Japan's greenhouse gas emissions fell to a record low in fiscal 2022 on the back of reduced steel production and energy-saving efforts by households, government data showed Friday.
National emissions in the year through March 2023 totaled 1.14 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, down 2.5 percent from fiscal 2021 and the lowest level since comparable data became available in fiscal 1990.
The decline came after emissions increased in fiscal 2021 for the first time in eight years, reflecting rising energy consumption amid a pickup in economic activity following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Environment Ministry.
When greenhouse gas absorption by forests is subtracted from total emissions, the figure amounted to 1.09 billion tons, a decrease of 22.9 percent from the level in fiscal 2013, which Japan uses as a base year.
But emissions remained far from the government's target of a 46 percent reduction by fiscal 2030.
"The entire government will work to promote measures," Environment Minister Shintaro Ito told a news conference, while admitting it will not be easy to attain the target.
In fiscal 2022, the industrial sector cut energy-related CO2 emissions by 5.3 percent from the previous year, while such emissions climbed 3.9 percent in the transportation sector, due likely to increased tourism amid the economic recovery following the pandemic.
Household emissions fell 1.4 percent on the back of lower heating demand amid warmer temperatures compared with the previous year.
The government calculated emissions absorption by coastal seaweed and seagrass for the first time at 350,000 tons, but it did not include the data as the validity of its calculation method had not been examined by a United Nations agency.
