Kiko Network

AnnualReport2020

Zero Coal by 2030,

One Step at a Time

Greeting2020, a pandemic year of growing momentum
toward decarbonization by 2050
Historic year, dramatic change, COVID-19 pandemic and climatechange not unrelated
We still cannot see the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also reached Japan.
Many lives have been lost and even now many people are struggling with illness and forced
to live in isolation, and there have also been serious impacts on work and our daily lives.
First off, the vaccines and various measures to fight the pandemic need to reach the world
quickly.
Many people have observed that the pandemic and climate change are not unrelated.
It seems the distribution of vaccines will not eliminate the risk of new viruses and otherthreats. A light has also been shone on the unequal impacts of the pandemic, and people are considering integrated solutions
to problems of inequality due to the economic systems that led to the climate crisis. In the context of an economic recovery fromthe pandemic, there has been a rapidly growing consensus on the need to reduce emissions. Furthermore, amid limitations onmobility during the pandemic, rapid advances have been made in new communication tools such as Zoom for online meetings.
Conventional ideas about communication are rapidly being pushed aside. This was definitely a year of dramatic changes that will
be remembered in history, reconfirming that new restrictions can also lead to new opportunities. We must use this opportunity toutilize our new realizations and reflect them in rules that consider a world that is more sustainable and considers human rights.
The shock waves have had major impacts on Kiko Network’s role and activities. We are still faced with an ongoing situation of
having no staff physically present at the Kyoto and Tokyo offices, but we adapted quickly by holding timely webinars and sendingout an enormous amount of information, including almost weekly press releases. While we also recognize the benefits of inperson meetings, I hope we can continue to benefit from these tools that let us easily connect with the world beyond the local level
in Japan through our activities even after the pandemic. We also developed anti-harassment policies, which I hope will take root.

Significant progress made in climate policy, but coal is still impeding the shift torenewable energy
In 2020 we saw important progress being made with climate policy measures in Japan and globally. The emergence of the Biden
administration in the United States, which recognizes the importance of climate policy, has had significant impacts, but perhaps
it can also be seen as a result of introspection in American society in the context of the pandemic. Similar to the trend towardmainstreaming of ESG investments, the international tide is moving toward targeting a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2030
and complete decarbonization by 2050, and we are seeing clearer indicators for the transition toward an economy that produces
greener employment in the long term. The ripple effects of all this have reached Japan too. On October 26, Prime Minister
Yoshihide Suga declared that by 2050 Japan would aim to decarbonize and be carbon-neutral. Then, on April 22, 2021, he madethe international commitment to reduce emissions by 46% from 2013 levels by 2030. We cannot say that there had been extensive
domestic debate on these topics, and the declared targets still fall short of the 1.5°C target, but admittedly, these announcements
represented a significant shift in tone.
Kiko Network has been consistently advocating for a complete domestic phase-out of coal by 2030, a halt to overseas export
policies for coal power plants, and a policy shift toward promoting renewable energy in Japan. In April 2021, after previous
breakthroughs, the Nishiokinoyama and Akita Port coal-fired power plant construction projects were canceled. The government’s
2050 net-zero declaration and the higher target for 2030 are also fruits of our activities to date.
However, coal power plants already operating or under construction are slowing Japan’s transition to renewable energy. Withthe “Green Growth Strategy through Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2050” the government continues to rely on nuclear and coal
power as baseload electricity sources, perpetuates its reliance on coal until 2050 by relying on CCUCS and DACCS, remains
unenthusiastic about renewable energy, and does not aim to use renewable energy in non-electricity sectors. In that context, ouractivities in 2019 as a shareholder, calling for a shift in financial institutions’ coal-related investment policies, bore fruit in 2020
and attracted international attention. We have high expectations for more progress in our efforts going forward.

Mie Asaoka
President, Kiko Network

Kiko Network, Annual Report 2020, CONTENTS
G r e e t i n g : 2020, a p a n d e m i c yea r o f g r ow i n g m o m e n t u m t owa r d d e c a r b o n i z a t i o n by 2050 ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ ２
O u r A c h i e v e m e n t s i n 2 0 2 0 : O n e S t e p a t a T i m e t o w a r d Z e r o C o a l P o w e r b y 2 0 3 0 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・・３

Our Activities in 2020: Building an International Framework, Promoting Climate Actions in Japan, Decarbonizing Communities, Building Capacity・・４
F i n a n c i a l R e p o r t a n d L i s t o f B o a r d M e m b e r s ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・・
Cover photos: Speakers and participants in our online seminars in 2020

