Arab News Japan 

TOKYO: Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) held the first Asia Green Growth Partnership Ministerial Meeting online on Monday.

The meeting was attended by ministries and delegates from 20 countries and international organizations in Asia and other parts of the world. Delegates came from across Asia, including the Middle East, as well as Australia and the United States, and representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Prince Abd al-Aziz Al Saud from Saudi Arabia joined the meeting, as well as Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the Minister of Industry in the United Arab Emirates. 

Middle East delegates also came from Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran. 

The participants discussed the need to achieve green growth and accelerate various and realistic energy transitions toward global carbon neutrality, noting that “there are diverse pathways for each country, and that promoting innovation and actively engaging Asian countries will be important.”

At the beginning of the meeting, METI Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama delivered a video message in which he emphasized that efforts and accelerated contributions from each country will be essential to achieving global carbon neutrality. He reaffirmed Japan’s intention to provide a wide range of assistance based on the Asia Energy Transition Initiative (AETI).

Dr. Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of IEA stated that there is no one size fits all for clean energy transitions and the pathway will be shaped by each country’s circumstances and capabilities. In addition, he highlighted three technologies – Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), low carbon fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia and LNG – would play an important role for energy transitions.

The meeting “recognized the importance of establishing mechanisms to attract investment and funding for various lower emissions and energy efficiency technologies and projects, positioned on the pathways outlined by each country, in order to achieve energy transitions in Asia. It is essential to establish a framework that financially supports technologies and projects contributing to energy transitions.”