Japan’s ‘Just Transition’ in Its Development Practices

Japan has focused its Official Development Assistance (ODA) on underdeveloped countries in Asia, in part to compensate for the damage it caused during World War II. Although energy transition and climate change response were not the main agendas of Japan’s ODA to Asia, it gradually became concerned about the quality of its ODA projects in order to differentiate itself from the rapidly rising China. In addition, as a member of the G7 and G20, Japan’s reputation among other countries has become more important, and there has been a recent trend in Japan’s ODA to reflect energy transition to combat climate change, as well as just transition. The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with Indonesia and Vietnam is a reflection of this recent trend. Japan has historically provided various forms of energy-related ODA to Indonesia and Vietnam, many of which have been for fossil fuel-fired power-related facilities. Now, Japan is developing plans to ensure that a ‘just energy transition’ is possible in these countries as well. But so far, the reviews have been less than positive. Ultimately, for these projects to be successful, the voices of various actors in society will need to be heard, and interactive discussions will need to take place from the planning stage to build social consensus.