WNAM REPORT: Clean energy experts and climate advocates have all but accused Japan of pursuing greenwashed energy imperialism in SOUTHEAST ASIA.They argue that the government is promoting technologies that masquerade as low— or zero-carbon but in reality serve to prolong fossil fuels in the region so as to benefit Japanese business interests.
One key avenue for such an agenda, they claim, is the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), a Japan-led “platform to promote decarbonization in Asia” in the government’s own telling, through which Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is trying to consolidate his legacy of energy diplomacy in Asia.
In Jakarta this month, Kishida aims to bolster the multilateral framework and give it permanence by launching an Asia Zero Emission Center in the Indonesian capital and appointing Japanese diplomat Takio Yamada as ambassador to AZEC.
