Putting the brakes on climate change

Soaring prices: A customer refuels at an Eneos gas station, operated by JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp in Tokyo. Gasoline prices in Japan have climbed in recent weeks to the highest level in seven years. — Bloomberg

TOKYO: It’s been less than a month since world leaders pledged to combat climate change at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, yet Japan is already showing signs of putting the brakes on divestment from fossil fuels.

Government officials have been quietly urging trading houses, refiners and utilities to slow down their move away from fossil fuels, and even encouraging new investments in oil-and-gas projects, according to people within the Japanese government and industry, who requested anonymity as the talks are private.