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Our Achievement in 2020

One Step at a Time toward Zero Coal Power by 2030

Japan Beyond Coal campaign aims for a complete coal phase-out by 2030

Launch of Japan Beyond Coal campaign
Catching the winds of change for a global coal exit, theJapan Beyond Coal campaign was launched in Japan incollaboration with similar efforts in Europe, the UnitedStates, Australia and Korea. The campaign website went livein September 2020 (https://beyond-coal.jp/). The Beyond
Coal campaign aims to end the use of coal-fired power
generation in countries and regions around the world, witha “coal phase-out by 2030” as the common goal, to realize
a society based on sustainable energy. In Japan, Kiko
Network serves as the coordinating body, and is promoting
a coal exit together with partner organizations, posts news
and information related to coal power, and tracks thestatus of coal-fired power generation facilities in Japan in acountdown format.
In Europe, the campaign is further along and on March 25,
2021, reached the turning point for a coal phase out by 2030.
The Beyond Coal campaign is achieving steady results.

Government changes direction on coalphase out
2020 was also a year when the Japanese government
began to get moving in terms of coal policy. In July, Ministerof Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Hiroshi Kajiyama,
indicated that the ministry would be considering a newframework toward reducing inefficient coal power, and thenMinister of the Environment, Shinjiro Koizumi, decided totighten criteria for export assistance for coal power plants.
There are still loopholes, being limited to new projects andcontinuing support for projects that meet four conditions, but
this was one step forward with Japan becoming stricter inthe criteria to offer public funds for coal power plan exports.
Prior to that, Japan had been the only G7 country continuing
to do so. Then, in October, with Prime Minister Suga’s
declaration that Japan would aim to be carbon neutral by
2050, Japan at last was aligning itself with other countriesof the world.

emissions in 2050. This was the start of a significant movetoward a coal exit and emission reductions for Japan asa whole. Despite all this, no detailed roadmap has beenpresented yet for shutting down inefficient coal-fired power
plants, and it must still be noted that to reduce CO2 emissions
but also prolong the use of coal, integrated gasification
combined cycle (IGCC) and carbon capture and storage(CSS) new technology development is being promoted, as
well as co-firing with hydrogen and ammonia.

Shareholder resolutions targeting Mizuho
and MUFG financial groups
In March 2020, Kiko Network submitted a shareholder
resolution to the Mizuho Financial Group calling on it to makeits investments recognize climate risk and be consistent
with the Paris Agreement targets, in accordance with therecommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related
Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The fact that Japanese NGOs
had purchased shares of a financial institution and submitted
a shareholder resolution on climate change also attracted
international attention. The resolution failed to pass at theJune annual meeting, but shareholders representing 34.5%of the votes did support the resolution, and organizations
around the world engaged in actions targeting investors
recognized our effort.
Next, on March 29, 2021, we jointly submitted a shareholder
resolution with three individuals calling on the Mitsubishi
UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to adopt a plan to conduct
investment in a way consistent with the Paris Agreementtarget, and to disclose the details. As a shareholder our
discussions with MUFG have already begun, and as with
Mizuho last year, we are counting on these efforts to speed
the pace of financial institutions and banks adopting climate
policies.

Around the time of this declaration, Japan’s major power
utilities -- including JERA, Japan’s largest power generationcompany -- announced they would work toward zero
Shareholder resolution to MUFG annual general meeting3

Our Activities in 2020

Building an International Framework“Fossil of the Five Years” awards by Climate Action Network (December 2020)[CAPTION] CAN International（https://climatenetwork.org/resource/2020-fossil-of-the-5-years-special-paris-agreement-5-year-anniversary-edition/）

Accelerating with COVID-19.
Global dynamism of decarbonization
In 2020 COP climate meetings and many other international
meetings were canceled or postponed, but the international
dynamism for decarbonization was alive and well. Since the
COP25 Madrid conference at the end of 2019, a growing
number of countries, local governments, companies,
universities, and other bodies has made a declaration to
be carbon neutral by 2050, and in 2020 the UN Secretariat
launched the global Race to Zero campaign. In December
2012, the European Union made a submission to the United
Nations committing to raise its GHG emission reduction
target by 2030 to at least 55% relative to 1990, up from theprevious target of 40%.
Amid the economic crisis caused by COVID-19, economic
recovery has also become a major subject of debate. As partof the economic recovery strategy it is important to revert
back to pre-COVID fossil-fuel-dependent and unsustainableeconomy, but make the transition to a fair society based on
100% renewable energy. Though progress to date is certainly
not enough, policy implementation has indeed begun, as we
can see in the European Commission’s Green Recovery
pledge.
There was also big news in the world of international climate
politics. The November 2020 elections in the United States,
the world’s second largest emitter, resulted in a transition of
government from Donald Trump to Joe Biden as president.
Part of the context was a struggle in American civil societythat achieved the political shift with global solidarity. The
new president Biden hosted a climate summit in April 2021,
and his new administration has put a priority on climate
policy and diplomacy, including the topic of 2030 targets
that Trump had neglected.

