METI State Minister Ota Attends APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Energy Ministerial Meeting

1. APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting

(1) Outline

Date: August 15 (Tue.) and 16 (Wed.), 2023
Participants: APEC member economies

(2) Outline of the discussions

• At the meeting, participants held discussions mainly on three issues: [i] Power Sector Decarbonization, [ii] Accelerating Methane Abatement, and [iii] Supporting a Just Energy Transition.
• State Minister Ota stated that, in light of the global energy landscape including the war in Ukraine, an energy transition through various pathways and promotion of innovation are both important in order to combat climate change and to promote energy security while also growing our economies at the same time.
• Concerning the reduction of methane emissions, she explained Japan’s initiatives, including the Coalition for LNG Emission Abatement toward Net-zero or CLEAN, an effort launched at the LNG Producer-Consumer Conference 2023 that was jointly held by Japan and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in July 2023, and she stated Japan’s intention to contribute to efforts toward enhancing clean LNG value chains across the world and reducing methane emissions in the APEC region.
• In addition, Japan explained that it has been advancing efforts for the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station based on scientific evidence. In particular, it stated that regarding the discharge of ALPS treated water into the sea, the IAEA’s comprehensive report published in July 2023 concluded that the discharge is consistent with international safety standards and that the radiological impact on people and the environment will be negligible. She further noted that it has been explaining to the international community its efforts for advancing the measures for ALPS treated water in accordance with scientific evidence and in consistent with international safety standards, it would continue to address this issue with a high level of transparency.
• Based on the discussion results, the meeting compiled a Chair’s Statement. In parallel with this, like-minded economies issued a Joint Statement on Accelerating Methane Mitigation from the LNG Value Chain.

(3) Chair’s Statement

• Chair’s Statement (in original text)

2. Meetings with participating ministers

Taking the opportunity of the ministerial meeting, State Minister Ota exchanged views with each of the following ministers: H.E. Ms. Jennifer M. Granholm, Secretary, Department of Energy, the U.S.; H.E. Mr. Oscar Vera, Minister of Energy and Mines, Peru; and H.E. Dr. Megan Woods, Minister of Energy and Resources, New Zealand.

At the meeting with Secretary Granholm, they exchanged views on the discussions to be held during the ministerial meeting.

At the meeting with Minister Vera, the two sides discussed issues such as bilateral cooperation in minerals and other issues.

At the meeting with Minister Woods, the two sides discussed issues such as bilateral energy cooperation in the areas of hydrogen, offshore wind power generation, etc.

Division in Charge

International Affairs Division, Commissioner’s Secretariat, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy