KATHMANDU, May 18: Climate campaigners held a demonstration outside the Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu to protest against Japan and the G7’s continued promotion of fossil gas and technologies that they say will only prolong fossil fuel use in the Asian region and beyond.
The protests happened ahead of the G7 Leaders Summit scheduled for May 19-21 in Hiroshima, Japan. The demonstration is part of the Don’t Gas Asia Campaign that is being organized in 12 different cities throughout Asia.
“Japan and the rest of the G7 display a blatant disregard for the pressing needs of both people and the planet, instead of meeting their climate finance obligations and fulfilling their commitment to end by 2022 their public financing of fossil fuels,” said Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) and Convener of the Asian Energy Network (AEN)
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Japan is this year’s G7 president and the only Asian member of the grouping of seven of the world's advanced economies, including Canada, Italy, Germany, France, United Kingdom and United States, all large fossil fuel financiers.
“Any new fossil fuel investment and expansion goes against the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warning that all fossil fuel industries and investments should immediately be phased out if we are to have any hopes of keeping temperature rise below 1.5 degrees. Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including Nepal are the most vulnerable group of countries to the impacts of climate change. We condemn the G7 countries’ agenda to increase fossil fuel investments that affect the poorest segment of the world”, said Dr Arjun Kumar Karki, the Executive President of Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN), one of the organizers of the campaign.
Japan is the largest public fossil fuel financier, with an annual average of USD 10.6 billion towards fossil fuel projects from 2019 to 2021 according to a report. There has been some recent tension between Japan who wants to push back on gas and fossil derivatives, and other G7 members who want to decrease their carbon emissions and phase out fossil fuel technologies.
The protests were held in Dhaka, Kolkata, Bodhgaya, Chhattisgarh, Jakarta, Chiang Mai, Kathmandu, Lahore, Manila, Colombo, Hanoi and Hiroshima as part of the coordinated Asia-wide mobilizations against Japan and the G7. The mobilization in front of the Japanese embassy in Manila is organized by the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) and member organizations, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Sanlakas, Oriang, Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA), and Kabuhayan Kalusugan Kalikasan Katiyakan Sa Paninirahan (K4K QC).
