Why Is This Colorful SDGs Pin Badge Suddenly Everywhere in Japan?

Greetings! It's issue 18 of the "Japan Climate Curation" newsletter?? with?6,898?words

In this week's newsletter, I picked 10 stories on topics such as "- UN's Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs", “air-conditioned clothing”, "Japan's biggest U-turn in nuclear policy in 11 years", "world EV race" , the outlook for Japan's startup scene.

I learned a lot through the research this week, and I hope you find something interesting or valuable for your input from the list of articles.

*If you are interested in reading ????Japanese edition of "Climate Curation", you could subscribe it from this URL, thank you!

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[????????Japan Climate News Headlines]

【1】Why Is This Colorful Little Wheel Suddenly Everywhere in Japan? [??gift link]? -It’s the logo of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, "SDGs". And Japan is all in.? [2022/8/25 The New York Times *summary by summari]

• Japan has embraced "SDGs". In Japan, there are board games, playgrounds, and travel companies that promote the goals. Nearly 40 percent of Japanese businesses are working toward the goal.
• There have been concerns that companies and government agencies are publicly supporting the goals to burnish their image rather than make real change, also known as “SDGs washing”

【2】Air-Conditioned Clothing Becomes the Latest Way to Beat the Heat - Sales of jackets and vests with built-in fans are climbing as more places endure stifling temperatures. [2022/8/24 Bloomberg *summary by summari]

• Jackets and vests with the cooling technology, used for years by Japanese construction workers, are being redesigned as casual wear and marketed to general consumers as heat waves grow more frequent and intense. Although often dubbed “air-conditioned clothing,” that’s something of a misnomer, because there’s usually only a fan and nothing to actually cool the air. Hundreds of such garments are available online starting as low as $20 and climbing into the hundreds of dollars. While much of it is workwear, there’s no shortage of more stylish offerings.

【3】Can Japan's new nuclear policy revive its creaking industry?? [2022/8/26 Nikkei Asia *summary by summari]

• On Wednesday, exactly six months since Russia invaded Ukraine and sent the global energy scene into turmoil, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the groundbreaking announcement that the country would resume building nuclear power plants.
• Major reactor makers Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba say the foundations of their businesses have been eroding since the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 plunged the domestic industry into a long winter
• In the years since Fukushima, Japan has struggled to place renewables at the center of its energy mix. Its energy self-sufficiency, meanwhile, plunged to 11% in 2020, down 9 points from 2010, according to the International Energy Agency, putting it third-lowest among 45 countries tracked by the agency.
• "The problem is, even if the decision to build a new plant is made, it will take about six or seven years or more until jobs come in for suppliers," said Akihiko Kato, head of the nuclear division at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. "They will have to hold up during that time."
• A Nikkei poll in July found that 70% of people nationwide were in favor of using nuclear energy, a sharp improvement from 26% in 2016 and 44% in 2021.

【4】Can Japan revive nuclear power? - Resurrecting old reactors will be harder than phasing them out [2022/8/29 The Economist *summary by summari]

【5】Kishida turns Japan’s energy problems into nuclear opportunity - Prime minister must follow through on restart while also dealing with defence challenges [2022/8/29 Financial Times - Opinion *summary by summari]

• In a 27-page document that accompanied Wednesday's announcement of Japan's biggest U-turn in nuclear policy in 11 years, the word "crisis" was used seven times. The global energy crisis and soaring commodity prices have dealt a heavy blow to Japan, which imports most of its energy Russia's invasion of Ukraine made Japan realize how unprepared it would be if an increasingly aggressive China made a similar move on Taiwan There is still opposition and deep mistrust within local communities regarding nuclear restarts. How much Japan can increase military spending and how wisely it would put that money to use is still up for debate.

【6】Japanese automakers face California gasoline regulatory cliff in 2026 - Conventional hybrids will not qualify as zero-emission vehicles under new rules ?[2022/8/27 Nikkei Asia *summary by summari]

• The California Air Resources Board order goes into effect for the 2026 model year, when automakers are required to have 35% of new sales be of zero-emission vehicles. The state's air regulators on Thursday approved new rules to phase out all gas-burning vehicles sales by 2035. California will require automakers to make zero-emission vehicles 68% of new sales for the 2030 model year, then 100% for 2035 models.
• EVs and plug-ins accounted for 17.9% of the volume, and much of that result can be attributed to Tesla's growth. Only about 4% of vehicles Toyota sold in California were zero-emission, according to data from S&P Global. Hyundai Motor and Kia are the nearest rivals while Toyota is in fourth place. If zero emissions becomes the prerequisite in selling new vehicles, then big shake-ups are in store.

【7】Honda and LG to build $4.4bn US battery plant - Companies will benefit from America’s moves to localise supply chain and keep out China? [2022/8/29 Financial Times -? *summary by summari]

• Japanese carmaker Honda and South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution will invest $4.4bn to build a new battery plant in the US. The move comes amid pressure from Washington to cut China out of the US supply chain for electric vehicles. Honda committed to ending fossil-fuelled vehicles by 2040, and LG has committed to producing lithium-ion battery cells in the United States by the end of 2025.

【8】Swappable batteries for electric vans and lorries make sense - Car drivers, though, will probably want to keep recharging ?[2022/8/24 The Economist *summary by summari]

• One of the most successful battery-swapping schemes for electric vehicles (evs) is run by Gogoro, a Taiwanese firm. It has some 500,000 subscribers who, in return for a monthly fee, can quickly exchange depleted batteries from their electric mopeds and scooters for fully charged ones
• Japan's giant automakers are looking at doing something similar with delivery vans and light trucks
• A consortium of Daihatsu, Isuzu, Hino, Suzuki and Toyota is exploring the use of easily detached "cartridge" batteries to power such vehicles. Swapping batteries like this would be a useful way of powering commercial evs that are constantly on the road and therefore require frequent recharging. The consortium thinks battery swapping might help cut peak electricity demand at businesses as well

【9】Toyota, Honda Top List of Carmakers Facing Climate-Change Risks - [2022/8/26 Bloomberg *summary by summari]

• Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. will face major challenges ranging from hurricanes and flooding, to high temperatures and water shortages, in the coming years based on where their factories are located, said the environmental-advocacy group, Greenpeace, which analyzed data from Moody’s ESG Solutions on physical risks.

【10】Japan Ahead: Incubate Fund's McInerney

• Paul McInerney, General Partner at Incubate Fund, discusses the outlook for the startup scene in Japan. [2022/8/22 Bloomberg? “Daybreak Asia” paywalled 6:30 min. ]

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??That's all for this week! Thank you for reading?? and have a wonderful week ahead!

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ichi (Hiroyasu Ichikawa)