Japanese businesses welcomed a new international climate change agreement adopted in Paris on Saturday as giving a lift to sales overseas of their energy-saving technologies and products.
The deal represents a very significant historical step because it involves all greenhouse gas emitters, Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, better known as Keidanren, said in a statement.
Japanese businesses pin high hopes on potential demand in developing countries for their advanced technologies to boost the energy efficiency of coal-fired thermal power plants.
Many developing countries, for example India and Indonesia, are highly reliant on coal-fired thermal plants as a major source of electricity. Rival companies in the United States and Europe are less interested in selling such technologies.
The Japanese government and businesses think promoting exports of domestically produced energy-saving technologies will contribute to global emissions reduction efforts.
Japan’s industrial sector has a goal of reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 6.5 percent by 2030 from 2013 levels.
Under its fiscal 2008-2012 voluntary environment program, Keidanren set a goal of curbing the annual average of the industrial sector’s carbon dioxide emissions below fiscal 1990 levels.
It achieved a 12.1 percent reduction from fiscal 1990 levels, marking a bigger than expected improvement thanks to intensive efforts to boost production efficiency and energy saving.
The latest 6.5 percent reduction target is also achievable, a Keidanren official said.