This is the English translation of the original text in Japanese.
March 31, 2021

Position Statement on Japan’s Mid-Term Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Target- JCLP urges the Japanese government to set the emissions reduction target of 50% andabove by 2030 to avoid climate crisis and stay competitive Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced at the Climate Ambition Summit in December 2020 thatJapan will submit a revised nationally determined contribution (NDC) by 2021 UN Climate Change Conference(COP26) to be held in November. A review is underway, led by the taskforce set up by the Ministry ofEnvironment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 1 In order to expediate the process, thegovernment recently appointed Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi as Climate Change Minister and set up
a new council of advisers.
Japan is currently at a critical juncture where it needs to clearly express to the world its level of commitment
to decarbonization. With the aim of supporting Suga administration’s leadership in setting a sufficiently
ambitious mid-term emissions reduction target, Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership (JCLLP) would like toexpress our views as follows.

Background:1. Climate change threatens security of social infrastructure essential to human and business activities
Climate change is not only responsible for many deaths and victims of record-setting extreme heat, typhoons,and floods. Climate change is also responsible for shutting down infrastructure, cutting supply chains, andcausing economic losses and financial burdens on national and regional governments in Japan. 2 In manydifferent parts of the world, climate change is also causing extreme weather events such as heat, cold waves,torrential rains, and droughts that lead to disasters like wild fires and flooding, as well as the shortage of foodand water. Leaders around the world are acknowledging climate change as a security issue and deliberating
measures. 3 Climate change threatens social stability profoundly and needs to be tackled as a ‘’crisis.’’2. Global warming should be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to avoid serious and irreversible
impacts of climate crisis.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is likely that damages from global
warming of 2°C above pre-industrial levels would be more serious than previously estimated, and that the more
the temperature nears the 2°C threshold, the more irreversible the impacts of global warming would become.4
This is why the world has begun taking actions aiming at the 1.5°C target instead of the 2°C target and manynational and local governments as well as companies started announcing targets to achieve carbon neutrality
before 2050. Governments around the world are also strengthening science-based policy-making process. 53. In order to achieve the 1.5°C target, we need to reduce emissions significantly by 2030.
According to IPCC, in order to achieve the 1.5°C target, global GHG emissions need to be decline byapproximately 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. 6 2050 carbon neutrality
alone is not sufficient to stop climate crisis. We must pay our full attention to the pathway to 2050 carbon
neutrality and strengthen measures toward 2030. 71

Proposal: We urge the Japanese government to set a domestic GHG emissions reduction target of 50%and above by 2030 from 2013 levels.
As we mentioned earlier, achieving the 1.5°C target requires approximately 45% reduction of GHG emissions
by 2030 from 2010 levels. If 2013 is used as the reference year, as the Japanese government does, about 50%of emission reduction would be needed. 8,9In addition, Japan has a responsibility as one developed nations and the largest cumulative emitters. 10 To fulfill
this responsibility, we believe that the emission reduction of “50% and above” should be pursued. Furthermore,
an ambitious target is key to express its intention to become a global leader in decarbonization.
The Prime Minister’s declaration on carbon neutrality by 2050 set off a wave of remarkable changes in theminds and actions of businesses, local governments, and citizens. We are certain that creating a clear vision
for 2030 will further accelerate the flow of goods, investments, and human and policy resources toward
decarbonization. The vision needs to be as ambitious as “50% and above”, if Japan is to stimulate the use of240 trillion yen of cash on hand and on deposit lying dormant in private companies and attract environmental
investment from abroad, which is said to amount to as much as three quadrillion yen, as pledged by thePrime Minister.
If Japan falls behind other countries, the industries that will support decarbonization at home will stagnate andJapan will be dependent on imports from other countries for decarbornization technologies and equipment, asseen in the wind power generation equipment sector. Furthermore, there are growing concerns amongcorporations that they may have to shift their operations abroad where they can more easily access meansof decarbonization. We must avoid such a situation at all cost as it will be a significant blow to the domestic
industry and employment.
Japan needs to step up now, if the country is to lead the global challenge of decarbonization and achieve greengrowth. We thus urge the government to take heed of scientific knowledge on climate change and a set a midterm target aligned with the 1.5°C target. It is with such a goal in place that the world can avert climate crisis
and Japan can remain competitive and keep the society stable.

