[Grandpa's Observations!] Part 1: Looking at the 2025 Environmental White Paper!
I am Grandpa, a supporter of Generation Z and future generations!
Well, it is that time of year again for the publication of the Environmental White Paper.
The white paper was published after being reported to the Diet on June 7th, the same day as last year.
Let's check the contents again this year and identify the environmental trends.
1️⃣ First, a comparison of the table of contents for Part 1!
Every year, I pay attention to the section titles at the beginning of Part 1.
This year's feature is that ithas changed completely from the titles up until last year.
This is my own interpretation, but it is a title thatfeels like the Ministry of the Environment's strong desireto continue actively addressing climate change, even afterthe U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement following the birth of President Trump.
(2021) Chapter 1: Redesigning the Economic Society and the Three Transitions
(2022) Chapter 1: Toward 1.5°C
(2023) Chapter 1: Current Status of Climate Change and Biodiversity and International Trends
(2024) Chapter 1: What the 6th Basic Environment Plan Aims For
(2025) Chapter 1: "Market" - Environment and Business -
(2021) Chapter 2: Three Transitions to a Decarbonized Society, Circular Economy, and Decentralized Society
(2022) Chapter 2: Approaches from Multiple Perspectives: Decarbonization, Circular Economy, and Decentralization/Nature-Positive
(2023) Chapter 2: Efforts Toward Realizing a Sustainable Economic and Social System
(2024) Chapter 2: Toward the Integration of Nature Positive, Carbon Neutrality, and Circular Economy
(2025) Chapter 2: "Government" - Efforts Toward the Integration of Circular Economy, Nature Positive, and Carbon Neutrality -
(2021) Chapter 3: Sustainable Society Building Started by Regions and Us
(2022) Chapter 3: Sustainable Regions and Lifestyles We Change
(2023) Chapter 3: Realization of Sustainable Regions and Living
(2024) Chapter 3: Realization of Sustainable Regions and Living
(2025) Chapter 4 "Citizens" - Practice and Implementation of Integrated Improvement of Environment, Economy, and Society in Regions and Daily Life -
(2021) Chapter 4: Reconstruction of Disaster-Stricken Areas and Environmental Regeneration Efforts 10 Years After the Great East Japan Earthquake
(2022) Chapter 4: Efforts Toward Reconstruction and Regeneration from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Accident
(2023) Chapter 4 Efforts Toward Reconstruction and Regeneration from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Accident
(2024) Chapter 4: Efforts Toward Reconstruction and Environmental Regeneration from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Accident
(2025) Chapter 4: Reconstruction and Creation from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Noto Peninsula Earthquake
This year's Part 1 has changed to a title with a very strong message.
Chapter 1 is"Market". With the subtitle "Environment and Business," it reflects the painful sentiment that, following the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement,there is no choice but to leave it to the market, rather than the UN or government leadership.
Chapter 2 is"Government". With the subtitle "Efforts Toward the Integration of Circular Economy, Nature Positive, and Carbon Neutrality," it indicates the direction of legislative measures.
Chapter 3 is"Citizens". After defining thethree major crisesfacing humanity as"Climate Crisis," "Biodiversity Crisis," and "Pollution Crisis,"it calls for behavioral changes from every single citizen.
Chapter 4 is"Reconstruction and Creation from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Noto Peninsula Earthquake". Until last year, the title was about reconstruction and regeneration from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident, but the name of the nuclear accident has disappeared and been replaced by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Also, the word "regeneration" has been replaced by "creation."
Let's check the contents starting from Chapter 1.
2️⃣ Chapter 1 "Market"
Section 1: Environmental Issues and Economic Impacts in the World and Japan
Section 2: Direction Aimed for by Japan's Global Warming Countermeasures
Section 3: Green Consumption Toward a Sustainable Society
Section 4: Science, Technology, Innovation, and Startup Support Necessary for the Transition to a Sustainable Society
The title of Chapter 1 is"Market".
If we divide the 80 years of post-war Japan into the first 40 years and the last 40 years, we can divide them into 40 years of post-war reconstruction and rapid growth, and 40 years of decline from being the world's second-largest economy.
While saying we leave it to the market,it is the government of the time that guides the direction of that market;the political direction of the ruling party determined the latter 40 years.
What visited Japanese society in the latter 40 years was corporate behavior that approved of companies that "engage in competition to exploit people cheaply" without raising wages, and approved of "investing overseas rather than domestically."
Furthermore, due to the characteristics of its land, Japan is not only vulnerable to natural disasters, but also, because of an electoral system that makes it difficult to build a country adapted to natural disasters (by distributing budgets evenly across all regions), it has become a country where the scale of economic loss from natural disasters is large relative to its land area.
What would happen if we went back three years and added the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake to the damage figures mentioned above?
If we leave such a Japan to the "market," the decline of Japan will not stop unless the government takes firm action.
3️⃣ The direction of leaving it to the market
Let's dig a little deeper into Chapter 1.
The following is a graph showing that Japan's net greenhouse gas emissions have continued to decrease steadily since 2013, and are one step away from falling below 1 billion tons.
It looks like a proud graph, but it is a graph of the history of the decline of the manufacturing industry. While there have been individual corporate efforts, it is simply that they had no choice but to give up on domestic manufacturing and move their investments overseas.
Before I knew it, my surroundings were overflowing with Made-in-China products. Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo, which is a world-class company representing domestic firms and has grown rapidly over the 40 years of decline to lead the apparel industry, has also developed through a business model (good cost performance) of importing products produced in China to Japan. If that is the case, then in the future, we will not be able to stop the rise of the Chinese brand SHEIN.
For today's young people, it doesn't matter where something was produced or whether it is a Japanese or Chinese company. They are not buying it because it is a Japanese brand.
The next graph is the roadmap for decarbonization that Japan has promised to the world.
Japan has been steadily declining due to the lack of policy from the ruling party, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was revealed to the public that Japan was a country lagging behind the rest of the world.
After the state of emergency declaration, which forced the suspension of economic activities, we ended up having to spend 120 trillion yen (about 40 trillion yen per year) in government spending as a COVID-19 supplementary budget in addition to the general account budget during the three years of the pandemic.
As a result, QR code payments became widespread following China's example, and administrative and medical efficiency began to improve through the integration of My Number cards and health insurance cards, which was pushed through despite opposition from the Japan Medical Association, and increased investment in fields called DX (Digital Transformation).
Then, surprisingly, we achieved the highest level of wage increases in 30 years.
And sprouts of "growth," not "decline," have begun to appear.
Economic development driven by fields where increased power demand is expected, such as investment in data centers, semiconductors, and the AI sector, has come into view.
However, politics is facing new challenges, such as the storm of Trump tariffs threatening the backbone of Japan's key industries like automobiles and steel, and how Japan will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while unable to operate nuclear power plants despite increasing power demand.
Even looking at the world, only in Japan are many home appliances, such as white goods, made by Japanese manufacturers, and as for automobiles, only Japanese cars are driven due to high non-tariff barriers. Such a Galapagos Japan was a wonderful society of mutual aid even while declining. However, even those social norms have begun to waver.
In such a Japan, if the government takes a stance of leaving the most important aspects of the environment to the "market," domestic manufacturers might collapse entirely.
Even looking at the Environmental White Paper, I've become angry this year.
Let's leave the second chapter and beyond for tomorrow.
Thank you for reading until the end.
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