Japanese officials push back against G7 zero-emissions target – report

Pressure is growing from major vehicle manufacturing countries as politicians attempt to phase out petrol and diesel cars.

Japan is working behind the scenes to change a joint statement from G7 nations which references a target of 50 per cent zero-emissions vehicles by 2030, according to news outlet Reuters.

As a member of the Group of Seven (G7), internal documents reportedly show Japan has been pushing to soften language – and with it, the policies of some of the most influential countries on the planet – in the switch from internal combustion-engined cars to hydrogen fuel-cell and electric vehicles.

It’s believed the statement, which referenced a “collective goal of at least 50 per cent zero-emission vehicles by 2030,” would be replaced with a watered-down line which targets “significantly increasing the sale, share and uptake of zero-emission light-duty vehicles recognising the range of pathways that members are adopting to approach these goals”.

Last week, Reuters reported Akio Toyoda – the president of Toyota and the chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association – had warned the Japanese Government it faced losing support from the industry body unless it included synthetic-fuelled hybrid vehicles as part of future policies.

“I spoke with Chairman Toyoda yesterday and he said that JAMA cannot endorse a government that rejects hybrids,” former industry minister Akira Amari told lawmakers, according to the report.

“What Mr Toyoda is trying to say is that hybrids running with synthetic fuels are good for the environment because they are extremely fuel efficient,” Amari said.

“[Toyoda] said he would be extremely unsatisfied if hybrids were rejected. That’s what he told me.”

The latest news comes a month after Japan reportedly pushed to remove a target which would see G7 nations sell only zero-emissions vehicles by 2035.

Above: Akio Toyoda.

The goal is in line with a proposal which would see the European Union effectively ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2035 – a move facing now resistance from Germany and a number of other European member states.

Like Toyoda, Germany’s finance minister is putting pressure on his own government and the European parliament to include synthetic fuels as part of a roadmap to zero-emissions vehicles.

While Toyota has been exploring the feasibility of hydrogen-fuelled internal-combustion engines – which operate similarly to conventional cars, as opposed to hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles – Porsche and BMW have been investing heavily in the development of synthetic fuels.

Also known as eFuels, synthetic petrol and diesel would power cars and trucks in the same way as traditional oil-derived fuels, but would be created by ‘recycling’ carbon from the atmosphere – the theory being that the emissions produced from these cars would not contribute any additional carbon into the atmosphere.

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