Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
EN Summary Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) engages on climate policy with a mix of positive and negative positions. It appears to hold positive top line messaging in support for government led investment and regulation, and have promoted energy efficiency and renewables legislation, as well as the long term role for nuclear in the energy mix. However, it also appears to be unclear on the overall levels of ambition of these countermeasures against climate change. Furthermore, it has advocated for the continued role of fossil fuels in the energy mix.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: JCCI’s top-line messaging in their recent engagement with climate policy is mostly positive in their support for government led investment and regulations, however, it is unclear in their positioning on the increased ambition of these measures. it has stated support for government responses to climate change and has occasionally stated the need for greater ambition in these responses. Comments by President Kobayashi in February 2025, praised the Cabinet Decision of "GX (Green Transformation) 2040 Vision ", "The 7th Strategic Energy Plan (SEP)", and "Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures " in creating realistic pathways for decarbonization in Japan but did not touch on the need for increased ambition. In its October 2024 Position Paper on the 7th Strategic Energy Plan, JCCI appeared to support increased government led investment and financial incentives to respond to climate change, such as GX Economic Transition Bonds and the GX League. However, its position on the need for other forms of regulation or government intervention remained unclear.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: JCCI appears to have limited and mixed engagement with climate-related regulations where it appears to hold positive positions on energy efficiency and renewables legislation, but appears to not be in favour of carbon tax and emissions trading. JCCI’s policy request in October 2024, supported energy efficiency incentives and investment policy, specifically aimed at supporting the decarbonization of small and medium enterprises. In the same policy request, JCCI appeared to not support a carbon levy, pointing to an excessive burden on small and medium enterprises . This was also given as the reason JCCI appeared to not support emissions trading in the policy request. In its October 2024 position paper, JCCI appeared to advocate for further government support in developing renewable energy technology and promoted the expansion of renewable energy as the main power source.
Positioning on Energy Transition: JCCI demonstrates inconsistent positions on the energy mix, where it appears to support nuclear energy but are often ambiguous in their position on the rest of the energy mix, or even appear to not support the transition away from fossil fuels. In comments by President Kobayashi in February 2025, JCCI supported nuclear but without a clear position on the energy mix in general. JCCI in their November 2024 policy request supported the long term role for nuclear, but was unclear as to how it saw nuclear with regard to a full transition towards a zero emission energy system. President Kobayashi commented again in February 2025, supporting the expanded procurement of LNG for energy security, emphasizing the importance of energy security. Furthermore, in their position summary on the revision of 7th Strategic Energy Plan, JCCI advocated for the continued role of coal without CCS in the energy mix, as well as increased production of oil and gas, and maintenance and renewal of thermal power facilities.
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 Q3 (August) 2025.