TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister SUGA Yoshihide said Friday his government will promote innovation to make the country carbon neutral by 2050.

The government will support the development of new technologies involving next-generation solar cells, carbon recycling and hydrogen, Suga said at the House of Councillors Budget Committee.

“Taking steps to address global warming will help reform the industrial structure, society and economy, leading to big growth,” he said.

The prime minister said that he will succeed his predecessor Shinzo Abe’s Abenomics economic policy and work on further reform.

Suga said the government will secure doses of coronavirus vaccines enough for all residents by the first half of 2021. It has agreed to receive 290 million doses together from three pharmaceutical firms, he said.

He said the government will work on the 2025 World Expo in the western city of Osaka as “a national project for a new era after overcoming the coronavirus crisis.”

JIJI Press