Prime Minister Ishiba Reiterates Importance of GX Promotion in Policy Speech

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On November 29, Japan’s Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru delivered a policy speech at an extraordinary session of the Diet, which had been convened the day before. It was only his second policy speech to the Diet, following one given upon his election as prime minister one month earlier in October. The House of Representatives (Lower House of the Diet) was then dissolved and a general election held, setting the stage for this second policy address.

Following the opening of the current Diet session, Ishiba declared the following three policy areas to be his highest priorities:

Diplomacy and security in conjunction with summit leaders.
Revitalization of Japan in its entirety.
Security and safety of the public, and disaster preparedness.

Policies that he had earlier described using the word “protect” in his first speech in October were edited out to reflect current realities.

In the area of diplomacy, the Prime Minister referred to his attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’s Meeting in Peru, from November 14 to 17, 2024, and the G20 Rio de Janeiro Summit in Brazil, from November 17 to 19, 2024, as well as to his meetings with individual leaders at those venues.

Concerning his meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, Ishiba noted that there were still “various pending matters and differences of opinions between the countries.” On the other hand, he emphasized the positive results, saying that they were on the same wavelength in terms of bilateral trade relations, including the swift lifting of Chinese restrictions on the import of marine products from Japan.

Based on the Prime Minister’s previous experience as state minister for local economy revitalization, he emphasized that the “policy of revitalizing local economies is aimed at restoring Japan’s vitality.” He mentioned creative videos produced by the residents of Kobayashi City (Miyazaki Prefecture), introducing their hometown, and produced on the basis of ideas submitted by young assembly members and students, as well as the programs developed by Isen Town (Kagoshima Prefecture) providing subsidies for parenting support.

The prime minister also referred to energy policy as outlined in the vision for “Regional Revitalization 2.0,” which is promoting green transformation (GX) policies toward the development of decarbonization sources—including offshore wind, geothermal and nuclear—and factories and data centers. In collaboration with educational institutions and the like, activities have now begun toward new regional revitalization.

He also argued for GX investments to reduce greenhouse gases—on the order of JPY20 trillion (almost USD133 billion at the rate of USD1.00=JPY150.44) to be provided by the national government, and more than JPY150 trillion (USD1 trillion) by Japan’s public and private sectors—which would enable private industries to enjoy foreseeability in their nuclear businesses. The FY24 budget draft issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on November 29 has earmarked a total of JPY500 billion (around USD3.3 billion) for GX-related items.

Regarding the next national Strategic Energy Plan, now under consideration, Prime Minister Ishiba clearly stated that the government would present a vision toward 2040 by the end of the year, together with a plan for climate-change countermeasures.

The prime minister has called for establishing a disaster preparedness agency to centralize management in the prevention and mitigation of disasters. In the latest policy speech, reflecting upon the experience of the huge earthquake that struck Noto Peninsula on January 1, 2024, he referred to providing kitchen cars, trailer houses and toilet cars in anticipation for disasters, dispersing stockpiled materials and equipment, and developing a disaster volunteer system. He said that the national government would aim for the establishment of the agency during FY26 (April 2026 to March 2027) so as to prevent disaster-related deaths, based on lessons learned from the giant earthquake in eastern Japan on March 11, 2011.