for an end to fossil fuels (particularly coal), and for setting
a target for net zero by 2050. Nevertheless, in March 2020
the Japanese government re-submitted its 2030 emission
reduction targets to the United Nations unchanged, adecision that disappointed many and was strongly criticizedfor exploiting the global panic caused by the pandemic
to deflect criticism for inadequate targets. In July, Japanrevised its policies for coal infrastructure exports, althoughfilled with loopholes and still not consistent with the Paris
Agreement. In October 2020, Prime Minister Suga at lastannounced that Japan would aim to be carbon neutral by
2050, but that was long after the EU had become one of thefirst to make such a declaration, and even behind China,
which had made the declaration in September 2020 as adeveloping country. In December 2020, at “Fossil of the Five
Years” awards* marking five years after the Paris Agreement
and held online this time due to the postponement of the
COP climate meeting, the United States under Donald Trump
received the main award, although Japan continued to havean unflattering ranking as a strong “candidate” garnering
special mention.
Despite all of the above, Japan is showing signs of change.
In April 2021, timed with the Climate Summit hosted byPresident Biden, Prime Minister Suga announced thatJapan would raise its 2030 target to a 46-50% decreasein emissions compared to 2013. This reduction is still notenough to be consistent with the 1.5°C target of the Paris
Agreement, but at least it represents some progress. Goingforward, Japan must raise its targets further and accelerate
the pace of actions to achieve them. Doing so will help makeJapanese society more sustainable, equitable, and healthy,
and could also help restore Japan’s now-faded presence ininternational climate diplomacy.
*Fossil Award: Satirical awards presented to countries that are doing the mostto block progress on climate negotiations and actions. They are presented by
the Climate Action Network (CAN), one of the world’s largest climate-related

Japan fails to make up for slow action
Meanwhile, instead of showing global leadership, thegovernment made it increasingly obvious that Japan was
falling behind. Together with other members of the CANJapan climate-related NGO network, Kiko Network has beencalling for higher GHG emission reduction targets by 2030,

4

NGO networks.

Our Activities in 2020

Promoting Climate Actions in Japan[CAPTION] ATO4NEN, Now is the time to protect the future (http://ato4nen.com/)

Prime Minister’s net zero 2050
declaration
On October 26, 2020, Prime Minister Suga announced thatJapan would seek to achieve net zero GHG emissions by
2050, and also signaled a significant policy shift regarding
coal power. Kiko Network welcomed the fact that at last
Japan had reached a crucial starting point in climate policy,
but also advocated for more concrete policies consistent
with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.
The “Green Growth Strategy through Achieving Carbon
Neutrality in 2050,” announced by the government in
December, states that “It will be difficult to supply all ofJapan’s electricity demand with 100% renewable energy,” sothe aim will be to maximize the introduction of thermal power
based on carbon capture as well as hydrogen and co-firingwith ammonia, and toward 2050 to “pursue the maximum
use of thermal power” including coal. Rather than signaling
any significant change, this strategy really represents no real
shift from the status quo of coal power plant construction.
Through lawsuits and actions done in collaboration withlocal communities fighting coal power projects in Kobe,
Yokosuka and elsewhere, we have been calling for dramatic
policy changes toward a coal exit and energy shift.

Proposals to escape from fossil fueldependency
In 2020 the 201st session of the national Diet deliberated
the Energy Supply Resilience Act (Act of Partial Revision of
the Electricity Business Act and Other Acts for Establishing
Resilient and Sustainable Electricity Supply Systems), which
bundled together three bills, namely the Electricity Business
Act, the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) Act, and the JOGMEC Act. The
JOGMEC Act strengthens the powers the quasi-governmental
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, promotes
the development of coal and other fossil fuel resources, andATO4NEN "Now is the time to protect the future" campaign for revision of energy policies

is counter to efforts to right the climate crisis. We called
for the bill to be scrapped and for an end to fossil fueldependency, but it still ended up being passed.
In July 2020 METI’s Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama announced
that he would consider the “fade-out” of inefficient coal power.
Kiko Network pointed out that a “fade-out” of “inefficient
coal power” only was just a part of the big picture, and would
leave a huge amount of coal power capacity in Japan evenafter 2030. We launched the “Japan Beyond Coal” campaign
calling for a phase-out of coal by 2030, and spread the word
about the problems with coal power.

