VARIOUS Filipino climate campaigners urged the new Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, to end Japan’s financing of fossil fuel projects as the 3rd Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Summit concluded in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.
"Japan is the world’s largest public financier of fossil fuels, and it is using AZEC to perpetuate fossil fuels at the expense of the energy security of, as well as public health in, Southeast Asia,” said Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) and the Asian Energy Network (AEN).
In a statement to the media, Nacpil claimed AZEC "publicly brands itself as a clean energy initiative committed to zero emissions, but its actual agenda supports the expansion of fossil fuels through investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG), ammonia and hydrogen co-firing, and carbon capture and storage (CCS), which are technologies that pose environmental, economic, and social risks."
During their protest action on Tuesday, the groups also called on the Japanese leader to
"prioritize climate action and energy security in Asia, and stop blocking Asia’s renewable energy transition."
In a joint statement signed by 33 organizations, civil society groups asked Prime Minister Takaichi and ASEAN leaders to “take steps to ensure that AZEC becomes a genuine platform for accelerating the region’s clean energy future, not a vehicle to prolong fossil fuel use and corporate profits.”
“LNG, CCS, and ammonia co-firing are expensive, dangerous distractions that keep us dependent on fossil fuels. They lock countries into long-term fossil fuel use, costly infrastructure, and debt. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia’s vast renewable potential remains untapped,” added Nacpil.
As Southeast Asia holds 99 percent of its renewable energy potential still untapped, the climate campaigners said Japan "should redirect its technological and financial resources toward realizing this potential."
The civil society groups and climate advocates who joined the demonstration were from the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Sanlakas, Oriang, Aniban ng Manggagawa ng Agrikultura (AMA), Kabuhayan Kalusugan Kalikasan Katiyakan sa Paninirahan (K4K QC), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO), and Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML), and APMDD. (Ronald Reyes/SunStar Philippines)