Japan’s National Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Fiscal Year 2020 (Final Figures)

Under Articles 4 and 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter, the Convention) and relevant decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties, the Annex I parties including Japan (i.e., developed countries) are required to prepare national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories and submit them to the Secretariat of the Convention. Moreover, Article 7 of the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures, which provides for domestic measures under the Convention, requires the Government of Japan to annually estimate and make public Japan’s GHG emissions and removals.

In accordance with these Articles, Japan’s GHG emissions in FY2020 were estimated.

Japan’s total GHG emissions in FY2020 were 1,150 Mt CO₂ eq.

This reflects a decrease of 5.1% (62 Mt CO₂ eq.) compared to FY2019 emissions (1,212 Mt CO₂ eq.). The main factor for the decrease in emissions in FY2020 as compared to FY2019 is the reduced energy consumption due to reduced production in manufacturing industries and decrease in the amount of passenger and freight traffic, etc., resulting from the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

This also shows a decrease of 18.4% (259 Mt CO₂ eq.) compared to FY2013 emissions (1,409 Mt CO₂ eq.). The two main factors for the decrease in emissions in FY2020 as compared to FY2013 are the reduced energy consumption (due to improved energy conservation, the effects of the spread of COVID-19, etc.) and the decrease in CO₂ emissions from electricity production due to the wider use of low-carbon electricity (wider adoption of renewable energy, resumption of nuclear power plant operations).

In contrast, the emissions of hydrofluorocarbons that substitute ozone-depleting substances as refrigerants are increasing every year.

Removals by forests and other carbon sink measures in FY2020 were 44.5 Mt CO₂ eq., consisting of 40.5 Mt CO₂ eq. by forest carbon sink measures, 2.7 Mt CO₂ eq. by carbon sink measures for agricultural soils, and 1.3 Mt CO₂ eq. by promotion of revegetation.

The subtraction of Japan’s removals by forests and other carbon sink measures from the total GHG emissions yielded 1,106 Mt CO₂ eq. (a decrease by 60 Mt CO₂ eq. from FY2019), reflecting a 21.5% (303.6 Mt CO₂ eq.) decrease compared to the total GHG emissions in FY2013.