Japan’s PM Takaichi Urged by Civil Society to Prioritize Health and Security, Stop Undermining Asia’s Climate Goals

KUALA LUMPUR – During the 3rd Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, civil society groups across Asia urge new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to stop derailing Asia’s transition to renewable energy and prolonging the use of fossil fuels. 

In a joint statement signed by 36 organizations released yesterday, groups called on Prime Minister Takaichi and ASEAN leaders to “take steps to ensure that AZEC becomes a genuine platform for accelerating the region’s energy transition future, not a vehicle to prolong fossil fuels and corporate profits.”

From March 2023 to October 2024, 217 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were signed under AZEC. Of these, 67 (nearly a third) were tied to fossil fuel technologies like hydrogen, ammonia, and LNG. Just weeks after the devastating Typhoon Bualoi caused widespread destruction and fatalities across the Philippines and Vietnam, Japan continues to prolong the use of fossil fuels despite the worsening climate crisis.

At the AZEC Ministerial Meeting on October 17, seven new MoUs were signed between Malaysian and Japanese entities covering carbon capture and storage, biofuels, and transition financing – including a memorandum of cooperation between the Malaysian government and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry specifically on CCS, despite its 50-year record of failure. The summit is expected to produce additional agreements that prioritize expensive, unproven technologies over genuine renewable energy solutions.

Asian CSOs warned in the joint statement that “instead of phasing out coal and gas, AZEC promotes dangerous distractions such as ammonia co-firing in coal plants, hydrogen blending in gas plants, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). These technologies do not cut emissions at the scale or speed required. Instead, they lock countries into long-term fossil fuel use, expensive infrastructure and debt while delaying the renewable energy transition.”

As Malaysia and Japan co-chair the summit, civil society groups call on Prime Minister Takaichi to break this pattern and redirect Japan’s significant resources and technological expertise toward supporting Asia’s massive renewable energy potential. Southeast Asia has 99% of its renewable energy potential still untapped, with the region planning to expand capacity from 33.8 GW to 397.8 GW – nearly 12 times current levels.

Signatories also urge ASEAN governments and Japan’s new leadership to steer AZEC towards supporting Asia’s transition to renewable energy: 

1. End support for fossil-based technologies such as LNG, ammonia/hydrogen co-firing, biomass, and carbon capture and storage.
2. Redirect public finance as grants toward scaling up community-based renewables, alongside energy efficiency.
3. Respect communities and ecosystems, ensuring that ASEAN is not used as an outlet for Japan’s carbon waste or outdated technologies.

FULL QUOTES

Makiko Arima, Oil Change International:
Prime Minister Takaichi faces a clear choice: continue AZEC as a greenwashing vehicle for fossil fuel expansion, or show true leadership by changing course and recognizing the enormous potential of renewable energy in Asia. One-third of AZEC agreements prop up fossil fuels and that must end immediately. Japan has the resources and the responsibility to support Asia’s renewable energy transition and that begins with PM Takaichi’s political will. 

Amalen Sathananthar, Asian Director, The Artivist Network (Malaysia)

The Petronas gas explosion in Putra Heights that injured over hundreds during Eid or the recent power outages in South Malaysia at gas powered energy plants should be a wake-up call for us Malaysians. Yet through AZEC, Japan is pushing for more gas infrastructure across Malaysia and the region. Every new LNG terminal, every pipeline expansion that AZEC finances puts more communities at risk. Japan talks about energy transition, but what they’re offering through AZEC is more of the same fossil fuel dependence that’s already harming our communities. Malaysia doesn’t need more of Japan’s gas investments; we need support for safe, renewable energy that is just and equitable for the people.

Dwi Sawung, Campaign Manager, WALH (Indonesia)I:
AZEC is not a solution for a just energy transition, but a new form of energy colonialism that ignores community rights and environmental sustainability. We reject AZEC because it disguises corporate and industrial interests as decarbonization efforts, when in fact it represents systemic greenwashing. The energy transition must begin from the needs and rights of the people, not from investment schemes that perpetuate inequality and ecological destruction. 

Muhammad Reza Sahib, Convenor, Don’t Gas Indonesia: 

Japan’s AZEC agenda is exporting false solutions that worsen, not solve, the climate crisis. In Indonesia, LNG and ammonia projects sold as ‘clean energy’ are entrenching fossil fuel dependence and sacrificing communities for corporate gain. Japan must stop dressing up pollution as progress and start supporting a people-centered, renewable energy transition rooted in justice. 

Gerry Arances, Executive Director, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (Philippines)

The Philippines loses lives to intensifying typhoons every year with Typhoon Bualoi claiming at least 37 deaths just last month. Our grief is still raw and yet Japan’s cruel response is to double down on fossil fuels that drive these super typhoons. We don’t need Japan to prolong fossil fuels through AZEC – we need real partnership that supports our transition to renewable energy.

Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator, Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development 

Japan is one of the world’s largest public financiers of fossil fuels, and AZEC is propped up to prioritize those interests over the needs of Southeast Asia. LNG, CCS, and ammonia co-firing are expensive, dishonest distractions that keep us dependent on fossil fuels while the region’s vast renewable potential remains untapped. We need genuine partnership for renewable energy development, not financial schemes that only serve Japanese corporate interests.

James Sherley, Climate Justice Campaign Specialist, Jubilee Australia Research Centre

At a time when Australia and Japan should be showing climate leadership in the run-up to COP, Australia is instead enabling Japan’s toxic fossil fuel agenda through AZEC. Prime Minister Takaichi can break this pattern by ending AZEC’s support for fossil fuel technologies, redirect resources to renewables, and show the region what real climate partnership looks like.

Hozue Hatae, Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Japan

It is unacceptable for Japan’s government and private sector to delay climate action, while harming local communities and environments, under the name of decarbonization and energy transition. Rather than imposing AZEC, a greenwashing framework, the government must immediately shift its policies. Japan must acknowledge its responsibility for historical emissions and, on a genuine path toward transition away from fossil fuels, provide grant-based support to the Global South. Now is the time to work with Asian civil societies to ensure the energy transition based on local needs and rights, not corporate profit.

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

• Oil Change International has released a factsheet that illustrates Japan’s $5.2 billion spending of public funds on carbon capture technology since 2014. 
• A recent report by Climate Analytics found that if Asian countries were to follow a high-CCS pathway, it could lead to additional cumulative GHG emissions of almost 25 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent by 2050. 
• Climate Integrate’s analysis shows that since its inception, over 200 
  memoranda of understanding (MoUs) have been signed under AZEC
• Photos from Global Day of Actions led by civil society organizations across Asia can be found here.