Japan to urge moving ahead with ‘green’ GDP indicator – draft

By Takaya Yamaguchi

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan plans to call for moving ahead with a new “green” gross domestic product (GDP) indicator that will reflect the country’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a draft of its annual economic policy outline seen by Reuters showed.

The government will make a mention of moving forward with the safe restart of nuclear power plants, the draft of the long-term policy outline showed.

Tokyo has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 46% in 2030 compared to 2013 levels, for which it needs to make a massive push into decarbonisation.

The policy outline will call for expanding production of electric car batteries and building more charging station, as well as setting up more hydrogen stations.

The government seeks to meet a goal of having electric vehicles account for all new car sales by 2035, the draft showed.

The government’s policy outline will be the first to be compiled under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and serve as a basis for future economic policy-making. It is expected to be finalised upon cabinet approval early next month.

Kishida last week laid out a plan to issue an estimated 20 trillion yen ($157 billion) worth of “green transition” bonds to help finance investment to achieve a carbon-neutral society.

The Japanese premier said the country would need at least 150 trillion yen in combined private- and public-investment in the next decade to achieve a carbon-neutral society.

($1 = 127.4600 yen)

(Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi; Writing by Daniel Leussink; Editing by Sam Holmes)