest share (72%), followed by the Ministry of theEnvironment (MOE) (10%), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(8%), and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (6%).

Fig. 02

Fiscal 2024 climate/energy budget(by ministry)
MOD ���（�.�％）NRA ���（�％）MEXT �,���（�％）Cabinet ���（�.�％）MIC ��（�.�％）

MLIT
�,���
（�％）

MOE
�,���（��％）METI ��,���（��％）Units: billion yen* Full names of ministries
METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), MOE (Ministry of the Environment), MLIT (Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), NRA(Nuclear Regulatory Agency), MOD (Ministry of Defense), Cabinet (Cabinet Oﬃce), MIC (Ministry of Internal Aﬀairs andCommunications)Prepared by Climate Integrate based on government data

03

METI and MOE climate/energy budgets
METI and MOE stand out with the largest shares of the national climate/energy budget,
although METI’s share is around seven times that of MOE. In most climate/energy

categories, METI’s amounts are larger than MOE’s, and its fossil fuel-related budget(including hydrogen, ammonia and CCUS) is particularly large. MOE’s share of the budget

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy5is allocated to categories such as cross-sectoral items (mainly local decarbonization),energy efficiency, and resource recycling.

Fig. 03

Fiscal 2024 climate/energy budget(METI/MOE)
Units: billion yen

�,���Ministry of the Environment (MOE)

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

�,���
�,���
�,���
�

Fossil fuelhydrogenammonia/CCUS

04

Crosssectoral

Battery
storage

Energy Renewables Nuclear Resource
eﬃciency
recycling, etc.

Prepared by Climate Integrate based on government data

Climate/energy budget breakdown (by category)A breakdown (inner circle in Fig. 4) of the government’s total climate/energy budget for2024 (1.75 trillion yen) includes the cross-sectoral category at 21% (grants for power

generation siting, funding for GX Promotion Organization, etc.),5 energy efficiency (21%),
fossil fuels6 (20%), nuclear (14%), battery storage (13%), renewables (8%), and resource
recycling (2%). In the energy efficiency category, a large share is allocated to housing/

5

6

6

 ithin the cross-sectoral category, the main areas in the GX budget include the Fund for GX
W
Promotion Organization (120 billion yen), startup support (41 billion), and local decarbonization
promotion subsidies (6 billion). Meanwhile, in the cross-sectoral category other than the GX
budget, funds are mainly allocated to three broad categories (power generation siting (76billion), local measures (63.6 billion), and international cooperation (20.6 billion), as well as
financial and carbon markets (57 billion), and other cross-sectoral areas (35.6 billion).
The fossil fuels category includes budgets for ammonia, hydrogen and CCUS.
Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energybuildings, aviation/shipping, and automotive.

In the battery storage, aviation/shipping, cross-sectoral, and renewables categoriesof the total budget figures, funds are mainly allocated under the GX budget (purple

sections in outer circle in Fig. 4). Meanwhile, in the fossil fuels, nuclear, housing/buildings,
and automotive categories, funds are mainly allocated under the Special Account forEnergy Measures budget, while the proportion under the GX budget is smaller.

As a result, the three categories of energy efficiency, fossil fuels, and cross-sectoral

account for 60% of the overall climate/energy budget for 2024, while renewables get lessthan 10%.

Fig. 04

Fiscal 2024 climate/energy budget(by category) 7
Budget under Special Account for Energy Measures and General Account
GX budget

GX resource recycling �.�%Resource recycling �%

GX renewables �%

Crosssectoral ��%

Renewables �%Battery
storage �.�%GX nuclear �%

Resource
recycling �％

GX battery
Renewstorageables
��% Battery

storage��％

Nuclear��%

GX fossil fuels �.�%Nuclear��％�％

Crosssectoral ��％

GX crosssectoral��%
Housing/buildings
�%EnergyFossil fuels��％

Fossil fuels ��%

eﬃciency��％Aviation/shipping �%

GX aviation/
shippingt �%

Automotive �%

Other energy eﬃciency �%

GX other energy eﬃciency �%Prepared by Climate Integrate based on government data

7

I n the outer circle of the graph, segments marked “GX” are under the government’s GX budget,
while segments without "GX" are budgeted under the government’s Special Account for Energy
Measures and the General Account.
Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

7Ⅱ. G reen Transformation (GX)
Budget
The following is a summary of the GX components within the climate/energy budget for2024 as described in Section 1.

