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July 16, 2024
 

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ENVIRONMENT

Yukio Kani, chairman and global CEO of Jera
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024
Japan’s top power producer Jera considers IPO to fund green push
The Tokyo-based company plans to develop 20 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity by fiscal 2035.
On average between 1991 and 2020, the highest temperature in Sapporo on April 15 was 11.5 degrees Celsius, but the temperature rose above 25 degrees on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2024
Japan's Sapporo sees earliest 25C day since records began
A city known for the 1972 Winter Olympics and hosting one of the country's biggest snow festivals saw summer-like temperatures.
Signage for MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking in Tokyo. A coalition of climate groups filed shareholder proposals with the three banks calling for stricter board oversight of climate-related risks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024
Climate investors target board oversight of top Japan banks: sources
The proposal marks the first time climate groups have targeted bank boards as a way to pressure the lenders on climate change.
Japan's emissions in fiscal 2023 represents a 23% reduction from 2013 levels, but it’s still a way off from the 46% reduction the government has pledged to make by 2030.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2024
Japan’s annual emissions drop as industrial pollution shrinks
Emissions slipped 2.3% in the year ending March 2023 to 1.085 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the environment ministry said.
An Apple store in Shanghai. Apple manufactures iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam and suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024
Activists press Apple over Vietnam's detention of climate experts
Apple manufactures iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam and suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
Anne Mahrer and Rosmarie Wydler-Walti talk to journalists at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 10, 2024
In landmark climate ruling, European court faults Switzerland
Experts said it was time an international court determined that governments were legally obligated to meet their climate targets under human rights law.
Anne Mahrer and Rosmarie Wyder-Walti talk to journalists after the verdict of the court in the climate case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Apr 9, 2024
Swiss climate policy shortcomings violated human rights, top court rules
The European court's decision on the case, brought by more than 2,000 Swiss women, could have a ripple effect across Europe and beyond.
Flames blaze from a chimney at Western Europe's largest liquefied natural gas plant, Hammerfest LNG, in Hammerfest, Norway, on March 14.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 9, 2024
Banks made big climate promises. A new study doubts they work.
Researchers found a reduction in lending to sectors targeted under the pledges was the same as for banks that had not made the same commitment.
Jera's thermal power station in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, recently started co-firing coal with 20% of ammonia, a technology supported by the government's "green transformation," or GX, policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 7, 2024
Is Japan’s green transformation investing in the past or future?
Japan issued its first green transformation bonds, but the policy breathes new life into fossil fuel-based projects rather than pulling the plug on them.
A helmet jellyfish recorded at depth in the Lurefjord, Norway. The creatures experience acute physical effects from short-term exposure to suspended sediment, which could be caused by deep-sea mining.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Apr 7, 2024
The weird deep-sea world, and how mining threatens it
Demand for metals such as lithium and nickel has driven a rush to take a stake in the seabed, with Japan being a major advocate of deep-sea mining.
Drivers in California’s Marin County rely on a single hydrogen fueling station.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 6, 2024
Few stations and $200 to fill up: Life on California’s ‘hydrogen highway’
Fuel shortages and soaring prices have stalled the adoption of hydrogen cars — but proponents aren’t throwing in the towel.
If it's too hot to do much (and the costs for air conditioning continue to surge) during the day, it might be time to consider shifting the bulk of our activities to cooler nighttime hours.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 6, 2024
A solution for scorching days: Do everything at night.
Working night shifts, however, comes with a host of health problems, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
Developing nations feel that international trade rules favor developed countries and undermine their interests, particularly in areas like agriculture and fishing subsidies.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2024
Why have developing countries soured on multilateralism?
The efforts of advanced economies to link trade agreements to labor and environmental standards could disadvantage developing nations.
Climate change, with its natural disasters, is putting nuclear facilities and weapons complexes at risk.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2024
Climate change and nuclear waste are a toxic stew
Nuclear power could be a crucial part of a clean-energy transition, but not if it comes with a high risk of multiple Fukushima-like catastrophes.
3M’s Cottage Grove, Minnesota, factory had been churning out varieties of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances since the 1950s. Recent studies have linked widely used compounds within the chemical family to reduced immune response and cancer.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2024
How PFAS 'forever chemicals' affect human health
There is firm evidence that at least one of the more than 4,000 human-made chemicals called PFAS causes cancer.
Reindeer that belong to Sami herder Nils Mathis Sara, 65, run in a winter pasture near Geadgebarjavri up on the Finnmark plateau, Norway, last month.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 3, 2024
Reindeer herders battle power line needed for Norway's climate goal
The conflict illustrates the difficult choices countries must make to cut greenhouse gas emissions and power future growth.
Leftover premium-brand chocolate, originally slated for disposal, is made available for purchase at a discount in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Feb. 15, the day after Valentine's Day.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 3, 2024
Efforts to reduce food waste find support in Japan but still face challenges
Initiatives are being introduced to avoid the waste of seasonal delicacies, but challenges such as entrenched commercial customs persist.
Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns says Japan's bears feel the pressure of human presence and have learned that encountering us is not worth their time.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 30, 2024
Amelia Hiorns: 'Guiding and introducing people to Japan's nature has been rewarding'
Wildlife researcher Amelia Hiorns shares how separate interests in Japan and in bears culminated in conservation work in the mountains of Nagano.
Jacky Im, Elizabeth Chan and Kate Maco are the founders of Neptune Robotics, a firm building robots that remove debris from the hulls of ships to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 27, 2024
Underwater robots offering practical route to greener shipping
Technology that removes the algae, barnacles and debris that accumulate on ships' hulls can reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency.
Though renewable energy can significantly reduce carbon emissions, if growth remains the global economic imperative, increased energy use will prevent us from reaching decarbonization goals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2024
A call for economic degrowth
To achieve the systemic change needed to tackle the climate crisis, we must abandon GDP as the measure of social progress. This is what degrowth calls for.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
Amid same-sex marriage ban, LGBTQ couples opt for 'photo weddings'
A lesbian couple, consisting of a 35-year-old woman (left) and 40-year-old woman, cover their faces with bouquets as they pose for wedding photos in Yokohama on Nov. 1.
China and Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the Chinese port of Zhanjiang as part of a joint China-Russia naval exercise on Saturday.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.
How to tweak your diet when temperatures spike
Most people think of hydration as a strictly liquid-based concept, but eating foods with high water content is an essential part of making it through a Japanese summer unscathed.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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