Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Japan Carbon Frontier Organization (JCOAL) appears to have active and negative engagement on climate and energy policy in Japan. It appears to strongly support a continuous role for coal in the energy mix than advised by the IPCC.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: JCOAL appears to have negative top-line messaging on climate change. InfluenceMap did not find any recent evidence on JCOAL’s positions on top-line messaging on climate change, however on the Clean Coal Day website accessed in August 2022, it emphasized that carbon-neutral does not mean to “stop using” fossil resources, but to balance CO2 emissions and absorption, without clear communication on the need for drastic actions to combat climate change. In the Policy Recommendation document, published in March 2024 and submitted to Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Environment (MOE), JCOAL supported carbon pricing with the exception that care must be taken to ensure that they do not significantly impede industrial activities and hinder competition.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: JCOAL has ambiguous position on, or engagement with, climate-related regulations. In a policy proposal submitted to MOE and Agency of Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) in January 2023, JCOAL emphasized the importance of burden should be borne by the entire nation rather than having to borne by the particular industry, for implementation of emissions trading and carbon tax.
Positioning on Energy Transition: JCOAL appears to have negative positions on the energy transition. JCOAL is a member of the Resources and Fuel committee of the METI, and has been advocating for the continued role of coal in the energy mix in Japan. In December 2023 meeting, JCOAL appeared to advocate for a slower paced low-carbon transition in Asian countries, emphasizing that phase out of coal thermal power cannot happen immediately in these regions. In June 2024 meeting, JCOAL appeared to advocate in favor of a policy that would support hydrogen produced from coal without clear conditions related to CCS or mitigating emissions. In September meeting and November 2024 meeting, JCOAL appeared to advocate for a continued role for coal in the energy mix, requesting the government that the importance of coal be clearly positioned in the 7th Strategic Energy Plan which sets path for energy policy in Japan. In a policy proposal handed to METI and MOE in March 2024, JCOAL advocated for the role of coal in the energy mix, dependent on the deployment of low carbon technologies such as ammonia / biomass co-firing or combination with CCUS technology. However, it has not clearly or specifically supported a reduction in the role for coal in line with the IPCC’s predicted role for the fuel type and technology. In the same position paper, JCOAL also appeared to support continuous development and government back-up of investment for continuous stable supply of resources such as coal.
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.