EVENTS

The talk explores the rapid changes in Japan’s energy and climate change policies in the past decade, after the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011. After the nuclear accident and reactor shutdowns, the deficit in electric power was met by a reliance on fossil fuels. Since then, a higher share of renewables has reduced the carbon intensity of the power sector in general. By signing the 2015 UNFCCC Paris Agreement, the twin challenges of reducing its fossil fuel intensity and ensuring stability to its energy supply priorities became even more profound. An analysis of the four triennial, “Strategic Energy Plans” since the disaster, and the latest interim adjustment, reveals these uncertainties, especially since the supply disruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The excessive reliance on fossil fuels, “carbon neutrality” commitments, the even higher target to raise the share of renewables, the restarts of reactors, liberalisation of the domestic electricity market, etc., all brought in their share of uncertainties. This seminar will explore Japan’s decision to “restart and rebuild” its reactor fleet, the factors which necessitated these changes and the challenges ahead in keeping up with the commitments, both domestic and the international.

About the Speaker

Peter J. Hudson has recently defended his PhD thesis at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi. His doctoral research was on the Political Economy of the Japanese Nuclear Energy Sector. Currently, he is a Researcher at the Institute of Global International Relations, Tokyo. Peter was also a Visiting Researcher at the SIPEB, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo until 2021. He was a recipient of Japan Foundation PhD Research Fellowship in 2016-17. Earlier he worked at the ICS as a Research Associate and Programme Co-ordinator from 2011-2015. Peter also holds an M. Phil. in East Asian Studies from the University of Delhi and a Masters in International Management (MIM) from the School of International Studies, Pondicherry University.

About the Chair

Shamshad Ahmad Khan is Visiting Associate Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies. He is also an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, UAE. Presently he is in Tokyo as a Visiting scholar at Waseda Institute of Advanced Studies, Waseda University. He completed his Ph.D. in International Relations from the Japanese Studies Division at the School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi. He was associated with various Indian and Japanese research institutes including ICWA, MP-IDSA, Keio Research Institute, Japan Institute of International Affairs, Institute of Developing Economies, and Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido. He received the Nakasone Yasuhiro award in 2011 from the International Institute of Policy Studies, Tokyo for his research on Japan-India relations. Besides journal articles and book chapters, he has also authored a book on India-Japan Relations titled, Changing Dynamics of India-Japan Relations: Buddhism to Strategic Partnership (Pentagon Press, 2017).

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