Japan Will Include India Into AETI To Help Achieve Green Energy Transition

While it mourns the assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week, Japan is looking to aid India to shift to clean energy by expanding a programme it launched in 2021 for Southeast Asian nations, Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda said recently.

Although India was not initially included in the Japan’s ‘Asia Energy Transition Initiative‘ (AETI) meant for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) pushing towards net-zero carbon emissions, Hagiuda said that the AETI will be expanded to accommodate India.

Speaking at Sydney Energy Forum, co-hosted by the Australian government and the International Energy Agency, he was quoted as saying, “Specific support includes support for ASEAN countries in the Asian roadmap towards carbon neutrality, which will be expanded to include India. The region needs to work on diversifying where it gets its energy from, in light of the ongoing energy crunch due to loss of Russian energy supplies. Against that backdrop, considering the current energy crisis, stable energy supply and market stability are critical as the basis for promoting a transition towards carbon neutrality. For that we must engage in improving our energy independence through things such as a further push for diversification of energy sources of supply.”

Under the initiative, Japan had committed to ASEAN countries $10 billion worth of renewable energy, energy efficiency and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.

Indo-Japan Partnership

The Ministry Of External Affairs of India had published on March 19, 2022 the requisites of the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) between India and Japan.  As per this, it made way for “India and Japan to acknowledge the need to explore a variety of options to ensure secure and stable supply of energy for achieving both goals of sustainable economic growth and addressing climate change. They share the view that there is no single pathway to achieve low-carbon economy, but rather there are different paths for each country. In this regard, this Partnership shall serve as a basis for the cooperation between two countries. India took note of Japan’s Asia Energy Transition Initiative (AETI).”

Under the partnership, both India and Japan will be tapping into the potential of low-carbon sunrise sectors and exploring new technologies and business models to lower carbon emissions. India and Japan have made substantial progress in implementing the vision of a secure, efficient, resilient and sustainable energy system. Both countries’ energy policies are guided by the principles of energy security, efficiency, environmental sustainability with clean energy transition and safety as a premise.

Cooperation under this partnership will build on the work already being covered out by the two sides under the foundation of the ‘India-Japan Energy Dialogue’ established in 2007 and will substantially expand the areas of collaboration for mutual benefit. It will also encourage innovations and creation of resilient and trustworthy supply chains between India and Japan as they make progress in their respective energy transition plans.