Conclusion:
As a corporate group working on an early realization of decarbonized society, JCLP will further strengthen its
efforts to contribute to achieving the 2030 emissions reduction target of 50% and above.
We have been encouraging the Japanese government to increase the share of renewables to 50% in the 2030
power generation mix 11 and working to source more clean energy for our own operations. To push throughefforts to reduce emissions, we will henceforth expand the area of our work, for instance, to expanding the useof EV and decarbonizing heating. Keeping in mind that averting climate crisis takes the whole society, we arealso determined to strengthen our work with other stakeholders, such as industry groups, local governments,and civic societies.
End2

References
This refers to the following joint taskforce between the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry (There is no official English name): 中央環境審議会地球環境部会 中長期の気候変動対策検討小委

1員会 産業構造審議会産業技術環境分科会 地球環境小委員会地球温暖化対策検討ワーキンググループ 合同会合
2 Please refer to JCLP’s policy proposal on the review of 2030 energy mix (power generation mix), which lists a
number of examples and their references:https://japan-clp.jp/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7098c11edc0488955e1b41bc8762e890.pdf
3Some of the examples of climate change regarded as a security issue include recent meetings of the Security
Council of the United Nations and the Munich Security Conference:
The UN Security Council：https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sc14445.doc.htm
The Munich Security Conference：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow8NOR4CfJE (panel discussion on climate change and security)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/19/remarks-by-president-biden-atthe-2021-virtual-munich-security-conference/ （speech by US President Biden）
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_21_706 （speech by EU president von derLeyen）
4According to IPCC’s “Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 °C”, the risks of irreversible melting of Greenland ice
sheet as well as irreversible loss of many marine and coastal ecosystems increase with global warming to 2°C. In
addition, apart from this IPCC’s report, some scientists warn about a ‘’Hothouse Earth’’ scenario. According to thisscenario, warming of 4-5°C may be triggered by a series of tipping point phenomenon, and the likelihood of thisscenario is believed to increase with global warming of 2°C.
IPCC Special Report Global Warming of 1.5°C Chapter 3：https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/chapter-3/- Hothouse Earth paper： https://www.pnas.org/content/115/33/8252
5U.S. President Biden on January 20 signed ‘’Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment andRestoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis’’ clarifying the position that the government must be guided by thebest science. The EU climate bill stipulates the establishment of a European Climate Change Council (ECCC) as anindependent scientific body to assess whether policy is consistent and monitor progress. The U.K. has already set up
a similar monitoring body called the Committee on Climate Change (CCC)
6IPCC indicates that in order to achieve the 1.5 °C target, CO2 emissions must be reduced by 45% from the 2010
level by 2030. Also, with regard to GHG emissions, IPCC states that a reduction by 39-51% from 2010 levels by 2030
is required (No or limited overshoot, Interquartile range).
IPCC Special Report Global Warming of 1.5°C：https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15

There is an inverse relationship between a rise in temperature and cumulative emissions. ‘’Carbon budget’’ refers
to how much additional emissions can be allowed to limit the total emissions. If we fail to reduce enough emissions
along the way, the carbon budget to achieve the 1.5°C target will have been exhausted earlier.
78-Japan’s GHG emissions were 1.35 billion tons in 2010 and 1.41 billion tons in 2013.
The Ministry of Environment ‘’Greenhouse gas emissions in Fiscal 2018’’
https://www.env.go.jp/earth/ondanka/ghg-mrv/emissions/results/material/kakuhou_gaiyo_2018.pdf

There is also an analysis which indicates that Japan needs 62% GHG emissions reduction from 2013 levels to alignwith the 1.5 °C target:
Climate Action Tracker “1.5°C-consistent benchmarks for enhancing Japan’s 2030 climate target”
https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/841/2021_03_CAT_1.5C-consistent_benchmarks_Japan_NDC.pdf

9This refers to the principle of ‘’common but differentiated responsibilities’’ that acknowledges the differing
responsibilities (historical emissions) and capabilities (economic power). Developed nations such as Japan withhistorical contribution to climate change and economic power are to assume stricter responsibilities to achieve thegoals of the Paris Agreement.

10JCLP’s policy proposals on the review of 2030 energy mix (power generation mix):
https://japan-clp.jp/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/7098c11edc0488955e1b41bc8762e890.pdf
113Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership (JCLP) is a coalition of businesses (174 companies as of April 2021) thataims to create a carbon neutral society, built on the idea that decarbonisation is essential to economicdevelopment.
The group’s total sales are 137 trillion JPY (US$1.3 trillion) and electricity demand together amounts to 57
TWh representing close to 8% of the electricity demand of the industries in Japan. It was set up in 2009 toencourage the business sector to develop a sound sense of urgency on climate action.
The members share a common goal and proactively communicate with policy makers, business peers and thecivil society. JCLP remains unique in Japan in that a key focus is policy engagement around actions fordecarbonisation, aimed at both local and central governments in the country. Since April 2017, JCLP has been
the Climate Group’s Regional Delivery Partner on RE100, EP100 and EV100 initiatives in Japan.
In October 2020, JCLP issued “ the Proposals for the Review of the Long-Term Energy Supply and Demand
Outlook (Energy Mix)", calling on the government to set a target of 50% renewable electricity by 2030 to help
achieve the 2050 net zero emissions goal.
https://japan-clp.jp/en4