A senior Japanese politician concedes the country has been “extravagant” and “wasteful” in the past, but is now determined to adopt a different approach following its huge earthquake.
Addressing the Leaders Forum at the recent Challenge Bibendum sustainable mobility event in Berlin, Japanese Vice Minister at the Ministry of Environment, Tatsushi Terada, said the country was still enduring problems following the meltdown of its nuclear power plant.
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The earthquake – estimated to have been of a magnitude of 9.0 – devastated swathes of Japanese industry – including that of many crucial automotive suppliers with severe knock-on effects throughout the world.
“We have been very extravagant with energy and we were wasteful,” said Terada, addressing what he termed “this major catastrophe,” although he insisted Japan was now set on another course: “But we realised it is possible to take a different approach,” he said.
“We still have problems with the nuclear power plant, [but] despite these problems we will continue to pursue our goals in Japan. We have problems with provision of energy supply, particularly in Tokyo.
Expressing his thanks for the words and support Japan had received from the international community, the Environment Minister said the country needed to look at improved vehicle fuel efficiency, but also at the way cars were used, citing the almost non-existence of car sharing for example.
He also highlighted the need to upgrade rural transport infrastructure, noting it had deteriorated from half a century ago.
“Fifty years ago in Japan, we had a well-developed public transport system,” he said. “Particularly in rural areas the level of public transport availability dropped off.
“Improving fuel consumption is not the whole story. “We need to take in other realms as well.”