01

Scale and current status of 10-year GX budget
The government plans to invest 20 trillion yen as upfront investment for the 10 years from2023 onward (the government includes the 2022 supplementary budget in this amount)using GX Economy Transition Bonds (sovereign bonds), bringing total investment,
including private sector funds, to more than 150 trillion yen by 2032. GX-related

investment by the government so far includes 2.97 trillion yen implemented in 2022 and2023. Combined with the 603.6 billion in the 2024 budget, the total for the three years
comes to 3.58 trillion (Fig. 5).

If investment continues at this pace, the total will come to about 12 trillion yen over

10 years, well short of the 20 trillion pledged by the government. With regard to the 150

trillion yen as the combined total of public and private investment, no roadmap to attract
the private investment portion (130 trillion) has been presented.

In fact, the 1.26 trillion yen indicated for GX promotion measures in 2024 at the timeof the budget request (announced August 2023), ended up being halved to 603.6 billion in
the draft budget (announced January 2024) approved by Cabinet after consultations with
the Ministry of Finance. Some amounts in the budget request were completely absent

from the draft budget, including housing/buildings (148.4 billion yen), automotive (141.7

billion), and semiconductors (107.8 billion). In other categories, significant reductions (toone-half or one-third) were made in the process of going from budget request to the draft
budget. For example, from 498 billion yen to 230 billion for battery storage, from 117.1

billion to 63.3 billion for renewables, from 91 billion to 32.7 billion for energy efficiency inthe manufacturing industry, and from 25.6 billion to 8.9 billion for hydrogen, etc.

As for other major countries, the U.S. government has pledged the equivalent of 50

trillion yen in decarbonization investments over 10 years (ave. 5 trillion yen annually),
and the German government 33 trillion yen over 4 years (ave. 8 trillion yen annually).
In comparison, GX investments pledged by the Japanese government are small at 20
trillion yen over 10 years (ave. 2 trillion yen annually). With such a large disparity, it
will be challenging for Japanese industry to become internationally competitive indecarbonization markets.

8

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

Fig. 05

Scale of GX investments over next 10 years vsgovernment GX funding FY2022-2024

Govt GX investments for next
�� years
�� tril yen(Funding source: GX Bonds)

Public and private
GX investments
for next �� years
Over ��� tril yen

GX budget (FY����-����)�.�� tril yen
GX budget (FY����-����)�.�� tril yen

Prepared by Climate Integrate based on government data

02

GX budget breakdown (by category)
The following is a breakdown of the GX budget, by category.

As a breakdown of 20 trillion yen of upfront investment over the next 10 years, theJapanese government has signaled that it will spend 6 to 8 trillion for non-fossil energy,
9 to 12 trillion for industrial transformation and energy efficiency, and 2 to 4 trillion forresource recycling and carbon fixation technologies, etc.

However, when we calculated the amount of GX-related government investments for2022 to 2024 based on official data, we found that a large share has been allocated to theindustrial transformation and energy efficiency category, which is inconsistent with theoriginal allocations for 20 trillion yen (Fig. 6).

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

9Fig. 06

Comparison of allocations of GX investments
in 10-year plan vs three years
Non-fossil energy

Industrial transformation, energy eﬃciency

Resource recycling, carbon ﬁxation technologies, etc.

�-� tril yen

Other support for R&D and deployment

��� bil yen

Government
GX investment
next �� years
�� tril yen
�-� tril yen

�.� bil yen
���.�
bil yenGovernment
GX investment
FY����-�����.�� tril yen

�-�� tril yen

�.�� tril yen

Prepared by Climate Integrate based on government data

In addition, we find that the government’s actual GX investments (by category) for

the three years 2022 to 2024 as percentages of the 10-year amounts are only 3.1% for

non-fossil energy, 22.7% for industrial transformation and energy efficiency, and 0.3% forresource recycling and carbon fixation technologies (Table 1).