Update to Japan’s Strategic Energy Plan,
and the ATO4NEN campaign
Work to prepare Japan’s Sixth Strategic Energy Plan started
in October 2020 at a basic policy subcommittee establishedwithin the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. Kiko
Network released its own recommendations and scenario
analysis for the review of the Strategic Energy Plan,
proposing the GHG emission reduction target be set at 60%
for 2030, the target for coal and nuclear to be zero in 2030,
and the promotion of energy conservation and renewableenergy.
On December 10, 2020, ahead of the fifth anniversary of theParis Agreement, environmental NGOs such as Kiko Network
as well as citizens’ and youth groups launched a campaign
called ATO4NEN (meaning “There’s four more years, now is
the time to protect the future.”). It was timed for the revisionof Japan’s Strategic Energy Plan and National Climate Action
Plan scheduled for 2021, and called for a review of energy
policy and reduction targets to be consistent with the Paris
Agreement. We conducted a signature campaign calling forthe government to reflect these points into discussions to
update the Strategic Energy Plan. This campaign continues
to target work on the revision of the Strategic Energy Plan in
fiscal year 2021.

Recommendation Report: Japan’s Path to Net Zero by 2050
On March 19, 2021, Kiko Network released a report entitled “Japan’s Path to Net Zero by 2050.”
It is based on the critical need to halve global GHG emissions by 2030 in order to limit the global average temperature rise

─気候ネットワーク─提言レポート─

2050 年 ネットゼロへの道すじ
2030年・2040年の削減目標と政策提案

to 1.5°C, referring to science-based analysis on reduction levels in Japan to be consistent with the 1.5°C Paris target, andproposes a GHG emission reduction of over 60% by 2030 compared to 2013 (or 56% compared to 1990), and a reduction ofover 80% by 2040.

5

Our report proposes principles and reduction levels for strategies in key sectors, as well as ten key policies to achieve thereduction targets.

2021 年 3 月

Our Activities in 2020

Decarbonizing Communities, Building Capacity

OUR ENERGY × TERA Energy media announcement event (June 29, 2020)“Go To Decarbonization” seminars in 47
prefectures
We held a national online kick-off event for “Go To
Decarbonization” seminars on November 29, followed by
local seminars in Nagano, Tokushima, Nara, and Okayama
Prefectures.
This seminar series is being held to promote sustainable
and decarbonized local communities, recognizing the needto promote climate actions that reflect the special characterof communities and the need to achieve net zero by 2050
through collaboration with organizations and governmentsin each region. The aims of the seminar are to share ideas
and information about policies and search for new potential
collaboration. Going forward, we will continue planning andholding these events jointly with local groups, in the hopes of
eventually covering every prefecture in Japan.

Networking and supporting new power
producers
We have continued since 2018 to support efforts to establish
new power producers in order to activate local communities
and promote renewable energy. In 2020, to promoterenewable energy in Tokushima Prefecture, we launched the
OUR ENERGY company in cooperation with the new power
producer TERA Energy, which was established through theleadership of Buddhist monks. TERA Energy collects 2.5%of its electricity revenues for donations, and donates themto various organizations (including Kiko Network). OUR
ENERGY, as one of the recipients, is using those donatedfunds to promote renewable energy. Already donations havebeen received from many donors in Tokushima, and going
forward the plan is to use those funds to develop solar andsmall hydro power facilities.
Meanwhile, TANTAN Energy, with which Kiko Network has
been involved since it was established in northern Kyoto
Prefecture to create a new wide-area power producer, hasstarted providing electricity from 100% renewable energy in
Fukuchiyama City, for the municipal buildings, primary andmiddle school, and historic Fukuchiyama castle, etc.

“Essay for Future” children’s essay contest
Following its start in 2019, held the second round of thisessay contest for primary, middle and high school students

6on the theme of stopping climate change. We received
250 submissions nationwide, from Hokkaido in the northto Okinawa in the south (by group, primary school 82,
middle 155, high 14). From the submissions, 12 recipientswere selected for the grand prizes, awards of excellence,
future awards, and special awards. An award ceremony andpresentations were held online on November 8. This was
also an opportunity to interact to discuss how to reflect thevoices of these young persons into climate policies.

