Recommendations
ofthe EU-Japan Business Round Tableto Leaders of Japan and the European Union
5 November 2020
Working Party 4
Environment and Sustainable Development

Working Party Leaders:Dr. Mark PleškoPresident
Cosylab Inc.

Mr. Norihiko Ishiguro
Senior Executive Vice President
NEC Corporation

Working Party 4: Environment and Sustainable Development
EU-Japan BRT 2020 Recommendations Report
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As indicated in the “Position Paper of BRT on the current COVID-19 pandemic”
issued on May 25, 2020, the global community is facing unprecedented challenges
as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. BRT urges EU and Japanese
governments to continue working together closely to take the lead in implementing all
possible policies—including urgent economic measures—to create “a better newnormal.” We believe this “better new normal” should be green, sustainable, resilientand inclusive and that it should be realized by securing employment and promoting
industrial innovation. We also encourage both governments to take measures thatbalance prevention of the spread of infection and economic revitalization. As
industries in the EU and Japan, we will continue our efforts to promote the realizationof these activities.
Global warming issues are being discussed as the greatest concerns at recent summit
meetings and international conferences. In particular, concrete discussions formeasures against greenhouse gases (GHG) have started through the EU's “EuropeanGreen Deal" and Japan's "The Long-term Strategy under the Paris Agreement".
European and Japanese industries welcome the leadership of both authorities and will
endeavor to realize a sustainable society by working together with both authorities topromote measures against global warming through innovation based and partlydisruptive technologies, while at the same time aiming to achieve economic growthand job creation for the well-being of the society.

Recommendations from both
European and Japanese industries
WP-4/#01/EJ to EJ: Measures and policies of both authorities against globalwarming
The BRT calls on EU and Japanese Authorities to:continue to act proactively as global leaders in the midst of efforts of each country
to mitigate global warming.

use mitigation of global warming as enabler for realizing economic growth and theexpansion of employment opportunities and to ensure that their measures (suchas Japan’s The Long-term Strategy under the Paris Agreement and The
European Green Deal) will NOT lead to stagnation of corporate investments inR&D and capital, to protectionist trade, and to stifling of innovation. In view of this,
we believe that the potential impacts and implications of the application of a carbon
border adjustment mechanism, which is currently being discussed by the EU,should be carefully assessed and need to be fully understood.

find technologically and economically viable options and take a flexible approach
towards achieving an ambitious target for a decarbonized society.

prioritize material recovery over energy recovery (incineration).

Working Party 4: Environment and Sustainable Development
EU-Japan BRT 2020 Recommendations Report
Page 2 of 5formulate policies and implement measures after sufficient and careful dialogue
with the industries in order to make the measures economically sustainable andsuccessful.

The BRT believes that:

it must respect EU’s and Japan’s continuous efforts to reach their nationallydetermined contributions (NDC) to mitigate global warming.
it is difficult to overcome climate change problems through a mere extension ofconventional efforts, and that the creation of industry-led disruptive innovation isessential. The only way to achieve ambitious climate targets for 2030 and topromote a circular economy is close joint collaboration aiming at reducing thecomplexity of market entrance (especially for strategic sectors as waste andenergy) as well as simplifying and accelerating the administrative processes to get
permission for new investments and technologies.

WP-4/#02/EJ to EJ: Support for and issues in sustainable finance
The BRT calls on the EU and Japanese Authorities to:facilitate international collaboration among governments, financial market
participants, and companies, implement effective mechanisms that arecompatible with market-economy criteria and that are applicable across national
borders throughout the entire value chain. When aiming for sustainable economicactivities, we therefore request both authorities to take the following factors into
consideration:
 Careful consideration of the balance with other SDGs factors, in addition
to environmental aspects, in judging the applicability of sustainablefinance.
 Comprehensive study of multiple factors, such as feasibility anddissemination potential of technologies and products.
 Evaluation of environmental load from the point of view of the entire value
chain, including production, distribution, use, disposal, recycling andreuse, for individual sectors, but also for the economy as a whole.
 In particular, the European taxonomy criteria currently underconsideration by the European Commission (technical screening criteria)
should be formulated in full consideration of the above mentioned points.
Japan should also actively contribute to the creation of the European
taxonomy and take an active part in the IPSF (International Platform onSustainable Finance) as much as possible.
 Bringing the circular economy into the mainstream of the discussion andshifting the focus from waste to resources management, aiming at
avoiding waste from the beginning.

The BRT believes that:

Working Party 4: Environment and Sustainable Development
EU-Japan BRT 2020 Recommendations ReportPage 3 of 5a mechanism for sustainable finance that aims to promote private investments toachieve a sustainable society is extremely important.

sustainable finance should encourage the necessary investments not only inactivities aimed at realizing a low-emission society, but also for activities aimed atsolving issues caused by urbanization.

sustainable finance should also encourage investments aimed at enhancing
resilient infrastructures that are fundamental for daily life, social, and economicactivities.



Finally, sustainable finace shall aim atrealizing an efficient and stable society thatis based on an appropriate energy mix.

the funding areas and incentives must be consistent and in line with environmental
policy priorities.

to achieve the ambition for a zero-emission economy, technologies often
characterized as bridging technologies such as hybrid trains, combined-cycle
power generation, HEVs, and PHEVs will continue to play an important role forsome years to come, mainly due to the fact that sufficient time is needed for R&D,
production and to achieve the necessary market maturity. As stated in the"Concept Paper on Climate Transition Finance Principles" released by theJapanese government, the importance of the transitional and enabling technology
should be recognized in order to achieve the objectives of sustainable finance.

WP-4/#03/EJ to EJ: Utilization of digital technology for the realization ofa sustainable society
The BRT calls on the EU and Japanese Authorities to:

promote policies to introduce and utilize innovative digital technologies forrealizing a sustainable society. Specifically, we request both authorities to review
and introduce taxation systems, laws, and regulations that encourage companies
to make investments in R&D and capital.
take leadership and strive to strengthen cooperation with businesses towards theestablishment of the detailed framework (Osaka Track) agreed at the Osaka G20meeting in 2019.
continue to cooperate closely in ensuring safety against crime, terrorism, andvarious incidents, and to accelerate safe, secure, and sustainable urbandevelopment. A good example for the development of smart cities is the use of
FIWARE, the evolving, open-data utilization platform developed throughEuropean initiatives that enable IT vendors to freely add new services to an open
Application Programming Interface (API).
promote the utilization of AI by putting the highest priority on compliance withrelevant laws and regulations in each country/area and on respect for humanrights. We also request both authorities to cooperate with private sector inestablishing and implementing policies and guidelines aimed at preventing andaddressing human rights issues. We request both authorities to avoid

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introducing regulations that strongly and negatively impact or even suppress
technology development and utilization in areas, such as AI, IoT, blockchain,biometrics etc.
The BRT believes that:the utilisation of innovative digital technologies can make very significant
contributions to dealing with and solving problems and challenges, such as
climate change, pollution, energy, material and water consumption, as well as
natural disasters.
in particular, considering the fact that the strengthening of laws and regulations
can sometimes hinder innovation, it is essential to harmonize laws andregulations with risk-frame approaches, such as self-regulation and/or codes bybusinesses.
efforts to create smart cities by aiming at the solution of social issues throughdigital transformation have entered a new era. We believe that cross-border andcross-domain data utilization while enhancing data security and privacy toaddress social issues is necessary from the point of view of comprehensiveoptimization.

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