We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
Climate Lobbying Overview: Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan (SAAJ) appears to have a limited direct engagement with climate policy in Japan. SAAJ appears to have neutral position on top-line messaging, however, it appears to be negatively engaged with jet fuel taxation.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: SAAJ appears to have neutral position in its top-line messaging on climate policy. In May 2021, SAAJ suggested that efforts are being made to reduce CO2 in operations and airports, in response to the Japanese government’s 2050 carbon-neutral target, however, it is unclear if their position is consistent with IPCC demanded emissions reductions. In the same statement, SAAJ has mentioned the Green Growth Strategy in Japan, yet their position towards it remains unclear. SAAJ has not expressed a clear position on the Paris Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: SAAJ appears to have limited recent engagement with climate-related regulations. In its annual meeting paper published on the website in March 2021, SAAJ appeared to take no clear position on the carbon tax. In the committee held by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Tourism in April 2022, SAAJ appears to support Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) incentives to promote the technological development. In the Press Release published in November 2021, SAAJ recognized the importance of reducing CO2 emissions without taking a clear position on GHG emissions targets.
Positioning on Energy Transition: SAAJ appears to have negative positions on the energy transition. In the Tax Reform Request for FY2022, published in December 2021, SAAJ appears to have advocated for continuous exemptions from the fossil fuel tax, arguing that it needs mitigation measures considering the impacts of COVID-19. This position appears to be repeated in the tax reform from 2020 and 2019. At the same time, in the same document, it also appeared to support the transition from using fossil fuels to SAF, and urge the government to address the domestic production of SAF.
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 Q4 2022.