Japan, explained.

Japan's pavilion at the venue of the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP 30, opening the same day in Belem, Brazil, and running through Nov. 21. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)

A quiet moment at Japan's pavilion for the COP30 climate change talks in Belém, Brazil (Kyodo News via Getty Images)

Japan lost its climate leadership – and now Australia can help

Japan’s largest supplier of coal and LNG has just pledged to transition from fossil fuels – creating both tension and opportunity.

Richard Neumann

3 December 20254 min read

One of the major developments at COP30 in Brazil was Australia signing the “Belém Declaration to Transition from Fossil Fuels”.

What does this mean for relations with Japan, Australia’s largest energy export market?

Japan has played a pivotal role in the development of Australia’s resources industry from iron ore in the 1960s to being the foundation customer of the North West Shelf gas project in the 1990s and still regards LNG as the cornerstone of its energy security.

I first visited Japan at the turn of the century. It was like going to Disney’s Tomorrow Land. The Shinkansen was the fastest regularly operating high-speed train in the world. The Toyota Prius had the world’s most efficient vehicle power train. Japan had shown leadership in climate change negotiations, hosting COP3 in 1997 that adopted the Kyoto Protocol.

But then Japan lost its climate change mojo.

In one word, the reason was “Fukushima”.

Japan switched off its nuclear power plants after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Despite a fleet of Nissan Leafs turning up to stricken communities to provide power and emergency responders, Japan had to ration electricity, even creating a new summer dress code, and in the years after went slow on the renewable energy transition and electric mobility.

Panasonic was the original battery supplier to Tesla but Toyota sold its Tesla shares and doubled down on its “plug-free” and plug-in hybrid technologies, as well as hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles which barely register on global sales charts.

Japan’s fixation on hydrogen is illustrated by the request by Japan’s ambassador to Australia, Kazuhiro Suzuki, at his 12 November 2025 National Press Club address, to sequester captured carbon dioxide from imported LNG into depleted Australian oil and gas fields. Similarly, Japan has been slower than South Korea in deploying solar panels, betting on thin-film perovskite solar cells that are still in the early stage of development, instead of rapidly deploying super cheap silicon-based solar PV to replace fossil fuels now.

So what can Australia do to help Japan decarbonise?

The first approach would be to encourage Japan to be a foundation customer and investor in future mineral and metal ore processing in Australia powered by renewable energy. Green metals and minerals could then be exported to Japan for further processing and value adding into batteries, magnets, power electronics, robots, ships, vehicles and wind turbine parts, industries of the future.

For example, 90% of the energy used to make steel is expended in the initial iron making process which could be done in Australia. Meanwhile, 90% of the value of steel comes from final fabrication, which could be done in Japan to meet customer demand.

The second idea would be to urge Japan to prioritise electrification, powered by renewable energy, including the rapid deployment of silicon-based solar PV – incorporating Australian technology – and offshore wind, possibly even through the joint development of floating offshore wind platforms which both our countries need. Japan’s focus on hydrogen fuel cell technology has ceded its first-mover advantage to China and South Korea where original equipment manufacturers are accelerating the electrification of all forms of ground transport.

If Japan electrified its vehicle fleet, it would slash fossil fuel use and could even enable the country to regain the lead in power electronic technologies like vehicle-to-grid.

A retrofitted banana boat in Solomon Islands with an electric outboard (DFAT, used with permission)

The third area is to work with Australia in supporting regional decarbonisation. Japan is the largest energy donor in both the Pacific and Southeast Asia, the two priority regions for Australia’s overseas development assistance.

Too often Australia and Japan’s objectives are at loggerheads.

In Southeast Asia, Australia’s main energy goal is to support the development of an ASEAN grid by 2045 to expand the potential customer base for new renewable energy projects given existing take-or-pay thermal power arrangements make it difficult to launch new projects.

On the other hand, Japan has been selling surplus LNG it contracts from Australia and encouraging countries to add ammonia to their energy mix, requiring new infrastructure that usually has a 20-year payback period.

Australia should encourage Japan to put the bulk of its US$8 billion Asia Zero Emission Community financial support into projects that support the development of an ASEAN grid powered by renewable energy.

In the Pacific, Australia has a $75 million off grid renewable energy program, trialling the retrofit of outboard motors with battery electric kits from Australian company eClass Outboards and is entering into strategic energy partnerships. Australia should urge Japan to back the region’s goal of 100% renewable energy, including by supplying battery electric vehicles and outboard motors like the Yamaha HARMO through its regional network of distributors, enabling banana boats to be electrified.

While Japan will continue to make its own energy decisions in its national interest, Australia can help Japan regain its climate change mojo and slow global warming.

About the author

Richard Neumann

Richard Neumann is Chair of the Smart Energy Council Pacific Working Group and a member of the Advisory Council of the Franco-Australian Centre for Energy Transition at Swinburne University.

Topics

Japan Australia Climate & environment Energy & resources