As one can see, while the government’s GX investments in 2022-2024 have prioritizedbudgets for industrial transformation and energy efficiency, investments have been

low in non-fossil energy, and in resource recycling and carbon fixation technologies.

At this pace, investments by category are a far cry from what the government has said
it will spend over the next 10 years. Thus, it is uncertain whether Japan will realize

the appropriate budget allocations and scales of investment needed to accelerate thecountry’s energy transition.

10

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

Table. 01 Government’s GX investment plan (10 years) vs actual (2022-2024)
Category

Expansion of
non-fossil
energy(A) Govt support FY20222024 (actual)(C) Public and private
investment
for next decade217.6 bil yen(% of achievement for B:
3-4%)

6 - 8 tril yen

60 tril yen +2.38 tril yen(% of achievement for B: 2026%)

9 - 12 tril yen

80 tril yen +8.5 bil yen(% of achievement for B:
0.2-0.4%)

2 - 4 tril yen

10 tril yen +• Nuclear (145.4 bil yen)
• Renewables (63.3 bil yen)
• Hydrogen (8.9 bil yen)

• Battery storage (827.4 bil
yen)Transformation•
Semiconductors (536 bilof industrial
yen)
structure on
both supply• Corporate energy
andefficiency (372.7 bil yen)demand sides • Daily life (Housing/& Drasticbuildings) (326.9 bil yen)reinforcement•
Automotive (273.6 bil yen)of energy• SAF (27.6 bil yen)efficiency• Shipping (9.4 bil yen)
• Regional (9 bil yen)

Resource
recyclingandcarbonfixationtechnologies
etc.

(B) Govt support for
next decade• Resource recycling (8.5 bil
yen)• Support for demand
expansion of hydrogen andammonia• R&D of new technologies
related to renewables
etc.

• Energy efficiency and fuelconversion for structuralreform and improving
profitability in the
manufacturing industry• Nationwide measures
addressing domesticenergy demands which
achieve drastic energy
efficiency• R&D of new technologies
etc.

• R&D and implementationof new technologies
etc.

• Massive introduction ofrenewables• Nuclear energy (R&D ofinnovative reactors, etc.)• Hydrogen, ammonia
etc.

• Energy efficiency andfuel conversion in the
manufacturing industry(e.g., steel, chemicals,
cement, paper,automotive, etc.)• Digital investment for
decarbonization• Establishment of battery
industry• Structural transformationof ship and aircraft
industries• Next-generation
automobiles• Housing and Buildingsetc.
• Resource recycling
industry• Bio manufacturing
• CCS
etc.

967 bil yen• R&D by GI Fund, etc. (806Other support bil yen)for R&D and• Funding for GX Promotion
deployment
Organization (120 bil yen)
• Start-up assistance (41 bil
yen)
Totals3.58 tril yen

20 tril yen

Over 150 tril yen

Prepared by Climate Integrate based on government data

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

11

03

GX public and private investment plan for 10 years vscurrent tally
In terms of the projected public and private investment of more than 150 trillion yen overthe next 10 years, the breakdown indicated by the government (largest to smallest) is

automotive (34 trillion), renewables (31 trillion), daily life (housing/buildings) (14 trillion),semiconductors (12 trillion), hydrogen, etc. (7 trillion), and battery storage (7 trillion) (Fig.
7).

The government’s investments in those seven categories for the 2022 to 2024 periodamount to the following: automotive (273.6 billion yen), renewables (63.3 billion), daily
life (housing/buildings) (326.9 billion), semiconductors (536 billion), hydrogen, etc. (8.9billion), and battery storage (827.4 billion) (Table 1). Compared to public and private

investment projected for the next 10 years, current government investment in renewables
has been extremely low, while a large amount of investment has already been made innuclear and battery storage (Fig. 7).

