| Paris alignment | Reasoning |
| Unaligned | Some coal exclusions in place. No other fossil fuel exclusions in place. |
| Alignment and reasoning | |
| Coal policies | JICA has committed to end international finance for “new unabated coal power generation”. It is unclear whether this will include associated infrastructure, such as mining. |
| Upstream oil and gas policies | JICA does not appear to have an exclusion policy. |
| Downstream oil and gas policies | No exclusion – new gas-fired power plants proactively supported. |
| Supply-side energy efficiency | Not applicable. |
Explanation
Coal
The 2021 JICA Sustainability Report states the following:
‘as articulated in the G7 Cornwall Summit communique of June 2021, Japan commits to ending new direct government support—including through Official Development Assistance, export finance, investment, and support for financial and trade promotion—for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021 (tentative translation). JICA will comply with this and other policies of the Japanese government.’
Japan’s government has also updated its overall export strategy to align it with the G7 agreement. A press release issued at COP26 by the International Development Finance Club (JICA is a member) states that it “commits to end international public finance for new unabated coal power generation, implementing the decision made by the G20 Leaders in Rome”. It is unclear whether this will include associated infrastructure, such as mining.
According to communication from MOFA, Japan considers previously commenced projects to be excluded from the scope of the G7 agreement. Additionally, the definition of ‘unabated’ is still under discussion in Japan.
JICA was considering providing funding for coal plants in Bangladesh & Indonesia, as these were initiated before the 2021 deadline but the Japanese government will now “stop providing yen loans for the construction of coal-fired electricity plants in Indonesia and Bangladesh”.
Oil and gas
The JICA Energy Strategy also mentions JICA will proactively provide support that includes “new development, rehabilitation, and replacement for countries that have appropriate conditions to construct gas-fired power plants”. There is also evidence in JICA documents of investments in diesel generation
Exploration for new fossil fuel resources is not mentioned within JICA’s policy documents.
Recommendation: JICA should expand its exclusion on unabated coal power generation to all coal related infrastructure. It should also look to set a timeline for the phase out of all fossil fuel financing, particularly upstream oil & gas.