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Tag - emissions

 
 

EMISSIONS

Workers install solar panels in Lianyungang, China. Wang Changlin, the vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said on Friday the country will ¡°significantly increase¡± the supply of non-fossil energy by 2030 and double it by 2035 compared with 2025 levels.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 17, 2026
China lifts green push with plan to double clean energy by 2035
A hydropower project in Tibet and desert-based renewable hubs will help propel clean-energy generation, the vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission says.
Japan¡¯s greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.9% to a record low of about 1.05 billion tons of carbon dioxide in fiscal 2024, the Environment Ministry said.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 14, 2026
Greenhouse gas emissions in Japan fell to record low in fiscal 2024
In fiscal 2024, emissions in Japan were down 28.7% from fiscal 2013 and the amount of carbon dioxide released slipped below 1 billion tons for the first time since then.
Kazumasa Hayakawa, president of Marine Tourism Development, checks undersea carbon dioxide concentration levels in Naha Port in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 13, 2026
Eco-tourism operator in Okinawa bets on corals as carbon absorber
The company hopes to encourage visitors to think of climate change as a personal issue through combining sightseeing, environmental conservation and CO2 reduction.
Beth Gutzler views air quality data on the AirWatchSTL website on a laptop in Florissant, Missouri, in February. Last year, metro St. Louis residents had "good" air to breathe during only one-third of the days of the year.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 10, 2026
How the AI boom derailed clean?air efforts in one of America's most polluted cities
Trump's environmental rollbacks in support of AI mark ?a reversal in U.S. policy and have proven painful for America's clean air activists.
Reporting requirements begin in April for about 300 to 400 companies in Japan with annual direct emissions of at least 100,000 metric tons.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 31, 2026
Japan¡¯s top polluters face new rules as carbon market advances
Reporting requirements begin in April for about 300 to 400 companies with annual direct emissions of at least 100,000 metric tons.
Air pollution shrouds electricity towers in New Delhi, India.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 28, 2026
A decade of global climate caution is sealed by India¡¯s wary goals
India's new plans extend the nation's focus on lowering emissions intensity rather than prescribe absolute cuts in greenhouse gases.
The Takasago Thermal Power Plant in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture. Japan will increase the use of coal-fired power plants to strengthen energy supply amid the Middle East energy shock.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2026
Japan to allow more coal-fired power to cope with energy shock
Japan is joining other nations that have shifted course to use the dirtiest fossil fuel more in the wake of of the war.
A worker produces salt via a traditional method that involves a flat pan at Shima-maasu Honpo¡¯s plant in Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 23, 2026
Okinawa salt manufacturer shifts production method in decarbonization drive
Shima-maasu Honpo has taken the bold step of building a new factory that will change its salt production method with the aim of reducing carbon emissions.
Scientists say the last 11 years have been the warmest ever recorded, with 2024 topping the podium and 2023 in second place.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 7, 2026
'Significant' acceleration of global warming since 2015: study
Scientists say the last 11 years have been the warmest ever recorded, with 2024 topping the podium and 2023 in second place.
A Yamaha sports motorbike at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo in New Delhi, in January 2025. Yamaha aims to have electric motorcycles account for about 30% of its new motorcycles by 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 24, 2026
Motorcycle makers in Japan race to go carbon-neutral
Though motorcycle manufacturer executives believe motorcycles will eventually go electric, challenges ¡ª such as a steep price and lack of charging facilities ¡ª remain.
Rosie Fordham of Australia competes in the women's 4 x 7.5 kilometer cross-country skiing relay during the Milano Cortina Olympics on Saturday in Lago, Italy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Feb 15, 2026
Is global warming dooming snow sports and the Winter Olympics?
Since the 1970s, mean snow depth across the Alps has declined by over 8% per decade and the snow season is up to 34 days shorter below 2,000 meters.
Employees work on an electric vehicle production line at a factory in China
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Feb 14, 2026
As Trump shreds climate rules, China¡¯s emissions start to fall
This week¡¯s major climate news played out on a split screen with the world¡¯s two superpowers signaling different paths for the future.
The coal industry celebrated the announced U.S. reversal on climate action, saying it would help stave off retirements of aging coal-fired power plants.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 13, 2026
Trump revokes basis of U.S. climate regulation and ends vehicle emission standards
It is the most sweeping climate policy rollback to date, after a string of regulatory cuts and other moves intended to unfetter fossil fuel development.
A model by the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field explaining the process for generating hydrogen.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Feb 2, 2026
Why renewable powerhouse Fukushima is also pursuing hydrogen
Since the nuclear disaster, Fukushima has become a powerhouse for renewables in Japan. But the prefecture is still pursuing hydrogen as a key cog for the energy transition.
A solar farm in Nakai, Kanagawa Prefecture, in March 2016. Japan gets about a tenth of its electricity from solar panels despite having nearly no domestic production of photovoltaics (PVs).
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jan 18, 2026
Beijing row highlights need for Japan to reduce cleantech dependence on China
To reach net zero, Japan will need to rapidly expand renewables, but its solar manufacturing capacity is virtually non-existent despite it being a pioneer of the technology.
A Honda CR-V in California. Honda is planning to increase production of cheaper gasoline-fueled vehicles in the United States this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2026
Honda to boost output of cheaper, less fuel-efficient vehicles in U.S.
The move comes as many American car-buyers are struggling to afford new-car prices that average nearly $50,000.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Dec. 17. Over her short two months in office, Takaichi has emphasized the restart of aging nuclear reactors and developing futuristic ¡ª but not yet commercially viable ¡ª technologies like nuclear fusion.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jan 4, 2026
With a focus on nuclear power, Takaichi¡¯s energy policy takes shape
As she settles into the nation¡¯s top office, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s energy policy is quickly coming into focus and nuclear power stands at the forefront.
In Japan, key stakeholders, including corporations and industry groups, are working to make ESG investment a pillar of sustainable growth despite global headwinds.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 31, 2025
Japan strives to sustain ESG investment amid global retreat
Corporations and industry groups are pushing back against the global headwinds and working to make ESG investment a pillar of sustainable growth.
In 2025, overlooked climate challenges included the warming effects of reduced pollution, stalled progress in green hydrogen and rising financing costs for renewables.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2025
Here¡¯s the bad climate news you missed this year
The current renewables boom will need to prove those fossil plants superfluous, and quickly, if we want to stop them getting built.
Workers assemble new Nissan Leaf electric vehicles at a production facility in Sunderland, England, on Dec. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2025
The positive climate news you may have missed this year
Much climate news is gloomy, but there are positive developments all the time ¡ª so many, in fact, that it¡¯s easy to miss some of the things that have been happening.

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN