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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2022

Ex-Goldman vice chair Kathy Matsui fears ESG in Japan still a 'box-ticking exercise'

Many firms and people in Japan still consider ESG a "box-ticking exercise,” resulting in cases of greenwashing, according to former Goldman Sachs Japan vice chair Kathy Matsui.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2022

Honda joins Ford by selling green bonds in electric car push

Companies and governments are rushing to the green bond market to finance all kinds of environmentally-friendly initiatives.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 23, 2022

Climate forecasters warn of a ‘global wildfire crisis’

The likelihood of extreme, catastrophic fires could increase by up to one-third by 2050 and up to 52% by 2100, a new United Nations report estimates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2022

EU proposes rules to make companies undertake human rights and ethics checks

Firms will have to make sure that their suppliers are not using forced labor or child labor, and are not guilty of inadequate workplace health and safety, among other things.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2022

Japan money managers shun local market when placing ESG bets

The country's four largest ESG funds have put at least 95% of their net assets in foreign stocks as of this month.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2022

Activists demand stop to Japan-funded coal plant in climate-vulnerable Bangladesh

Climate campaigners said the project contradicts Japan's commitment, made with other wealthy G7 nations last May, to end funding for 'unabated' coal power overseas by the end of 2021.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 20, 2022

Japan needs more than a carbon tax and green fund to achieve net zero

Environment Minister Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi says the country needs 'investment for future prosperity, not just for plugging in the country's deficits.'
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 17, 2022

Invest in nature and reap cash benefits, World Economic Forum urges cities

A nature revival project, carried out in the early 2000s, has lowered traffic, flooding and temperatures, stimulated nearly $2 billion in urban redevelopment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 14, 2022

Green push ending 150-year tradition of bank passbooks in Japan

The country's largest bank will soon require new clients to pay u00a5550 a year for a passbook in a bid to encourage them to embrace digital services.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 13, 2022

EU shipping plan leaves millions of tons of carbon dioxide unregulated, study says

With about 90% of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 13, 2022

Japan needs a major carbon tax hike, former vice minister says

Rintaro Tamaki, a former Finance Ministry official, says a 'price signal' would help the government change people's mindset on green issues.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2021

2022 will be a critical year for Japan’s security

In recent years, new dangers have emerged such as pandemics, the threat to vulnerable supply chains, cyber attacks and the undermining of democracy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 28, 2021

As miners chase clean-energy minerals, tribes fear a repeat of the past

Mining interests have long overrun tribal rights in Idaho, and as the Biden administration seeks to start a revolution in renewable energy, tribes worry about the past being repeated.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2021

How 2021 became the year of ESG investing

Major wins for ESG investors pushing for changes at companies this year included the replacement of three directors at Exxon Mobil.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2021

U.S. toughens auto-emissions standards once scorned as weak

The move will help U.S. President Joe Biden fulfill his Paris Agreement pledge to at least halve the nation's greenhouse gas releases by the end of the decade.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2021

Will closer monetary-fiscal policy coordination lead to fiscal dominance?

As yield curves are already so flattened, central banks may need to rely more on reducing their holdings of government bonds to prevent an inversion of the yield curve.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 10, 2021

'Silent financier': How Bangladesh's poor are paying the costs of climate damage

As climate change disasters and losses surge around the world, the world's poorest, who can least afford it, are paying the bulk of the costs.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Dec 9, 2021

Meet the new climate refugee in town: coyotes

Drought and heat waves are not only fueling catastrophic wildfires in California, they're also driving wildlife into the streets in search of food and water.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 7, 2021

The ugly and expensive plan to bring green power to China’s mega-cities

Bringing green power to densely populated commercial centers requires thousands of kilometers of ultrahigh voltage power lines, audibly buzzing with electricity.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 1, 2021

China’s rising ultranationalism complicates Xi’s climate ambitions

There's a battle over the climate change narrative between those pushing for green reforms and those who view the measures as bending to demands from hostile Western powers.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 20, 2021

South Korea's beaches face threat from development and rising seas

Economic expansion is chewing away at some of the country's most popular beaches — a trend exacerbated by climate change, which has brought rising water levels and unpredictable weather.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 19, 2021

Brazil's Amazon deforestation hits 15-year high, undercutting state pledge

Brazil's space research agency, INPE, recorded 13,235 square kilometers of deforestation in the world's largest rainforest, an area nearly 17 times the size of New York City.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 14, 2021

Elab wants you to opt-in to a circular economy

Operated by a group of young creative professionals, elab — a portmanteau of “laboratory” and erabu, meaning “to choose” — encompasses a kitchen, a living laboratory and a rooftop garden.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 10, 2021

Indonesia recruits farmers and teachers to battle anti-palm oil sentiment

The government wants to highlight the positive side of the industry, which employs over 15 million Indonesians and generates around 13% of the country's exports.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Nov 10, 2021

India’s battle against heat shows stakes of COP26 climate talks

It will take decades for COP26 measures to have a tangible impact on temperatures. In the meantime, countries like India have to learn to deal with heat that's already baked in.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 9, 2021

Obama tells COP26 to help poor nations as he chides China and Russia

The failure of rich nations to help developing countries has fueled mistrust, which creates a major obstacle to progress in cutting emissions.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Nov 8, 2021

Protesters expose the stark reality of climate progress at COP26

The message from the thousands carrying placards around the venue of the meeting is one most insiders would agree with: The progress is still not enough to avoid catastrophe.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 5, 2021

China, India and other big coal users missing from COP26 phase-out deal

Some of the biggest coal-dependent nations were notable in their absence from the pledge to consign the most polluting fossil fuel to history.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.