As for aviation, steel, chemicals, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), GX budgetary

allocations have been relatively small to date, but the government plans to use funds

from GX Economy Transition Bonds to provide tax credits based on production volume forthese areas as well as electric vehicles.

Public and private investment for
the next 10 years (by GX priority category)�� Trill yen

��%

��

��%
��%

��

�%

��
��
��

�%
�%
�%
�%

Ne

Av

CC

S
ia
tio
n
St
Ch ee
em l
ic
Re
Sh alssoiurce ppi
re ng
cy
cl
in
Nu g
cl
ea
r
Pu
lp
S
an AF
d
pa
pe
Ce r
m
en
t

�
�

% of achievement of bar by
FY����-���� Govt support (dots)

��%

��

decade (bars)
xt Automgen
re otiv
(H
ne
e
ou
w
si
ng D ableSe /bu aily sm ild lif
ic in eon gHy du s)dr ctoor
Ba gen s
tte
,e
tc
ry
.
st
or
ag
e

Public and private investment for next

Fig. 07* The dots do not include 'Other support for R&D and deployment' (��� bil), 'Corporate energy eﬃciency'(��� bil) and 'Regional' (� bil) in Table �(A), where GX priority category is unknown or not applicable. Of
the 'Corporate energy eﬃciency' (���.� bil), ��.� bil was divided equally to Steel, Chemicals, Pulp andpaper and Cement, based on use of the budget concerned.

Prepared by Climate Integrate based on the government’s investment strategy (p.11) and website

12

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and EnergyAs one can see, there has been a significant disparity so far in the government’s GX

investments in terms of budget allocations by category, compared to both government

investment and public-private investment projected by the government for the next 10 years.

04

GX Economy Transition Bonds issued in February 2024
The first GX Economy Transition Bonds (1.6 trillion yen) were issued in February 2024.

Proceeds will be used for GX investments budgeted in FY2022 and 2023. Of the 1.6 trillion
yen, 756.4 billion is to be used for R&D under the Green Innovation Fund (GI Fund), 137
billion for R&D outside the GI Fund, and 715.5 billion for subsidy programs (Table 2).8

However, the allocation amount for seven projects under the GI Fund (362.4 billion, 23%of the 1.6 trillion) had not been determined before the issuance (Fig. 8).9

While investments to be made by GX Economy Transition Bonds include unproventechnologies such as ammonia co-firing in coal-fired power plants, the initial bondissuance in February did not include ammonia co-firing.

The GX components of the 2024 budget are expected to be covered by GX Economy

Transition Bonds to be issued subsequent to February 2024.

Fig. 08

Breakdown of GX Transition Bonds(Feb 2024 issue)

Energy transition �%

Gl Fund allocation
not yet determined

To bedecided��%

Carbon recycling�%Powersemiconductor �%
Cross-sectoral

Decarbonization of thermal
processes in the
manufacturing industry, etc.
��%
Expansion of cleantransportation, etc.
�%

Total
�,���.�
billion yen

Storage battery
industry ��%

Digital investment
for decarbonization
purposes, etc. �%
Innovative energy-eﬃcientequipment for housing, etc.
�%Prepared by Climate Integrate based on JCR data (p.28)

89

 apan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) “Climate Transition Bond Pre-issuance Verification Report”
J
February 6, 2024 (p.2-4, Annex 4 p.28)
JCR “Climate Transition Bond Evaluation Results” February 27, 2024 (p.28)
Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

13

Table. 02 GX Economy Transition Bond (Climate Transition Bond) allocations(1) GI Fund

Budget Program
year
type
2022
2023

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

2022

R&D

Subtotal of GI Funds

Programs eligible for allocations(including some candidate programs)

Sector

1. Development of next-generation solar cells (Expansion ofdemonstration scale of perovskite solar cells)

Allocation(planned)(billionyen)Electricity

15.0Electricity*1

3. Building a large-scale hydrogen supply chain(Demonstration of hydrogen power generation technology(high co-firing (equal or greater than 30%)) using large gas
turbine)Electricity

