Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Lobbying Overview: Central Japan Economic Federation (CJEF) appears to have engaged negatively on a number of climate-related policies in Japan, while holding some mixed positions on energy efficiency and renewable energy policies. It has stated support for high GHG emission energy resources such as coal and LNG to secure the stability of energy supply.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: CJEF appears to have both positive and negative messaging on climate change. CJEF appeared to communicate broad support for efforts towards increased GHG emissions reductions in a comment published in Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun in July 2024. In addition, in its position paper on the 2024 tax reform published in September 2023, CJEF supported a system to make sure carbon is priced into the economy on the premise that it should contribute to economic growth. No evidence was found on CJEF’s position on the Paris Agreement. In the position paper on the 2025 tax reform published in September 2024, CJEF appeared to support a weaker carbon pricing and emphasized that the ”burden must not be disproportionately placed on certain industries”.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: CJEF appears to have positive engagement with climate-related regulations. In the Green Transformation (GX) position paper submitted to the Cabinet Secretariat in January 2023, CJEF supported renewable energy legislations - supporting continuous implementation of Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) and governmental support for off-shore wind in Japan. In addition, in the position paper on the next Strategic Energy Plan published in September 2024 and submitted to Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), CJEF supported energy efficiency incentives and investment policy.
Positioning on Energy Transition: CJEF appears to hold negative positions on the energy transition. In the position paper on the next Strategic Energy Plan published in September 2024 and submitted to the Japanese government including METI and MOE, CJEF called for the government to clarify the position of thermal power in the future energy mix, and appeared to advocate for the continued use of coal and gas stating, “it is necessary to consider a combination of highly rigid LNG and flexible coal procurement to build an appropriate thermal power portfolio”. In a press conference held in July 2024, CJEF president Mizuno supported “new/replacement and maximum utilization of existing nuclear plants” but seemingly to accompany thermal power generation in the next Strategic Energy Plan.
In the position paper published in September 2024, CJEF appeared to generally support ammonia without clarifying the need of decarbonization of production. In its position paper on the tax reform plan published in September 2024, CJEF appeared to seek tax incentives for hydrogen vehicles without specifying the production method or the need for full decarbonization as well as appearing to weaken the policy for Carbon Neutral Investment Promotion Tax Scheme.
In its position paper titled ‘Towards Building Sustainable Logistics”, published in December 2023 and submitted to the Central Japan transport bureau, CJEF advocated for a “modal-shift” to low carbon transport with an ambiguous position on the definition of low carbon transport. In the policy paper published in September 2024 titled “Promoting social implementation of carbon neutrality”, CJEF advocated for support in increasing renewables including wind power as well as storage batteries to assist its increase whilst appearing to advocate for investments and other systems that would support hydrogen used for light-duty vehicles, without stating its production method or the need to decarbonize hydrogen production.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q1 2025.