Spotlight Activity: Tokyo Metropolitan Government-Private Fund Loans to Coal-Fired Power Plant
On March 20, 2018 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced that the public-private fund invested 3 billion yen (28 million dollars) for a coal and biomass coal-fired power plant. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government had received a high evaluation worldwide by launching its cap-and-trade program. In 2016 FY, it reduced by 120 thousand tons of CO2 compared with the previous year. However, the operation of this plant will increase of CO2 by about 4 times the amount of the previous reduction. In addition, it has also joined the C40 (Cities Climate Leadership Group) and was expected to demonstrate initiatives in collaboration with cities around the world to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. This investment contradicts the environmental policies of a city where the next Olympics will be held, and swims against the stream of decarbonization.
Status: Falling Behind
The Paris Agreement asks countries to decarbonize. Since coal-fired power generation emits huge amounts of CO2, building this new plant obviously goes against the Paris Agreement.
The Tokyo Governor, who was also a former environmental minister, should ask for the fund to withdraw its investment in the coal-fired power plant. You can send the following message to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Contact information below:
The investment of the government in a coal and biomass coal-fired power plant contradicts the environmental policy in a city where the next Olympics will be held, and swims against the global effort to decarbonize economies. We ask the public-private fund to withdraw its investment in coal-fired power. Instead, the fund should invest in renewable energy where profitability is expected in Japan in the future.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike
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