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The Global Days of Action during the AZEC Summit shows that civil society across the Asia-Pacific is watching and organizing to stop Japan from derailing the region’s energy transition. From grassroots activists to parliamentarians, from frontline communities to researchers, a regional movement demands AZEC live up to its "zero emissions" name.

Japanese-funded Batang coal power plant threatens the livelihoods of communities in Indonesia.

Wet’suwet’en First Nation hereditary leaders filed a formal complaint against the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for financing LNG Canada, a massive fossil gas project that depends on a pipeline built without their consent, on their unceded land. Despite these violations, the project was completed and recently began commercial operation. 

Tokyo is hosting the “Japan Energy Summit” this week, from June 3-5th. Even in the hyperbolic world of high-level meetings, this summit has lofty ambitions. It promises to accelerate “Japan’s energy transition through innovation and global connections.”

Japan is continuing to drive the expansion of fossil fuels across Asia and is derailing the transition to renewable energy. This harms communities and ecosystems, undermines energy security, and worsens the climate crisis. The facts speak for themselves.

This week sees two crucial energy meetings in Japan, a country which remains one of the most prominent financiers of fossil fuels.

“Kimiko’s courage and leadership in undertaking pathbreaking actions to influence Japan and address the climate crisis are an inspiration,” said Susanne Wong, senior campaigner with Oil Change International and facilitator of the No Coal Japan coalition.

Next summer's Olympic Games are at risk due to heatwaves and there’s one story Japan likely doesn’t want out there: the fact that it’s currently one of the world’s biggest supporters of coal.

The message in today’s Asian Financial Times is simple: climate leaders don’t fund coal.