15.0

Transport

5. Development of next-generation ship (development of zero
emission ship)

30.6

Transport*1

Transport*1

Heat
Manufacturing

256.4

2. Lowering the cost of offshore wind power generation(Development of common infrastructure related tointegration of wind turbines, floating structures, etc. infloating offshore wind power, floating offshore wind power
demonstration project)

4. Development of next-generation aircraft (development ofelectric aircraft)

6. Development of fuel manufacturing technology using
CO2 etc. (Development and demonstration of control
technology that responds to raw material fluctuations insynthetic fuel (transportation fuel) production)

7. Hydrogen utilization in the steelmaking process (Expansionof demonstration scale of hydrogen reduction ironmaking
technology)

Heat
Manufacturing

32.5

Electricity and heat
Manufacturing*1

Electricity and heat
Manufacturing

*1

Waste

44.5

Waste
Manufacturing (Chemical)*1

8. Decarbonization of thermal processes in the manufacturingsector
9. Building a large-scale hydrogen supply chain(commercialization demonstration of liquefied hydrogen/
MCH supply chain, research and development ofdehydrogenation technology from ammonia for large-scalehydrogen transportation)
10. Hydrogen production through water electrolysis using
electricity derived from renewable energy, etc.
11. Achieving carbon neutrality in the waste and resource
recycling field

12. Development of plastic raw material manufacturing
technology using CO2 etc.

13. Promoting carbon recycling using CO2 as a direct raw
material using bio-manufacturing technology(subtotal amount of *1, which has not yet been determined the amounts to be allocated)

Manufacturing(Chemical)

*1
756.4

(362.4)* 1：Detailed plans for these seven programs have not been determined at the time of verification. The actual allocation results of
GI Fund will be disclosed in the post-issuance Reporting on the allocation of proceeds

14Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy(2) R&D other than GI Funds

2022

R&D

14. Among the post-5G information and communication
system infrastructure reinforcement research anddevelopment projects, research and development of
future technologies that are essential for realizing GX
such as optoelectronic convergence

2022

R&D

15. Innovative GX technology creation project

2023

R&D

16. Fast reactor demonstration reactor development project

2023

R&D

17. High temperature gas reactor demonstration reactor
development project

ICT

75.0

Transport
Electricity and heat

49.6

Electricity

7.6

Electricity and heat

4.8

Subtotal of R&D other than GI Funds

137.0

Subtotal of Non Eligible R&D Program (No. 15)

49.6

Subtotal of CBI Eligible R&D Programs (No.1-14, 16 and 17)

843.8

Total of R&D Programs

Budget Program
year
type

(3) Subsidy program

2022

2022

2022

Subsidy

Subsidy

Subsidy

893.4

Programs eligible for allocations(including some candidate programs)

CBI sector
criteria

18. Among the support projects for strengthening the
supply chain of important materials in response tochanges in the economic environment, the project
supports strengthening the semiconductor supply
chain for use in renewable energy components, EVs,
electrified rail systems, storage batteries, powertransmission and distribution systems, to achieve GX by
improving power performance.

1. Solar v2.3
2. Wind v1.3
3. Low carbon transport(Rev2.2)
4. Electrical Grids andStorage (March 2022)

19. Among the support projects for strengthening supply
chains for important materials in response to changes inthe economic environment, support for strengthening
supply chains for manufacturing storage batteries,
which are essential for a green society.
20. Project to promote the introduction of advanced
equipment to improve the insulation performance ofhouses21. Energy saving investment promotion/demand structuretransformation support project subsidy. Energy
efficiency improvement of SME to Large Corporate
factories

2022

Subsidy

2022
2023

Subsidy22. Subsidy to promote the introduction of clean energy
vehicles (BEV, PHEV, FCV)

2023

Subsidy23. Commercial vehicle electrification promotion project2023

Subsidy24. Subsidy for promoting regional decarbonization(independent line microgrid project subsidy)

Subtotal of CBI Eligible Subsidy Programs (No.18-20, No. 22-24)
Subtotal of non CBI Eligible Subsidy Program (No.21)

152.3

331.6

Buildings (White list for
Low Carbon Building
Technology Rev1.0)

