Published in the Mainichi Newspaper, January 8, 2021 The fact that leading countries in technological and social innovation, such as Japan, the European Union (EU), the

So, what policies and actions are needed now and in the future? First of all, fossil fuels, which account for 90% of our current energy supply, must be replaced by renewable and other non-CO2 emitting energy sources by the year 2050. [...] As a result, solar power and wind power have become the cheapest power sources in many parts of the world, with prices dropping by 80% and 60% respectively in the last decade. [...] The price of storage batteries, which are key to the introduction of renewable energy and electric vehicles, has also fallen by more than 80% in the past decade, and electric vehicles are expected to become cheaper than gasoline vehicles in the 30s. [...] Based on the downward trend in the prices of clean technologies, more and more studies are showing that the goal of virtually zero emissions for developed countries in 2050 is economically achievable. [...] It also requires electric power companies to increase the share of renewable energy sources in their electricity supply to 60% by 2030, and to increase the share of zero-emission power sources to 100% by 2045.