Towards a Low/Zero Carbon Society for the Asia-Pacific Region: Policy and Legal Development for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in Japan

Abstract

The Paris Agreement came into force on 4 November 2016. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)‘s latest report on 8th Oct 2018 also announced that the agreed Paris targets on reducing emissions would not be enough without setting larger and more ambitious targets after 2030 and maximising the capacity of a best mix approach including renewable energy, nuclear power and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). There has been wide discussion about CCS considered as one of the significant approaches to mitigating a large amount of CO2 from the global atmosphere. Japan, as a developed country, is now facing a challenge for meeting its mid and long-term goals for reducing GHG emissions, due to the limited energy sources (e.g. nuclear and renewable energy) after the Great Tohoku Earthquake in 2011 and a trend of relying on fossil fuel energy sources (coal and gas). This study aims at identifying a number of key approaches to developing the existing CCS policy and legal framework in Japan to commercialise CCS deployment, based on ongoing research. This paper has addressed a number of key developments: maximising a best mix technological solution to mitigating the GHG emissions in Japan including the role of CCS (i.e. Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage - CCUS), setting specific targets for CCS and technological roadmap; considering two scenario options for a legal framework so called ‘regulatory-based model’ and ‘public-work model’; and utilizing the role of SEA and EIA which could be applied as the useful tools to conceptualize, review and improve the existing policy and legal framework. It further emphasises a need for a comprehensive framework at the regional level and attempts to address its key development areas to be considered, in order to realise a low/zero carbon society in the Asia-Pacific region.