Japan’s Koizumi to Push Government Toward Green Virus Recovery

(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Wednesday the country should invest in clean energy as part of its coronavirus recovery plan.

The minister, a rising political star in Japan, voiced his intentions during an online meeting Wednesday with the Japan Climate Initiative, and said his efforts to enact such spending would reflect opinions from the group, which includes companies, municipal governments and non-profits.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has billed Japan’s virus response measures as the world’s biggest and the support is likely to require an extra third budget to plug a hole between surging spending and sliding tax receipts. But little has been said how the stimulus might be used to shape Japan’s energy future.

Hiroshi Ozeki, the president of Nissei Asset Management, told Koizumi during the meeting that the public should be incentivized to invest savings in green bonds. Miyuki Zeniya, the head of asset-management department of Dai-Ichi Life Insurance, said the institution will invest in offshore-wind projects in the northern prefecture of Akita.

Koizumi’s comments follow a 2.4 trillion-euro ($2.7 trillion) recovery plan unveiled last month by the European Union that aims to accelerate the region’s transition to clean transport, increase energy savings and boost the production of renewable energy.

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