Asia Zero Emission Community first ministerial meeting: Statement on energy transition acceleration and hydrogen supply chain establishment
On March 4th, Asia Zero Emission Community(AZEC) held a Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo, participated by Japan and ASEAN members. The joint statement including the policy to accelerate the energy transition for decarbonization was summarized. The participants discussed the policies and challenges for the decarbonization in Asia.
The AZEC is a plan proposed by Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida on January 2022. The METI held the first Ministerial Meeting in order to promote the decarbonization in Asia together with public and private sector. 11 countries except Myanmar participated in the meeting. The participants also discussed the establishment of hydrogen supply chain between Japan and Australia.
After the meeting, Mr. Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry held a press conference and explained about decarbonization in Asia, “Provision of technology, investment and capacity building are Japanese role” He also indicated his intension to work on establishment of the standards of CCUS(Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage) in AZEC.
It was specified in the joint statement that information on use of hydrogen and ammonia will be shared. This Ministerial Meeting will be held on annually basis.
Ministers from each country presented the technologies required for decarbonization at the AZEC public-private investment forum held prior to the Ministerial Meeting on 3rd March.
Japanese companies made 28 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with participated companies and organizations.