Leading off the NIKKEI GX Conference presentation was a greeting from Japan’s Minister of the Environment Hirotaka Ishihara. He reiterated Japan’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and lauded the NIKKEI GX Conference for its contributions to fulfilling that goal.

“Climate action is an urgent global challenge for all humanity,” emphasized Ishihara. The parties to the Paris Agreement agreed at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21), he noted, to strive to cap the increase in the average global temperature at 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial level. “To that end, we agreed to submit targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and report biennially on our progress toward attaining those targets,” Ishihara continued. “Adhering to that cycle is crucially important. All Japanese stakeholders, including those in the private sector, need to work steadily toward fulfilling the reductions that the Japanese government pledged in February 2025.

“The NIKKEI GX Conference is an outstanding initiative by Japanese companies and experts, leading the way in decarbonization. Also impressive are the superior Japanese technologies on display here at the Japan Pavilion for deploying renewable energy, raising energy efficiency, adapting to climate change, and circulating resources. Let this seminar be a springboard for sharing Japan’s advanced initiatives with the world.”

Yukari Takamura, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Future Initiatives and the chairperson of the NIKKEI GX Conference, next provided an overview of that undertaking. “We started this conference as the Nikkei Net-Zero Project in 2021,” recalled Takamura, “and transformed it last year into the NIKKEI GX Conference. Decarbonization remains the core activity of this conference, but we see a lot of interlinkage between decarbonization and other challenges, such as protecting nature, shaping a circular economy, and enhancing the competitiveness of Japanese businesses.” Takamura expressed her expectation that the event would show that leading Japanese businesses have stepped up efforts to tackle these challenges holistically toward a sustainable and green transformation.

The presentation continued with a greeting from Mimi Nameki, the director for international cooperation for decarbonization and sustainable development infrastructure in the Japanese Ministry of the Environment’s Global Environment Bureau. She then engaged in an exchange with Takamura and with Kiyoshi Ando, a senior staff writer in Nikkei’s Editorial Division. The three discussed the progress of the COP30 negotiations and Japanese expectations of the Belém conference.

“Let me share three emphases for Japan,” opened Nameki, “at COP30. The first is to make the most of this great opportunity to use new nationally determined contributions as catalysts for concrete climate action. A growing number of nations have pledged contributions, but the number of nations yet to make such pledges remains large. We need to get more pledges.

“Japan’s second emphasis is on discussing adaptation indicators. That needs to include discussing indicators for adaptation finance through international cooperation, through national budgets, and through private finance. Our third emphasis is on eliciting proactive stances from nations in discussing financing for measures to curtail climate change. Japan will focus on these three emphases in working to help reach an agreement here.”