Statement

February 24, 2023
350.org Japan
Razom We Stand

February 24, 2023, marks one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We, 350.org Japan, stand with Ukrainian climate group Razom We Stand, in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who are suffering tremendously from the damage of the fossil fuel funded Russian military invasion. It is also critically clear that the war has caused additional CO2 emissions. We call on the Russian government to stop the war immediately, and on the rest of the world, including Japan, to sever its ties with the Russian fossil fuel business that is funding this war.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who will preside over this year’s G7 Hiroshima Summit, is expected to deliver a message of peace with the situation of Ukraine in mind. If PM Kishida truly wants the Hiroshima G7 Summit to be an opportunity to send a message of peace, he should not hypocritically condemn the situation. PM Kishida must not allow Japan to continuously buy fossil fuels from Russia. To break away from the “addiction to fossil fuels”, as the UN Secretary General Guterres states about this situation, PM Kishida needs to send a clear political stand at this G7 summit.

Svitlana Romanko, Ukrainian climate activist, environmental law expert, and Director of Razom We Stand an Ukrainian climate NGO, commented;

“As the tragic one-year anniversary of the war approaches, the good will of many national leaders to stand with Ukraine must be turned from words into real actions. Japan, which holds the G7 presidency this year, has not stopped importing fossil fuels from russia, which is still making millions daily from fossil fuel exports to feed its brutal war machine. The world sees the continuing massive human suffering by people in my country everyday, yet Japan directly funds this suffering when its government doesn’t simply stop the money flowing to russia. We demand that global leaders, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in particular, tighten up sanctions, stop being the largest buyer of Russian LNG as of January 2023 and introduce strict enforcement measures that hold violators accountable when they contribute to war crimes in Ukraine. That’s how we defeat fossil fueled dictator putin and bring peace and justice to Ukraine.” 

Masayoshi Iyoda, Interim Team Lead of 350.org Japan, commented:

In the 100 days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Japan was reportedly the world’s largest importer of Russian coal. Japan is the only G7 country that has been slow to move away from coal-fired power generation and is not ready to support the phase-out of all fossil fuels. In its GX policy, the Kishida administration has proposed the re-expansion of nuclear power generation, which reminds us of a critical situation in Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia by the Russian invasion, and CO2 reduction through ammonia/hydrogen co-firing and CCUS, but this will stretch the fossil fuel addiction and cannot be an essential solution for the climate and peace crisis. Prime Minister Kishida needs to send a strong message to the G7 Summit that we must accelerate our transition away from fossil fuels, which cause tension in international relations, and promote real solutions of energy conservation and renewables that contribute to peace and climate justice.”

Citations: 

[Letter] Japan must cut ties with Russian fossil fuels and stop financing fossil fuels globally

https://world.350.org/ja/press-release/20220316/

Note for Journalists:

If you would like to speak with Svitlana Romanko, please write to:
[email protected]

Contact Information:

Masayoshi Iyoda, Interim Team Lead of 350.org Japan

Email: [email protected]

Hanae Takahashi, Communication Consultant of 350.org Japan

Email: [email protected]