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Japan’s opportunity to lead

Nature Climate Change volume 9, page 492 (2019)Cite this article

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To the editor — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe penned an op-ed1 in the Financial Times last September, inviting other countries to ‘Join Japan and act now to save our planet’. As hosts of the G20 Osaka summit, Japan is highlighting climate change and sustainable development. The government also promotes green slogans like ‘Cool Earth 50’ and ‘Hydrogen Society’. However, to display true leadership on climate change, Japan must match its actions with its rhetoric.

Japanese leaders, unlike some of their counterparts in the United States and Australia, have consistently accepted the reality of human-centred climate change. In the 1990s, Japan was an energy conservation leader and played an important role in early climate change negotiations. Japanese industry has significant advantages in green technologies. For example, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba International are leading producers of geothermal power plants, and Japan pioneered the ‘top runner program’ to improve energy efficiency in consumer products.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel Aldrich

  2. Department of Political Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Phillip Y. Lipscy

  3. Department of Political Science, Drake University, Des Moines, IA, USA

    Mary M. McCarthy

Authors
  1. Daniel Aldrich
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  2. Phillip Y. Lipscy
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  3. Mary M. McCarthy
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Correspondence to Phillip Y. Lipscy.

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Aldrich, D., Lipscy, P.Y. & McCarthy, M.M. Japan’s opportunity to lead. Nat. Clim. Chang. 9, 492 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0510-0

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