Education for climate action
Until now, the “Children’s Eco-Life Challenge” climatechange education program we have been running at schools
in Kyoto was based on in-person sessions, but that became
difficult this year due to COVID-19. As a result, we creatededucational videos in fiscal year 2020, using the year to testout a trial program in which school educators conductedsessions using the videos, we issued completion certificatesfor schools who requested them, and we conducted review
sessions. Fortunately, even in the difficult circumstances,
there was no drop in the motivation of participating children.
In fact, it was inspiring to see many reports of eco-friendly
actions being done during all the time at home.

Publication of “Energy self-sufficiency andsustainable community planning: Learningfrom environmental leader Austria”
A research group in which a Kiko Network member (staff
and director) also participates published a book with theabove title, through the publisher Showado, based on six
years of research. Providing many examples, it examines
Austria’s climate and energy policy and introduces programs
and policies from the perspective of sustainable regional
development, as well as organizations and people thatutilize them. A major feature of the energy self-sufficiency
initiatives in Austria is that the programs and organizations
are designed for local governments and communities thatare putting sustainable regional development into practice.
There are many useful references for Japan.

Collaboration and networking
We collaborated with and supported many other initiatives,
including the Power-Shift campaign, Green Alliance Japan,
and Fridays for Future groups around the country, etc.

Financial Report & List of Board Members

Financial Report & List of Board Members
Kiko Network Financial Report for 2020
FY2020 Revenues

In fiscal year 2020* there were some changes in our expenditures due
to adjustments in activities made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Category

Meeting venue and transportation costs declined, while communications

Memberships

costs increased. Revenues increased over the previous year due to increased
expectations for activities linked to the start of the implementation phase of

Donations

3,594,804

Grants72,054,664

the Paris Agreement and stepping-up of actions toward decarbonization.
Major factors affecting the increased revenues included grants anddonations. At the same time, total expenditures increased over the previous
year. Our closing balance of funds at year end was positive, but since theamount includes grants with a funding period different from our fiscal year,
a portion of the closing balance is restricted to uses in the first half of theAmount (JPY)

Honorariums, etc.

1,168,353

Contracts

27,784,207

Sales

3,940

Other revenues

107,824,669

FY2020 Expenditures

pandemic, we will strive our utmost to work toward decarbonization, maintain(*Note: Our 2020 fiscal year was from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.)

331,701

To t alnext fiscal year. As we continue to deal with the challenges of the COVID-19
stable operations, increase our supporter base, and make effective use of our
financial resources.

2,887,000

Category

Amount (JPY)

1. Program expenditures
Outreach

2,750,986

Research and advocacy

2,831,190

Network building

785,996

International negotiations and policy work
Community and NGO support

1,098,790
553,405

Grant-funded programs

55,477,190

Expenses related to the sale of securities
Contract-funded programs

398,519
28,437,432

Program subtotal

92,333,508

2. Administrative expenditures
Salaries

1,293,184

Retirement benefits

1,342,000

Travel

38,423

Communications and shipping

146,300

Supplies

163,278

Office rent

352,588

Printing

72,222

Employee benefits

157,959

Tax and public dues

29,529Other expenditures

35,975Administrative subtotal

3,631,458

3. Income taxes - current

140,000

To t al96,104,966

Revenues and expenditures

Revenue Breakdown

FY2020 results

Opening balance

39,624,366

Total revenues

107,824,669

Total expenditures

96,104,966

Closing balance (March 31, 2021)

51,344,069

Closing balance (restricted portion)

39,676,855

Closing balance (unrestricted portion)

11,667,214

List of Board Members
President Mie Asaoka

Shunichi Hiraoka
Kimiko Hirata

Kuniyasu Inoue
Takuma Kani
Hiroshi Kanda
Ayako Sakurada
Yoshitsugu Sasaki

Takako Momoi
Motohiro Yamazaki
Naoyuki Yamagishi
Juta Wada

Kenro Taura
Ken Tsuzuku
Oomi Nishizono

Auditor: Toshiyuki Ueda

Ikumi Hara

Auditor: Yoshimichi Sakakibara

Tsuyoshi Hara

Auditor: Shigenori Fukushima

As of July 2021, in random order

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Kiko Network Annual Report 2020

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Kiko Network (https://www.kikonet.org)
August 1st, 2021

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