Browsing by Subject "Energy"

This study sought to find how the Japanese newspaper media address climate change and its impacts, and how they view the government’s decarbonization efforts. The study was also interested in finding what kind of energy sources do the newspaper media support and oppose to reduce the country’s emissions and especially, how do they see nuclear power’s role in this. To answer these questions, editorial articles of three newspapers were analyzed: Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The analysis contained eighteen editorial articles, six from each newspaper, and they were collected between 2020 and 2022. The analysis was conducted by using Fairclough’s three-dimensional approach, and it was divided into six sections: (1) Suga’s climate pledge on October 26, 2020, (2) the Green Growth Strategy on December 25, 2020, (3) the new emission reduction target by 2030 on April 22, 2021, (4) the Sixth Strategic Energy Plan on July 22, 2021, (5) the end of Glasgow Climate Change Conference on November 15, 2021, and (6) Kishida’s speech for nuclear power on August 24, 2022. The first section analyzed the papers response to the prime minister’s net-zero pledge, while the second section paid attention to the publication of the ministry’s Green Growth Strategy. The third section observed the paper’s stances toward the government’s decision to upgrade the country’s medium-term emission reduction target, and the fourth section analyzed the papers response to the publication of the Sixth Strategic Energy Strategy. The fifth section associated with the Glasgow Climate Change Conference and its commitments, while the final section was about the prime minister’s policy speech on expanding nuclear power. The findings of this study suggests that there are differing views on climate change and the government’s decarbonization measures among the country’s three largest newspapers. These views can roughly be divided into progressive, conservative, and semi-conservative groups, in which Asahi represents progressive, Yomiuri conservative, and Nikkei semi-conservative stance. Asahi addresses climate change with full seriousness, criticizing the government’s backwardness and calling for more ambitious climate policy. It sees renewables as the solution, strongly opposing nuclear power or coal-related energy sources. Yomiuri, on the other hand, takes more cautious approach towards climate issues, giving a rather indifferent impression at times. It gives its support for nuclear power yet does not exclude the possibility using of coal plants equipped with CCUS technology or ammonia co-firing. Nikkei’s stance on climate change is somewhere between these two yet clearly more conservative than progressive. It also supports nuclear power and coal-firing by alternative methods, but it shows more interests in renewables than its conservative competitor.

This paper examines the energy policy development of three European Union member states of Finland, Germany and Poland before and after the Ukraine crisis of November 21st, 2013. The theory of securitization/desecuritization/riskification is used to examine if the crisis caused any changes in the perception of Russian energy, and if this had an effect on the domestic energy policy choices of the three member states. This paper will also look if the Energy Union can be considered a Regional Security Complex, built around the perceived threat or risk of Russian energy, and if this will lead to greater integration or disintegration of the EU. This paper is structured as a comparative case study where all the three member states energy policy developments before and after the crisis are compared to each other and analyzed. This paper finds that all of the three member states had very similar reactions to the Ukraine crisis, but only Finland and Poland saw any true changes in their energy policy choice making. Finland riskified Russian energy (especially gas and oil) but maintained their bilateral energy relations with Russia through partly state-owned companies, with the most prominent project being the Fennovoima nuclear power plant project. Finland has begun to move towards reducing Russian fossil fuels from their energy base, and is transitioning towards domestic wood-based biofuels, nuclear energy, renewables and energy connections with the Baltic states. Germany successfully desecuritized Russian energy after the crisis and continued their bilateral energy projects with Russia. The most prominent German-Russian energy project was the Nord Stream 2 project which like the Fennovoima project, is operated under state owned companies and has soured Germanys relations with Eastern EU member states. Polish reaction to the Ukraine crisis were the complete securitization of linked energy. The Polish government had overseen energy policy decisions in the past, but the crisis pushed them to take direct governmental control of energy policy and they intend to end the use of Russian energy altogether in the future. Poland also turned strongly against German energy policy line in the EU and has emerged as a staunch opposition to EU climate regulations, Nord Stream 2 project and bilateral energy trade with Russia. The Energy Union was shown not be a sign of a Regional Security Complex forming around Russian energy in the EU and will more likely lead to further disintegration of the EU energy policy as the conflicting energy security needs, and interpretations, will divide the EU on the issue of Russian energy.