2020: Is Japan a Climate Leader

Klimawandel und Ökologie
The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 18 | Issue 3 | Number 2 | Article ID 5340 | Feb 01, 2020
Mit freundlicher Erlaubnis von Japan Focus

Is Japan a Climate Leader? Synergistic Integration of the 2030 Agenda

Andrew DeWit

Abstract
In recent years, Japan has been labeled an “environmentally backward country.” Yet Japan’s integration of decarbonization and allhazard-resilience is more advanced than critics generally admit. The evidence shows that, when compared to its peer countries, Japan is achieving significant climate mitigation and adaptation via a multilevel industrial policy. Moreover, Japan’s synergistic integration of mitigation and adaptation to climate is important for the 2030 Agenda, which comprises the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction. That is not to say Japan’s present pace of reductions in emissions and waste, increased resilience against climate and other hazards, and performance on other metrics is sufficient to meet the goals of the 2030 Agenda. However, the evidence assessed in this paper suggests that Japan deserves closer scrutiny for potential lessons in collaborative, cost-effective and equitable mitigation and adaptation.


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