100.0

No CBI sector criteria
available

25.0

Low Carbon Transport(Rev.2.2)

90.0

Low Carbon Transport(Rev.2.2)
Electrical Grids andStorage (March 2022)

13.6
3.0

690.5
25.0

Total of subsidy programs
TOTAL program amount

1. Low Carbon Transport(Rev2.2)
2. Electrical Grids andStorage (March 2022)

Allocation(planned)(billion
yen)

715.5

1,608.9

Prepared by Climate Integrate based on JCR data (p.2-4)

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

15Ⅲ. D isclosure of Government
Budget Information
In analyzing the government budget this time, we referred to the documents released byeach ministry, but as described below, we were unable to accurately grasp climate/energy
budgets.
•

At the point in time when the government announces the draft budget (typically in
December, for the new fiscal year starting in April), it does not provide a compila-tion of the climate/energy budget of the government as a whole. Every year, MOE
publishes its compilation of the government’s draft budget, focusing on global

warming countermeasures,10 although its methodology differs from that of Climate

Integrate. For about a decade until 2021, MOE published its numbers in February or
March each year, but since then has published in June, which leaves a gap of up to
six months when it is difficult to grasp the actual climate/energy numbers.

•

The names and amounts of budget line items often do not match between thebudgets listed for each ministry’s budget briefing materials versus detailed budget-ary accounting statements, so the consistency between the two is unclear. Often no
explanation can be obtained even by directly contacting the relevant ministry. This
all makes it difficult to ascertain the exact amounts and to confirm consistency ofthe data presented in different official documents.

•

In the case of budgets that include multiple purposes or programs, budgets andfinal spending reports fail to specify climate/energy amounts (e.g., funds related
to the “Green Food System Strategy” under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries; cultural and educational facilities maintenance under the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; defense equipment under the
Ministry of Defense; local GX promotion under the Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications).
•

In official GX-related documentation, the classifications of target areas for GX in-vestments change with updates every few months, resulting in inconsistencies anddifficulties in matching GX investment amounts between documents.

10

16

Ministry of the Environment “Budget for Global Warming Countermeasures” (in Japanese)
Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and EnergyAs described above, this report is an attempt to organize and analyze information

to the best of our ability in a situation where it is difficult to fully grasp the actual status,
so we ask readers to please note these limitations when using this information. Climate

Integrate assumes responsibility for any discrepancies, omissions, or misunderstandings
we have made of the actual situation.

To enable a more accurate grasp of the actual situation, the government is urged

to further improve the transparency of information disclosure and provide data in moreuser-friendly formats.

Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy

17

Ⅳ. Conclusions
As outlined at the Key Findings in this report, based on our efforts to compile datafrom the Japanese government’s public announcements and documentation as well
as direct inquiries to ministries, the climate/energy budget for 2024 accounted for

only 1.6% of the total national budget, while allocations for renewables came to lessthan 10% of the climate/energy budget. Also, the GX budget for 2024 was halved fromthe budget request (1.26 trillion) to 603.6 billion yen, and ended up with significant

reductions from the total of 2.97 trillion for 2022 and 2023. In addition, we discoveredthat budgets for fossil fuels are largely allocated to the Special Account for Energy

Measures rather than GX investments, which suggests that while the government still

aggressively funds fossil fuels, it is attempting to present GX in a positive light in orderto gain acceptance for GX from institutional investors.

Again we emphasize how difficult it has been to accurately ascertain the amountsof climate and energy budgetary allocations based on official announcements anddocuments. For these reasons, we urge the government to further improve thetransparency of information disclosure and provide this crucial data in more userfriendly formats.

“Japan’s Spending Plans for Climate and Energy”
Climate Integrate is an independent climate

policy think tank in Japan. Through integrated
approaches to connect scientific, political,

and social dimensions, we support actions for
decarbonization by civil society, business andthe public sector.

Climate Integrate
March 2024

Written by: Hiroaki Odawara, Kimiko Hirata,
and Tatsuko Sato

Designed by: Yasuyuki Sasaki
climateintegrate.org