Japan emissions drop by 18.4% in fiscal 2020

Teenagers march through the streets of Kyoto on April 22 to call for stronger measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions decreased by 5.1 percent, or 62 million metric tons of CO 2 equivalent, from fiscal year 2019 according to preliminary figures released by the ministry on December 10.

It was the third biggest year-on-year drop since fiscal 1990 when the ministry began keeping records.

A ministry official said that the decline was due to the economic slowdown caused by the COVID 19 pandemic.

Emissions from the industry sector fell by 8.3 percent, or 32 million metric tons of CO 2 equivalent, while those from the transport sector fell 10.2 percent, or 21 million metric tons of CO 2 equivalent.

The household sector's emissions increased by 4.9 percent or 7.9 million metric tons of CO 2 equivalent, as people spent more time at home as a precaution against the novel coronaviruses, according to the official.

The country's total emissions decreased by 18.4 percent from the fiscal 2013 level.

The government wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent by fiscal 2030 from the fiscal 2013 level because of the sharp drop in fiscal 2020, which was brought about by the country's sluggish economy, which would make it hard to achieve the goal of cutting emissions by 46 percent by fiscal 2030.