The following is from an article by Taishi Sugiyama, Senior Director of the Cannon Institute for Global Studies, published in today's Sankei Shimbun's "Seiron" titled "Stand Up for Asia's Energy.
This article also proves he is one of the world's best commentators on the energy and global warming debates.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for people worldwide.
It is a must-read, especially for those foolish politicians in the LDP and opposition parties who believe in decarbonization as one who knows little often repeats it.
The emphasis in the text is mine, except for the headline.
Europe's single-minded decarbonization energy policy has completely failed.
Germany's "Energiewende" (energy transition) policy, which had many followers in Japan, has led to a horrific disaster.
Complete Failure of European Decarbonization
Germany was supposed to be simultaneously nuclear-free, decarbonized, and shifted to renewable energies.
However, this was not enough energy, and the country became heavily dependent on Russian pipelines for gas imports.
President Vladimir Putin, seeing this weakness as a sign that Europe could not take a firm stance, invaded Ukraine.
Other European countries have also deepened their dependence on Russia due to their decarbonization efforts.
Despite declaring a gradual halt to energy imports as an economic sanction, Russia is conversely cutting off gas supplies, resulting in energy shortages and price spikes.
In the UK, household utility bills are expected to double this winter, and people may die from cold weather due to lack of heating.
Gas-based fertilizer manufacturing has already slowed down across Europe.
Europe is scrambling to procure all kinds of fossil fuels.
Britain is developing new coal mines.
Germany is preparing to run its coal-fired power plants at total capacity and mine natural gas.
Italy is also considering restarting coal-fired power plants.
Europe is also increasing imports.
It is buying coal from around the world, including South Africa, Botswana, Colombia, and the United States.
It also buys large quantities of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.
The energy crisis has spread to the world because of explosive purchases.
Other countries also struggle to procure fossil fuels in response to the crisis.
The Indian government has subsidized fuel imports and ordered coal-fired power plants to operate at total capacity.
In addition, it will restart more than 100 coal mines, and coal production is expected to increase by 100 million metric tons over the next two to three years.
Environmental regulations for coal mines have also been eased.
Vietnam will also expand domestic coal production.
China will increase its annual coal production capacity by 300 million tonnes this year alone.
It is nearly double Japan's annual coal consumption.
Developing Countries Desperate for Fossil Fuels
Countries that can increase production are still good. We feel sorry for the developing countries that have no resources.
In Sri Lanka, the economy has collapsed, and the president has fled the country. The final blow was the running out of fuel for cars.
The "decarbonization" policy has caused a global disaster, but Europe has not recognized it.
The return to fossil fuels is only temporary, and the decarbonization goal will not change; it is an excuse.
On the contrary, the G7 (Group of Seven) energy and environment ministers meeting in May, chaired by Germany, agreed to halt foreign financing of fossil fuel projects by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Europe is buying up fossil fuels, which is entirely hypocritical.
Unfortunately, Japan is also participating in this hypocrisy.
In June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the suspension of official development assistance (ODA) to Bangladesh and Indonesia for coal-fired power generation projects.
On the other hand, Japan has been pushing to restart suspended coal-fired power plants to cope with chronic power shortages.
What is the meaning of abandoning thermal power generation in developing countries while relying on thermal power generation in one's own country?
Indeed, Japan is currently experiencing a power shortage. Still, it is not the case that power outages are as frequent as in Bangladesh and have a tremendous negative impact on the economy.
Coal-fired power generation is essential for Bangladesh.
The G7, preaching decarbonization to the world, is buying fossil fuels from all over the world when push comes to shove.
It is a sin of the G7 that many developing countries are in dire straits due to incitement.
Even more sinister, they have exacerbated the problem by denying developing countries access to fossil fuels.
When the G7 acts selfishly, developing countries leave the G7.
What Japan should do as chair of the Asian G7
Developed countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, but few developing countries have joined them.
Russia's oil exports have changed destinations, no longer to developed countries but China, India, Brazil, Egypt, etc.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also laundering their oil of origin by buying from Russia and exporting their oil instead.
Large quantities of fuel are needed to produce fertilizer, which is essential for food production.
Russia is a major exporter of all this fuel, food, and fertilizer.
With a global shortage of all of these, developing countries cannot afford to stop importing from Russia.
The real threat to a free and open Indo-Pacific is not Russia but China.
The economic prosperity of the countries is critical to not succumbing to China, and the G7 must help them get what they need.
Stable and cheap energy is the best example.
It should promote fossil fuel use, and Japan should support it.
It is also for Japan's sake.
Japan also needs fossil fuels. In addition, support from overseas shanties will provide an opportunity to diversify and strengthen the supply of resources. Finally, Japan's expertise in clean combustion technology comes into play.
Next year, Japan will assume the G7 chairmanship.
As the only non-Western member of the G7, Japan should lead the G7 to abandon its single-minded focus on decarbonization and return to being an advocate for stable and affordable supplies of fossil fuels.
