CLIMATE advocates in the Philippines joined the Asia-wide protest actions against Japan’s alleged fossil fuel expansion agenda ahead of this year’s Japan Energy Summit in Tokyo from June 18 to 22, 2025.
“At a time of worsening climate crisis, it’s outrageous to see an industry summit propping up fossil fuel companies under the guise of energy transition,” said Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD, a regional alliance of peoples' coalitions and non-governmental organizations.
“The Japan Energy Summit doesn’t accelerate the shift to clean energy. What we urgently need is a full-scale rollout of solar and wind, not more excuses to cling to coal and gas,” she added.
On Tuesday, June 17, APMDD, along with other environmental groups, led a demonstration protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Manila to air out their demand for Japan to “stop its fossil fuel obsession and pave the way for a just energy transition immediately.”
In a statement to the media, Nacpil identified Japan as “one of the top financiers of fossil fuels in the world, with its public and private banks channeling billions into coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects across Asia.”
A report from South Korea-based Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) said Japanese public financial institutions “provided a staggering $93 billion in public financing for these projects over the past decade (from March 2013 to March 2024).”
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) national coordinator Ian Rivera said that “communities near fossil gas facilities in the Philippines are already suffering from serious health impacts, including respiratory and heart-related illnesses.”
“Yet, Japanese companies and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) continue to push for more gas expansion, ignoring the harm it brings to people and the environment. Japan must stop its dirty trail of gas expansion now,” he added.
As similar coordinated action was held in Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, and other key cities in Asia, APMDD urged Japan to push for “a just energy transition immediately.”
“With the climate clock already ticking and extreme weather events devastating the region, year after year, Japan must stop its fossil fuel obsession,” APMDD said. (Ronald Reyes/SunStar Philippines)