Just Transitions in Japan

概要

This report outlines key issues for a just transition in Japan. Despite its status as a high-emitting nation and international criticism for reliance on fossil fuel power generation, Japan has only explicitly engaged with just transitions thinking to a limited extent. Nevertheless, the impacts of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on adjacent host communities, plus recent experience of difficulties faced by former coal-mining municipalities, show awareness within Japan of how energy and sustainability transitions may disproportionately affect less empowered people or places. Given Japan’s location in the Asia-Pacific region and the resource constraints it faces, understandings of how just transition thinking can develop in Japan may be of significant value to other industrialising (or decarbonising) nations.

The report first reviews existing understandings and interpretations of a just transition in Japan. Japan’s core climate change plan makes reference to the need for a just transition in the context of protecting jobs and regional economies during the net-zero transition. There is a groundswell of engagement by local governments on decarbonisation, with the aim of attaining net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. NGOs emphasise the importance of fossil fuel and nuclear power sector workers’ jobs, and support for municipalities who rely heavily on revenue from thermal power stations.

The second part of the report reviews regional challenges and opportunities, as they relate to the vision for decarbonisation laid out by Japan’s national government.
Available regional data indicates that more rural regions such as Hokuriku and Tohoku may have a higher proportion of the labour force involved in activities such as thermal power generation, steel manufacturing and petrochemicals refining, and that the largest workforce in carbon-intensive sectors in absolute terms may be located close to major urban centres of Kanto and Kansai. Conversely, regions such as Hokuriku, Tohoku and Kyushu may be best placed to benefit from net-zero jobs in renewable energy infrastructure, with opportunity to retrain or re-deploy existing workers and infrastructure. Further fine-scale data and better understanding of skills is needed to understand opportunities and challenges with certainty.

The third part of the report evaluates a case study of just transitions at a local level: Yubari City in Hokkaido, where a rapid phase-out of coal mining in the 1970s and 80s resulted in a loss of income in municipal bankruptcy. Yubari’s efforts at sustainable urban planning and the work of third sector organisations since offers an illustration of how the lived environment can be transitioned to a more sustainable form.

The fourth section looks at jobs and skills required for climate adaptation and resilience. Jobs related to resilience, e.g. infrastructure upgrades, new-build or retrofit of climate-resilient housing, public health, may provide another pathway to a just transition for regions that may have less opportunity for net-zero jobs.
Potential environmental and biodiversity concerns associated with wind energy, carbon capture and storage, port expansion and decommissioning of thermal power infrastructure are also reviewed.

The report finishes with recommendations across sectors. National and local governments are recommended to foster opportunities for exchange and mutual learning between localities facing similar challenges; and to ensure that municipalities in areas with heavy reliance on carbon-intensive activities are given the skills and resourcing to be able to respond early and comprehensively. Industry and labour unions are recommended to develop finer-scale audits on the skills and characteristics of workforces for sectors such as thermal power workers;and to explore potential for skills passports and certification in new industries such as wind turbine maintenance. Non-governmental and third sector organisations are recommended to engage pro-actively with new renewables developments, especially offshore wind, to ensure strong local content in terms of jobs and economic uplift; and also to collaborate with locally-based NGOs, who may be better placed to initiate difficult conversations on just transitions in localities where carbon-intensive activities may be an important component of local identity. The report also identifies further research needs around finer-scale assessment of jobs and economic impacts and opportunities associated with decarbonisation in Japan (i.e. at prefectural or municipal level); and for ethnographic and in-depth research into how communities respond to the phase-out of thermal power infrastructure, by focusing on areas currently or soon to face the closure of thermal power plants.