Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to establish common rules to promote decarbonization in Asia, according to a draft joint statement for the upcoming Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) summit. The summit, chaired by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, will take place in Laos on Friday.
The main focus of the meeting will be on promoting the establishment of rules for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. This cooperation between Japan and ASEAN aims to strike a balance between decarbonization efforts and economic growth.
Prime Minister Ishiba’s visit to Laos from Thursday to Saturday marks his first foreign visit since taking office. He will attend an ASEAN-related summit meeting and host the AZEC meeting during his stay.
The AZEC framework was proposed by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2022 as a means to achieve decarbonization in Asia. Currently, Japan, Australia, and nine ASEAN members participate in this framework (excluding Myanmar). This upcoming AZEC summit will be the second meeting following last year’s gathering held in Tokyo.
According to the draft joint statement, it emphasizes the importance of simultaneously achieving three goals: climate change action, economic growth, and stable energy supply.
Given that many countries in Asia heavily rely on coal-fired thermal power generation, each country’s circumstances will be taken into account during discussions at the meeting. The shared principle is that diverse paths can be followed towards their respective goals.
Concrete measures for the next decade are outlined in a draft action plan accompanying this joint statement. These measures include creating and expanding markets that value efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to addressing emissions from business activities, cooperation will also focus on challenging sectors such as agriculture, forestry, transport – where decarbonization is particularly difficult – as well as promoting sustainable aviation fuel technologies.
Japan plans to propose cooperative measures utilizing its technological capabilities. These may involve support through official development assistance for renewable energy generation projects or improving power transmission networks. Waste-to-energy technology deployment could also improve public health outcomes.